Snow Leopard Expedition Day 12

What a terrible night’s sleep, with the temperature well below freezing and sleeping at 4100m proving hard for me. I had a headache, racing heartbeat and with the driver switching the minibus engine on at 1am to keep warm meant minimal rest tonight. So an early start was a huge relief and I was up and out of the tent before dawn, but there’s an art to getting dressed quickly in the freezing cold air I can tell you. So after breakfast we drove out towards the lake, passing the first of many Kiangs to be seen today. 

Kiangs are very common here

My main hope today was to firstly see and then get some reasonable photos of Tibetan Sandgrouse – this being a reliable site for them. I’ve seen it before on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau but never close enough for a good photo. And sure enough after a short drive we came across the first of many groups of sandgrouse seen this morning, with flocks on the road and flying past us. And all this within a stunning setting of open plains and snow capped mountains in the distance. Beautiful. We tried initially to get close to a group feeding in the stony desert floor but after a few aborted attempts I gave up and turned my attention to another group across the road. We drove closer and I sneaked out and crawled through the grass towards them. There were many more than I was initially aware of but all of a sudden another flock flew in and landed right in front of me and this is where I managed some nice flight shots. It was a great experience to sit so close to these awesome birds and they are definitely easier to see here than on a Tibet tour.

Tibetan Sandgrouse

Anyway, moving on we caught up with a few shorebirds such as Eurasian Curlew, Common Redshank, Sanderling etc but they were all pretty distant. But I really enjoyed the Black-necked Cranes (9 in total), not because they were close but the setting was stunning. 

Black-necked Cranes

Then we stopped to look at a flock of Hume’s Short-toed Larks just when it looked like we were doing our best to ignore them! Odd pools on the drive held plenty of wildfowl including Ruddy Shelducks and Bar-headed Goose.

Stunning scenery all around us today

Once we reached the far side and the freshwater lake we discovered it was teeming with thousands of common ducks including some nice Ferruginous Ducks, plus we enjoyed seeing Little and Temminck’s Stints and the surrounding hills held some distant Argali.

Back at camp for lunch we discovered quite a few Blanford’s Snowfinches near the tents, and there was also a pale-phase Booted Eagle, Citrine Wagtail, Horned Larks etc.

Blanford's Snowfinch

Horned Lark

I enjoyed just sitting down with a nice cup of tea and looking at the fantastic scenery after lunch.

Our camp at Tso Kar

In the afternoon we once again drove to the far side of the lake to look for Wolves – but it was a disappointing half-hearted attempt and everyone of us felt let down by the attempt. In hindsight I should have been more aware of what was going on but the altitude was taking its toll once again on my head. 

Still in awe at our surroundings

But we did get close views of more Tibetan Snowfinches around an abandoned village this afternoon. 

Tibetan Snowfinch

So we returned to camp before 5pm – perfect Wolf watching time.… But we had better views of Argali that matey seemed more intent on finding than any canines. 

Here's our celebratory Snow Leopard cake

Oh well it was still a grand day.

Snow Leopard Expedition Day 11

Got up at 6.10am and began the tedious process of packing up our camping gear. It took longer than expected due to shortness of breath at this altitude. So after breakfast we walked down the Rumbak Valley to Zingchan unaware that we had to walk a further 3kms than expected to meet our waiting vehicle – making a 7kms hike in all. The good news was that we didn’t have the smallest car in the world waiting for us (like on our journey in here) but a minibus – fantastic. The walk down did produce our first Brown Dipper and Sulphur-bellied Warbler, and I was lucky to see a Wallcreeper flying across the ridge above us.

Leaving here we drove back towards to Leh, making a few stops to scan for Urial (Red Sheep) and after a rather too prolonged search managed very distant scope views thanks to our local trek guide. In hindsight we probably spent way too much time searching for it. Anyway, we drove through Leh and on towards Tanglang La Pass through ever impressive scenery. We stopped in a town to show our passports to the local constabulary before driving on and then made another stop in a scenic valley for a picnic lunch. Some big cliffs were home to immature Lammergeier and Golden Eagle and we had the unique experience of seeing both birds in the same field of view. I managed some reasonable photos and experimented with some phone-scoping as well.

Golden Eagle

From here the road wound ever upwards and the view from the pass (17,582 ft) was outstanding, calling for yet more scenery shots. 

