Saturday, August 04, 2007

 

Ladakh -pure Love

LADAKH -"PURE LOVE"
a piece of heaven on earth.

Ruff , rugged , and still PURE BEAUTY is what ladakh is all about.
after a 4 tiring and BREATHLESS days ,going through nearly 5 passes -ROHTANG, BARALACHA,LACHANLA ,NAKILA,TANGLANG LA reached LEH -capital of ladakh. On the way ,the first birds to greet us were a group of scarlet minivets,followed by most dramatic dancing of the Himalayan griffons. Oriental turtle doves gurgled the entire evening at KEYLONG. All along we were greeted by the common redstarts, yellow billed choughs,and horned larks.ACLAIMATIZATION -keyword to stay fit in ladakh.In a more simple language ample rest is necessary once you reach the capital city of LEH. This is exactly what we did after 4 hectic days.
On the fifth day - we went birding at Sindhu ghat. First hand experience of seeing 6 nests of 2 species of wagtails- wt wagtail
cetrine wagtails

white wagtail
I was at first awestruck by their lovely breeding plumage and then i settled down in observing the nesting activity. The wt wagtails was gathering grass and cotton wool (flying around from the near by poplar trees) and placing them in the root stock of bushes. Cetrine wagtails were gathering dry grass material and disappearing in the nearby bushes of the opposite bank.
sixth day was another eventful day when the CHUKAR along with a family of 6 chicks and on the another occasion a family of 15 birds of different age groups were sighted,before reaching DISKIT. Going to the sand dunes where the humped camels are, I was greeted by the love song of the streaked rose finches.

CHUKAR


We returned via the highest motorable road pass -KHARDUNGLA -touching leh a lovely blue bird caught my attension when he was sitting sun bathing on one of the rocks - It was the grand GRANDALA.Nothing much happened the next 3 days since i was unprepared at hemis national park for trek into the park.
On our way to tsomoriri lake close to mahe bridge was the most excting part -
  1. robin accentors along with juvenilles and chicks
  2. wt throated dipper
  3. cetrine wagtails with chicks
  4. horned larks with chicks
  5. common swifts with an empty nest on the ledge of a clif

animals-marmots and picca all seen in one small patch of grass adjoining on feeder tributary of the Indus.

The tsomoriri lake,with its idyllic surroundings and melliflousus quietude,is one HEAVEN of a relaxing getaway.The contrast of the blue to the pristine white of the mountains can be described as divine. But only the ones with brave heart and strong lungs dare to venture up here.

  • TSOMORIRI LAKE -KARZOK
    ruddy shelducks with 13 chicks
  • barheaded geese-5
  • common mergenser with 5 chicks
  • brown headed gulls 5-6
  • lesser sand plover in its bridal finery(breeding Plumage)
  • common sandpipers
  • pond heron
  • horned larks feeding their young ones in their nest
  • common tern made a magnificent aerial display
  • common greenshank
Crossing the ITBP checkpost we soon entered the permanant habitation of nomadic herders known as CHANG-PA.They live in black yak-hair tents braving extreme winter cold. They raise Yak and sheep but their main wealth is the pashmina goat.This is where the renowned pashmina shawls originate.

But i could see that concretisation has slowly started to catch up with the pristine and traditional lifestyle-sad to spoil this mystical paradise.

On the last day -the MOST rewarding day of all.
loads of marmots ,piccas and voles came out of their dens for taking in the morning sun.


One feeder tributary of Indus I saw 5 female common mergenser swimming very fast in the rapids. As we were crossing Puga valley 2 black necked cranes were spotted by me -and my excitement reached the NEW HIGH

black necked cranes
the bare hills supported a sparse population of wild asses. To end this magical trip I came nearly face to face with LAMMERGIER and CHUKAR
After soaking in the beauty of 5 rivers CHANDRA BHAGA, INDUS(SINDHU),BEAS, SHYOK-I SALUTE the INDIAN nature at 18,380ft above sea level with all my BNHS friends

khardungla pass 18,380 ft above
MEMORABLE TRIP INDEED.many thanks to Isaac sir, and Mr Sapre for looking into all our needs.
THE BIRD LIST IS AS FOLLOWS

My check list of birds-ladakh –july23 to august 2nd

Bar tailed treecreeper
Himalayan whistling thrush
Grey headed woodpecker
Red billed magpie
Scarlet minivets
Himalayan griffons
Common stonechats male /female
Black redstarts
White capped redstarts
White winged redstarts
Pair of common kestrels
Large billed crows
Oriental turtle doves
Long tailed shrikes
Humes short toed larks
White wagtail
Citrine wagtail
Yellow wagtail
Hill pigeon
Yellow billed chough
Common coots
Northern pintails
common moorhen
Black billed magpies
Chukars 4 sightings twice with family of 6 -10
Hoopoe
Lesser white throat
streaked rose finches
common rose finch
great rose finch
Grandala
Booted warbler
Mountain chiff chaff
Horned larks (subspecies- elwesi ) with chicks feeding them
Great tits
Robin accentors with chicks
white throated dipper
black necked cranes -2 pairs
common sandpiper
common green shank
lesser sandplover
brown headed gulls -5
common tern
bar headed geese -5 karzok village in tsomoriri
common shelduck in a group of 4 adults and 13 chicks
common merganser once with one female and 5 chicks/at lake female with 6 chicks and at a feeder tributary 5 immature males or females not sure
alpine swifts
fork tailed swifts
common swifts with nest -empty
red billed choughs
shikra
lammergier


























































# posted by KETKI @ 10:34 PM 0 comments

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