Nainital, Sattal and Pangot

This trip has been on my list for a while. I had always pictured, Sattal and Pangot as one of those getaways with the beautiful hills and lakes where birds would come to watch you and you could click those full frame portraits with ease as a multitude of different species came about strutting in front of you while you fiddled around getting perfect shots. Such expectations always fall short, so I was a bit apprehensive as well, but a whole lot more hopeful. The first afternoon saw us chasing skulkers hiding in and out of trees, before we got to our stay.

Though we did manage to spot a lammergier and a rufous bellied niltava, the expectations seemed to be a bit exaggerated. The stay itself had gardens and a hide with bird-feed and water. So, while we started seeing the so-called common ones up close - white-throated laughing-thrushes, magpies and streaked laughing-thrushes, the walk in the evening brought in a whole lot more of the species that were a first for me - sibias, fire-breasted flowerpeckers and striated laughing-thrushes. I wrapped up the day at the hide closing with some more magpies.

The next day was full day of spotting with the morning showing up some cheer and koklass pheasants, gorals and thrushes the afternoon with the yellow nape woodpeckers, great barbets, forktails and dippers, while the evening was spent closer to Bhimtal, at a spring waiting for a whole host of birds. We stopped near Sattal for lunch at a butterfly enthusiast's house, which was a good change of pace from the birding. Getting back to the birds, the pick of the bunch were the red billed leiothrix, ultramarine flycatcher, spot winged starling, long tailed broadbills and the blue winged minla. As we were about to close the day, a couple of yellow throated martens ran out to close an already packed day.

The last morning of the trip was again about increasing counts on the number of species and the first time species. A quick hike more than helped the numbers with woodpeckers, nuthatches, maroon orioles and even a black eagle making an appearance. The last stop as we left, was the Corbett museum on the way back, which is basically an old house of Jim Corbett housed with his old articles. The expectations had been high from the trip and happy to say, the count exceeded expectations.