The view from Tanglang La

Dropping down the other side we searched for Tibetan Snowfinch without any success. As we approached Tso Kar we took a side road across the desert and found the road to be lined with Desert Wheatears. And all of a sudden we were seeing lots of birds, unlike the previous week back in Rumbak Valley. And good birds too! The track took us several kilometres into the middle of nowhere and as we drove along we spotted some movement which turned out to be a Ground Tit. I was particularly pleased with this bird as it was another India tick. But things got better as I spotted my lifer Blanford’s Snowfinch (having dipped previously in Tibet somehow) and boy was I pleased to finally get it. There was also Horned Lark, Rosy Pipit, and several Olive-backed Pipits. 

Our first view of our new camp

Not a bad view from camp

Our camp was nearby and in a splendid location overlooking a small wetland with vast, open plains across to Tso Kar itself and picturesque softly rounded hills all around. David and I walked to the camp from here , seeing 3 Tibetan Snowfinches just a stones throw from our tents. From camp we scoped Upland Buzzard, some Pika’s and 100’s of distant Kiang (Tibetan Wild Ass).

But boy it’s colder here and once the wind picked up the temperature dropped dramatically. But it’s a very exciting place to be and what was also interesting was the Snow Leopard pug marks I found as we drove in….

Snow Leopard Expedition Day 10

Watch No 12 – nothing. After breakfast we walked up to Yurutse, a one house village! It was amazingly scenic and we constantly scanned for Leopards. At the settlement, well a huge house that is used as a homestay we enjoyed a nice cup of tea and the guys brought lunch all the way up from camp.

Posing at Yurutse

Yurutse

Inside the Yurutse Homestay

On the way back down a cold wind suddenly blew up, which kept the temperature down but was nice whilst we were walking. The highlight of the day was a group of Himalayan Snowcocks walking across the path just a few metres in front of us. I don’t know who was more surprised! Anyway, they scuttled up the hillside and I managed to follow them a short distance and get a few nice pics. 

Himalayan Snowcocks

By the time we returned to camp we’d walked 8kms and it had been tough at times but good fun.

Watch No 13 – nothing.

Snow Leopard Expedition Day 9

Watch No 10 – didn’t care about Leopard this morning as still on a high from yesterday. So only did an hours watch before going to breakfast and afterwards we decided to walk back up to Rumbak village. It seems that none of are fully acclimatised and we are still getting mild headaches and stuffy noses full of dried blood, which is no doubt exaggerated by the dry, dusty atmosphere. The walk up to the village is on a slight incline and we were all out of breath at various points of the walk. But I was glad to get another view of the Solitary Snipe along the small stream and I even managed to get a few record photos before it inevitably flew away when a noisy villager walked past us shouting his head off to someone else in the village. 

Solitary Snipe

Around the small fields in the village we came across a group of Tibetan Partridges and they were rather more confiding than the snipe and showed quite well. 

Tibetan Partridges

There were 8+ Streaked Rosefinches and plenty of Robin Accentors around, but no Great or Common Rosefinches today. We walked to the far side of the village and found a Mountain Weasel before Ganesh took us to a homestay in the village where we had some tea.

Mountain Weasel

A few hours rest around camp was followed by Watch No 11 – and all we had to show for our efforts were more Blue Sheep. 

Blue Sheep

Then we had another nice meal and a few more beers. 

The dining tent

Tonight's pizza

The deal is you are usually finished eating by 7pm when it’s dark and chilly and there’s nothing to do apart from chat in the dining tent. You don’t want to go to bed too early either. Pete says we haven’t come to enjoy ourselves, we’re here to see Snow Leopard…! And we have!

Snow Leopard Expedition Day 8

Watch No 8 - blank. Did see a Mountain Weasel by the camp this morning. It was much colder when we surfaced from the tents at 5.15am and feeling grubby! The anticipation is mounting as we only have 3 more days here to find this damn elusive Snow Leopard. I’ve been sleeping better and we are all getting more used to camp life. It’s extremely dry and quite dusty here but much better than camping in the peak Leopard viewing months of February & March (in my opinion) when for me the cold (down to -30 degrees centigrade) would be unbearable. Still, I’m optimistic about our chances, although the fear of dipping is putting a cloud over the whole experience. Where the hell is this Leopard?

