Jalpaiguri – Latpanchar
05 Days / 04 Nights
The quiet village of Latpanchar in the Himalayan foothills of northern Bengal is the focus of our Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary Short Birding Tours. Spread out over 159 sq. km of forested area between the Teesta and Mahananda rivers
Booked as per
request.
Included except arrival and departure city.
Private guide for complete tour.
Airport to Airport.
2-8PAX
Included
The quiet village of Latpanchar in the Himalayan foothills of northern Bengal is the focus of our Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary Short Birding Tours.
Spread out over 159 sq. km of forested area between the Teesta and Mahananda rivers, the sanctuary is home to a wide variety of wildlife, but what stands out the most is its avifauna. About 200 bird species have been spotted here, and the most prized sighting is that of Rufous-necked Hornbill in the four months of its nesting season. Conservation measures undertaken in the sanctuary have led to a significant uptick in the numbers of this rare beauty, and it is certainly the showstopper of our Latpanchar Short Birding Tours.
Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary has an altitudinal range from 500 feet to 4500 feet. Latpanchar is located at its highest point. With the benefit of this vantage (and the great views of the Himalayas and the surrounding rivers in the bargain), we descend each day to different elevations of the sanctuary to look for scores and even hundreds of bird species of North and Northeast India.
The stellar cast in the bird checklist of Latpanchar includes the likes of Rufous-necked Hornbill, Red-headed Trogon, Wreathed Hornbill, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Eye-browed Thrush, White-bellied Erpornis, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Green Cochoa, Blue-naped Pitta, Hodgson's Frogmouth, Mountain Imperial-Pigeon, Sultan Tit, Grey-hooded Warbler, Spot-winged Starling, Asian Barred Owlet, Long-tailed Broadbill, Indian Pitta, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Striated Bulbul, Hume's Warbler, Nepal Fulvetta, Rufous-bellied Niltava, Sapphire Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Black-throated Sunbird, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird, Streaked Spiderhunter, Mountain Scops-Owl, Black-chinned Yuhina, White-browed Scimitar-Babbler, Lesser-necklaced Laughingthrush, Altai Accentor, Cinereous Tit, Grey-breasted Prinia, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Grey-sided Bush Warbler, Aberrant Bush Warbler, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler, Oriental Pied-Hornbill, Russet Bush Warbler, Yellow-billed Blue-Magpie, Little Spiderhunter, Himalayan Cutia, and several others.
Among the birds of prey, you get to sight Black Eagle, Steppe Eagle, Himalayan Griffon, Collared Falconet, and Black Baza.
Five days of birding in Latpanchar are sure to yield many, if not all, of these beauties. We purposely single out the best birding trails of Latpanchar so that each excursion into the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary is chockfull of bird sightings. Additionally, we may even get to see some of the sanctuary’s wildlife, though coming by the Bengal Tiger is rare.
Lodging: Over the years, Latpanchar has emerged as a holiday destination for those who want to avoid the hustle bustle of Darjeeling. This has led to the development of hospitality sector in the area. In the village itself, there are some home-stays that provide basic accommodation and an opportunity for a close look at local life. There are few luxury accommodations in the area. We choose for you the lodgings that are comfortable and offer quality service without snapping your purse strings.
Meals: Owing to the remoteness of Latpanchar, the variety in meals may be a bit limited, but rest assured that you will get three squares a day. Both vegetarian and meat-based meals are on the menu. Breakfast and dinner are at the hotel or resort, while lunch is usually taken in the field to save time for birding. Bengali sweet dishes are served for dessert. The food is delicious and cooked hygienically.
Tour Difficulty: The altitude in Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary ranges from 500 feet to 4500 feet. Goes without saying that the birding trails wind up and down the gentle slopes. We avoid steep climbs or descents but the birding walks can be long in forested hills. You should be able to put in the legwork while carrying your birding equipment and personal baggage. Longer distances around Latpanchar are covered by cab.
Tour Extension: There’s an interesting tour extension to avail with our Latpanchar birding trip. From the nearest city of Siliguri we can arrange wildlife safaris into the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. There’s a tiger safari and an Asiatic Black Bear safari into the deeper forests of the sanctuary. If you are interested, do let us know of the tour extension you want so that we can make necessary arrangements.
Climate: The best time to do our Latpanchar birding trip is from October to May. Summer in Bengal is hot and humid, but winter is quite cold. Birds are also out in large numbers around this time of year. Winter temperature may plummet to single digits. Do carry appropriate clothing for the birding tour. An odd shower too may take you surprise, so do bring along a quality raincoat as well.
Getting There: Getting to Jalpaiguri, the starting point of our Latpanchar birding tour, shouldn’t be a problem. The nearest airport is at Bagdogra, about 45 km away. Few international flights land there, but our guests from abroad can fly in first to Delhi or Kolkata and then take another flight to Bagdogra. From Bagdogra, you can easily get a taxi to Jalpaiguri, where our representative will meet you and drive you to Latpanchar.
Our Short Birding Tours of Latpanchar takes off in the northern Bengal city of Jalpaiguri. Upon your arrival in the city, our representative meets you at a location of your choice and then drives you to Latpanchar.
