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Reshikhola and Sillory Gaon - The unexplored birding destinations
I was relishing a plateful of hot steamed momos along with a mug of creamy milk coffee sitting under a pine tree. The place was surrounded by lush green forests and in every nook and corner of the forest cover I could feel the presence of hundreds of colourful tiny creatures – singing, chirping and moving to and fro. An early morning cool breeze was desperately trying to nullify the effect of slowly raising temperature in the environment.
Suddenly a pat on my back following my husband’s whispering ‘come with me’ made me follow him a few yards before I could discover a small flock of ‘Grey-sided Laughingthrush’ inside a dense foliage.
Sighting of this rare beauty was just the beginning of our two days wonderful birding trip to Sillory Gaon and Reshikhola at Kalimpong Sub-Division of Darjeeling district in West Bengal. These places are rapidly gaining popularity among birders and we did not miss the opportunity of visiting there when we could manage to add two more days to expand our weekend in the month of January, this year.
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Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher
Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher
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Himalayan Bluetail (Female)
Himalayan Bluetail (Female)
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White-capped water Redstart
White-capped water Redstart
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White-crested Laughingthrush
But our target species the White-crested Laughingthrush kept us running all the day in search of it whenever we heard their trademark call, but was able to catch some glimpses only. Lastly we could spot them clearly on our way back to the camp. A group of four to five birds with unmistakable long white crest and black mask were found hopping inside dense undergrowth.
They were foraging on ground, were calling one another, bursting out every now and again, where everyone was trying to outshout the rest. We got ample opportunity to observe this typical behavior along with capturing some beautiful moments.
The next morning we left ‘Reshikhola’ wishing to comeback again to this paradise of Laughingthrushes.
Written by Swagata Sarkar.
Photographed by Samrat Sarkar
Equipment used - Canon 7D + Canon 500mm f4 + Monopod.