The crew brought breakfast up to us at the watch point above camp and the meal was again excellent. Then the 4 of us walked up the valley towards Yurutse but only got as far as the second valley. It was only to relive the boredom really and to get some exercise. Anyway, we were glad to get some distant Tibetan Partridges and 2 pairs of Guldenstadt’s (White-winged) Redstarts this morning. Most of the birds one would expect to see later in the year have not returned from their breeding grounds much higher up the mountains yet. Oh and I’ve forgot to mention we’ve had some rodents running over our bags that are stashed in the tent annexe directly behind my head when I’m sleeping, and they make quite a noise! And we all had a lovely bucket wash as well, so now we are feeling great!

Camp life goes on....

So we began Watch No 9 at 3.15pm. All of this time I’ve been wanting somebody to shout out “I’ve got the Leopard”. Well at 4.10pm it was me! I scanned a distant hillside about a kilometre away and panned the scope across a rocky outcrop and then panned back as something caught my eye. I looked at a pale blob for a minute when all of a sudden a head turned and I was looking at the head of the fabled Snow Leopard. I calmly said: I have got it, I’ve got a Snow Leopard”. 

Just spotted the Snow Leopard

Then all hell broke loose as directions were given and I put the other scopes on the beast. And I didn’t even swear! With everyone on it I walked behind them and punched the air like Jurgen Klopp in celebration. Oh the relief! Then we were shaking hands and bear hugs all round. I then frantically tried to phonescope some images but the heat haze and distance made it impossible to obtain anything good, but the video through the iPhone worked ok and is better than nothing. After 15 minutes the Snow Leopard got up and we could see the whole body and the extraordinary long tail. It walked slowly along an open area between some large rocks, then downhill a bit before climbing up a steep section of rockface, scratched in a bare earthy area before walking off across a grassy slope and over the ridge – never to be seen again by us. Wow! 

In all it had been on view for 20 – 25 minutes and I couldn’t believe we had finally seen it. The jubilation, the excitement, tremendous high of finally catching up with the Grey Ghost of the Himalayas. I haven’t got the words! We did scoot up the valley to try and relocate it but that was a waste of time. So we returned to camp, celebrated, then celebrated some more. The Godfather beer tasted quite good tonight!

Let the celebrations begin...!

Snow Leopard Expedition Day 7

Watch No 6 – Nothing again. After breakfast we hiked 4 kilometres down the Rumbak Valley and up into the Husing Valley where we stayed at the watch point from 10.30am – 2pm. It was a steep slope up to the watch point but what a view we had from the top and this is one of the main Leopard watching areas in Hemis. But I think it’s primarily a winter viewing area as its much lower down than the one we have been using in the Rumbak Valley, although saying that a Leopard was seen here last week. Anyway, the four of us were left here for quite some time and the silence was totally pure. If you’ve ever experienced the utter silence one gets when in some isolated mountain then you know what I mean. Its kind of beautiful. But then the coughing and spitting from ‘you know who’ began after a few hours and the silence was broken! It was very refreshing to be able to scan some different areas and to view some different scenery.

Walking up to the Husing Valley view point

The view from the watch point

Getting bored.....

Nice viewing in the Husing Valley

Husing Valley

Husing Valley

Anyway, we were all feeling rather dirty today and in need of a proper wash – there’s only so much you can do with baby wipes! I’m also having some trouble catching my breath today at this altitude and am struggling a bit today despite only walking around 11kms this morning. The bird highlight this morning was a pair of Red-fronted Serins perched up nicely in the morning sunshine.

Lunch was brought to us at the watch point by our ever attentive ground crew – amazing service. Then we began walking back to camp in the hot early afternoon sunshine, which made it quite a tough walk. Sometimes we’d get some cloud cover and the temperature would drop dramatically, so out would come our fleeces from our day packs. And that’s another issue as you do need to carry a day pack with your bits n pieces, and I’m also carry a scope & tripod and a big Nikon camera and lense as well. All this seemed to weigh a lot more than usual as it’s so hot.

Getting back to camp

Our camp

Time to start scanning again

The view

Anyway, we returned to camp at 3.50pm, had a cup of tea and chilled for a while as we were all knackered. Then it was up to the meadow above camp for Watch No 7 – and again we drew a blank. But it’s been a good day and nice to see a new area.