The northward route winds through small towns and villages of Bengal and the last 13 km is rough road rising into the mountains. After about a journey of three hours from Jalpaiguri, we arrive at the village of Latpanchar and check into a pre-booked resort. We rest and lunch and then go out for a birding excursion of Latpanchar. At the altitude of 4500 feet, the quiet village is the highest point in the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and affords great views of the Teesta river. To the north, the mighty Kanchenjunga can be seen standing tall. All around Latpanchar are lush hills with forests of sal, teak, pine and cinchona trees. This verdant landscape hosts around 200 bird species, some of which we get to see on our half-day birding excursion.
We wrap up the day’s birding around sunset, but if you want to look around for some nocturnal birds, we are game. Dinner and overnight at the resort.
What makes Latpanchar an excellent birding destination is its vantage position and proximity to Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. A narrow road goes down to the sanctuary and we can choose to walk or take a jeep to cover the distance of about five kilometres before we start exploring the birding trails of Latpanchar.
There are plenty of birds to be seen on these trails. Our bird targets for the day include Mountain Imperial-Pigeon, Red-headed Trogon, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Sultan Tit, Grey-hooded Warbler, Spot-winged Starling, Asian Barred Owlet, Long-tailed Broadbill, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Striated Bulbul, Hume's Warbler, Nepal Fulvetta, Rufous-bellied Niltava, Sapphire Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Black-throated Sunbird, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird, Streaked Spiderhunter, Mountain Scops-Owl, Black-chinned Yuhina, White-browed Scimitar-Babbler, Lesser-necklaced Laughingthrush, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Common Green-Magpie, Large Woodshrike, Blue-winged Minla, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Large Cuckooshrike, Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Black-crested Bulbul, Ashy Bulbul, Blue-winged Laughingthrush, Red-tailed Minla, Scaly Thrush, Hill Partridge, Greater-necklaced Laughingthrush, Collared Falconet, Himalayan Black-lored Tit, Mountain Tailorbird, and Eyebrowed Thrush, among others.
In the evening, we return to the resort for dinner and overnight.
On each day of our Short Birding Tours, we explore different birding trails of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary is spread over an area of 159 sq. km which varies in altitude from 500 feet to 4500 feet. At Latpanchar we are at the highest elevation, but we go down each day to different altitudes.
Besides the aforementioned cast of birds, we look out for the likes of Black Eagle, Steppe Eagle, Himalayan Griffon, Gray-capped Woodpecker, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Green Shrike-Babbler, White-bellied Erpornis, Cinereous Tit, Grey-breasted Prinia, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Grey-sided Bush Warbler, Aberrant Bush Warbler, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, Grey-chinned Minivet, Altai Accentor, Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Great Hornbill, Black-eared Shrike-Babbler, White-spectacled Warbler, Grey-bellied Tesia, Rufous Woodpecker, Black-throated Prinia, Yellow-browed Warbler, Yellow-vented Warbler, Green-billed Malkoha, Long-billed Thrush, Fire-tailed Sunbird, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Puff-throated Babbler, Bay Woodpecker, Whistler's Warbler, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Little Bunting, White-naped Yuhina, Little Forktail, Slaty-blue Flycatcher, Abbott's Babbler, Mountain Bulbul, Blyth's Shrike-Babbler, Blue-naped Pitta, Asian Emerald Cuckoo, and Hodgson's Frogmouth.
In the evening, we return to our resort for dinner and overnight.
On this tour, we aim to mark off as many birds as possible in the long avian checklist of Latpanchar. To that end, we keep our itinerary flexible and may return to the already explored birding trails or scour newer areas to watch the missing birds in the checklist.
The most prominent of these avian stunners include Oriental Pied-Hornbill, Pale-headed Woodpecker, Russet Bush Warbler, Yellow-billed Blue-Magpie, Little Spiderhunter, Pin-tailed Green-Pigeon, Silver-eared Mesia, Oriental Honey-buzzard, Grey-throated Babbler, Himalayan Cutia, Eurasian Hobby, Coal Tit, Black-throated Tit, Red-billed Leiothrix, Rufescent Prinia, Large Hawk-Cuckoo, Speckled Piculet, Grey-crested Tit, Pin-striped Tit-Babbler, Buff-barred Warbler, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Green Cochoa, Black-throated Thrush, Crimson-breasted Woodpecker, Rufous-breasted Accentor, Black Baza, Indian Pitta, Pale-chinned Blue Flycatcher, Short-billed Minivet, Pale Blue Flycatcher, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Tricolored Munia, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Crimson-browed Finch, Rufous-breasted Bush-Robin, Thick-billed Warbler, White-browed Piculet, and Scaly-breasted Cupwing.
We return to our resort for dinner and overnight.
After an early breakfast we do a quick birding tour of Latpanchar to make the most of the early hours before returning to the resort. We pack up and drive you to Jalpaiguri, taking the same route we came from. After about 3 hours of journey, we drop you at the airport or any other location of your choice in Jalpaiguri. The Latpanchar birding adventure comes to an end.
