a birders paradise
that is what this place is known to be
many visit this place which is also
popularly known as
the silk route
but very few care to notice the amazing
bird life
that exists here
so this video is a mixture of the photos
which i received back in 2016
and now in 2020 so i hope you will like
it
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so where is pangolaka
out of the eight wildlife protected
areas in sikkim
Pangolakha wildlife sanctuary is a
wildlife reserve
in the east sikkim district of the state
of
sikkim in india
the total notified area of the park
is around 124 square kilometers
altitudinal range of the sanctuary
lies between 1760 meters to 4390 meters
due to this altitudinal variation
one can find a lot of eco zones here
now how to reach here well
sikkim is well connected to siliguri in
west bengal
and one can reach at njp railway station
from kolkata
by an overnight train or access the air
route at bagdogra airport also
from siliguri one can hire a car
and reach Rongli at sikkim first within
three to four hours
here you need to make the permits for
entering into this restricted area
after that you can have your first stay
at padamchen
which marks the beginning of the
sanctuary it will take you another 2
hours
to reach here
so this is the forest check post and we
need to
do the payment for the passes over here
for camera
and stuff because we are entering into
pangolakha wildlife sanctuary
padamchen is a small hamlet
in the old silk route at a distance of
only 5.5 kilometers
from nimachen altitude of padamchen is
around
7000 feet and mostly covered by
temperate broadleave forests with thick
undergrowth vegetation there are plenty
of staying options in affordable home
stays here
our tryst with the avian beauties
started from the homestay itself
it was early morning of march 2020
and what a find it was to begin with
barred
cuckoo dove
it is extremely difficult to capture the
video of a bird
without using the tripod hence whenever
i had the opportunity
i made use of it but in most cases
i could manage only photographs
but one thing for sure is that you need
to start
early with the first sunlight as the
birds are very active
in the early hours of the day till
around 8 am
after which there is a silence again in
the afternoon
after around 3 pm you may find some
activity in most cases
well let me tell you that the males
among birds
are more attractively colored in
majority of the cases
this will help you identify the upcoming
pictures
and videos
another stunning sighting black throated
sunbird
the monastery at Lingtam is a nice place
to visit
surrounded by lots of bird activity
around
back in 2016 may near the famous kyokhola
falls
we could view the beautiful plumbeous
water
red start
i will stop the narration now for you to
enjoy some pictures of birds
found here
 
this was just the beginning pangolakha
wildlife sanctuary
with its biodiversity and altitudinal
variations
has a vast range of bird species that
dwell here
within a few hours one can gain two to
three thousand feet
in altitude thus many birds which are
found to reside in summers
in the higher altitudes migrate to the
lower ones during winter
there are very few places on earth which
present such an opportunity
to the wildlife we will now move to the
higher altitudes
of zuluk - nathang before returning to
padamchen
and the nearby areas again on our return
journey
we got some exotic species on our way
back
so stay tuned till the end
zuluk is a small hamlet at an altitude
of 9000 feet
and mostly covered by pines and stepped
grasslands
stay options in zuluk car home stays
mainly
the main attraction of this area is the
zigzag road
on clear days one can even see the
magnificence of
mighty kanchanjanga from a nearby
viewpoint
named as tambi this place
is at a distance of around 10 kilometers
from padamchen
few areas in zuluk are restricted for
photographers
since those areas lie under army
surveillance
it was raining that day in march 2020
and we checked into our hotel quietly to
enjoy the rain
come snowfall from our room and from the
balcony itself
we were treated to a variety of bird
life
the first one was yellow billed blue
magpie
they usually come in pairs or in flocks
of up to
10.
a blue fronted red start back in 2016
we had come in may and the activity of
birds
were very prominent at that time because
it was the mating season
with full blooming rhododendrons around
we had found a lot of Pikas around
mainly two varieties
the indian pika and the moupin's Pika
in zuluk we often come across these guard
posts
along the edges of the road made for
safety
who knew that on one of the bends you
will find the himalayan buzzard
sitting on top of it a perfect perching
spot
to look over the area
don't get surprised if you spot a flying
streak of fire
suddenly in such a landscape out of
nowhere you may spot a small
fireball moving in the distant branches
it is the beautiful fire-tailed sunbird
in march 2020 when i came here again
i was welcomed with heavy snowfall it
was challenging to do birding under such
circumstances
as they don't do much activity when it
is either raining
or snowing however i saw a huge flock of
plane mountain finches
near dupidara they breed on these
alpine
slopes winters in open forests
and upland cultivation
i was overwhelmed to find out another
flock
which initially looked like the mountain
finches from a distance
but i was excited to find out that it
was the winter visitor to the himalaya
altai accentor they are characterized
by an extensive
white throat and diffused rufous
spotting across the breast
extending onto the flanks
the weather in pangolakha is very
unpredictable
with clouds moving in every now and then
so we will now share the experience of
sighting the most colorful bird of the
himalaya
the himalayan monal when we were driving
uphill in the summers of 2016
on one of the bends our driver stopped
and pointed towards the edge of the road
well
you will confuse it to be one of the
roadside indicators
but there it was scanning the valley
underneath
and then it flew down and gave us a
spectacular view of the habitat
and itself a multicolored dot
amongst the barren landscape what a view
it was
it then sat on an edge giving us a
wonderful habitat shot
in search of a better sighting we headed
further up in altitude
we reached lungthung a small hamlet
took breakfast and were just walking on
the road when i turned back
to the dwellings to see one monal
coming down the slope it was foraging
all the while while coming down
and we had loads of pictures so let us
now enjoy these pictures
during our short stay for a few hours in
lungthung
we had another terrific experience with
a mammal
the siberian weasel
dark breasted rose finch a bright and
beautiful bird
it was the flowering season and they had
come in large flocks
enjoying the nectar from the
rhododendrons
on our way to nathan valley we got to
see
eurasian cuckoo rufous morph
it was raining and it was sitting pretty
on the tree branch
we also got a very short glance at the
beautiful fire tailed mizornis
as soon as you cross laxman chowk you
will notice that the vegetation in most
of the places are covered by rocky
outcrops rhododendron shrubs and stepped
grasslands
nathan valley is at a distance of 22
kilometers from zuluk
but lies above the snow line altitude
being 14
000 feet the oxygen level is also lower
by at least one third than that of the
plains
kupup is the last bordering village in
old silk route at an altitude of 14
200 feet and at a distance of 18
kilometers from nathan valley
the main attraction is the kupup lake
called elephant lake
because of the shape of an elephant that
it has with its trunk
on the farther side on our way back
from kupup we found the alpine accentor
 
further down we got to see two important
mammals of the region
himalayan Serow and himalayan brown goral
back in zuluk i found myself a favorable
spot
to look over in the valley in front with
small shrubs and trees
ideal for birds to perch on and was not
disappointed
 
 
it was now time to go down back to padamchen
so we started early so that we could do
some birding on the way
we were not at all disappointed by the
decision
like this the birds were abundant here
i could photograph only a few pangolakha
still
remains a heaven for hundreds of bird
species
recently it has also become a hot spot
for normal tourists
and with it the small hamlets are also
growing in size
but if we keep throwing wastes on the
mountain slopes like this
this beautiful place will get destroyed
very soon
the birds will also lose their home so
whatever we do
we need to do it sustainably without
harming nature
if we learn to coexist with them then
both will be benefited
or else at first the birds will vanish
then surely it will be our turn
