Kashmir is one of the few places (if any other) where the epithet 'paradise' feels like a monumental understatement. What makes it so is not just the breathtaking natural beauty, but more so the wonderful people and their incredible hospitality, which warms up even the bleakest of winters. For birders, it also helps that it is a remarkably good birding destination even in the winters as migrants from higher altitudes descend to the valley and around. These include species found pretty much nowhere else in India, and so a trip was on the wish list for a while. The enthusiasm of Jaysingh meant that it actually happened, so one cold January evening, the usual suspects of Jay, Manjunath, Lakpa and yours truly assembled in Jay's lovely Gurgaon home, ready to fly out early the next morning.
We started off with an initial hiccup; as our flight to Srinagar taxied onto Delhi's runway, we were called back to the gate. Srinagar's airstrip was snowed under (or so they said) and we had to wait till things cleared up. That was followed by the Delhi runway being shut for some air force rehearsals, meaning that we were losing valuable birding time ! We finally took off a couple of hours late and landed to very light snow in Srinagar. Tariq bhai, our wonderful driver met us at the airport and took us to the Alhamra retreat, our abode for the next 5 days. There we were joined by Ansar Ahmad, who along with Irfan Jeelani are two of Kashmir's finest birders; it would be an absolute privilege to bird with these amazing gentlemen.
Without further ado, Ansar herded us straight to the Botanical Gardens for a prime target - Blyth's Rosefinch. As we walked around the thickets, we saw a couple of skulking Variegated Laughers, a lifer for Manju but they didn't quite fancy a photoshoot at that point. Ansar said that the Rosefinches would come to roost around 5pm and they did exactly that. They first sat in a bare tree far away and we waited, watching through our binocs and the spotting scope. Then they came closer, to a tree not too far away and we got a decent sighter and some photos. It was a big lifer, a winter visitor only to Kashmir. We celebrated with some outstanding Seekh Kababs and Kashmiri Kahwa at a restaurant right opposite the gate.
The next morning was set for the Yousmarg area, looking for the endemic Kashmir Nutcracker and Nuthatch. But what we got was snow, so much so that our car wouldn't go all the way up. We had to take another local car at Charar-i-Sharif who took us as far as Yousmarg town, but no further because of the snow. So no birding and certainly no Nutcracker, but we had a cracking time in the snow! We then fortified ourselves with some pakoras and tea and headed for our next target. Ansar took us to a settlement at the outskirts of Srinagar, walked down a narrow street, stopped and pointed high up on a tree - and in a hollow sat a Tawny Owl. Another of Kashmir's specialities! I had barely focused my camera when he quickly motioned us to walk on. We did, and we wondered why. Till, a hundred yards down and in another tree hollow, he showed us another Tawny Owl. This chap was in a far more open area and we could adjust our cameras better and get some decent photos. Another super bird ticked off!
Then we set out to find Pine Buntings and Bramblings. We realised that walking through a wet field is so much more difficult than it looks. Our shoes picked up a kilo of mud each, so walking was tougher with every step, not to mention far more slippery and treacherous. We made it without incident, but also without sightings of these targets. A flock of Plain Mountain Finches made up for it with a nice little sighter.
We weren't done yet though, on our way back Ansar stopped at a little stream (I'm being charitable, it was more like a nalah) and we walked up the little bridge that spanned it. In the reeds underneath was an old adversary - The Water Rail - a feathered fiend who has given me grief on more than one occasion, skulking and ghosting me without giving me a decent photo. No longer. This enemy was vanquished and how! Not one but two Water Rails strutted their stuff within the reeds right under us. our shutters fired non-stop, making some of the locals wonder what we were up to. When they saw what the target was, they were even more bemused, looking at us like we were off our rockers. But did I care? Not in the least, immersed as I was in battle. And it was on a triumphant note that I headed back to our hotel. Dinner that night tasted that much better!
The next day was set for Kangan, a couple of hours drive from Srinagar where Irfan would join us. Kangan has become quite a birding hotspot and a lot of that credit has to go to him for the tireless effort he has put in. We set off into a beautiful snow-covered pine forest and quickly realised that trudging through knee deep snow was no walk in the park! A Mistle Thrush kicked off proceedings and gave me a little breather from the trekking, but he didn't pose long enough for me to catch my breath. We headed forth for the grand prize - Kashmir Nuthatch. We finally managed a sighter, but the light was low and my photography skills even lower as I managed a couple of ordinary frames. But hey, it was a special bird and just sighting it was good enough. The onion parathas at lunch completed a super if tiring morning.
Turns out that that was only the appetiser, in many many ways. Post lunch, we headed to another part of Kangan and walked up a reasonably steep path, making me wish I'd eaten one paratha less! This was a scrubby hillside and we were searching for yet another rare winter visitor - the Eversmann's (or Rufous-backed) Redstart. But first, we got a belter of a sighting of a beautiful Black and Yellow Grosbeak. it posed patiently for the resident photographers and even the normally placid Lakpa was super excited with the prospect of a good photo.We then spent an hour walking higher and higher into the mountainside searching for the redstart. With no luck. The walk, especially as we kept searching high and low, got more and more challenging. At one point, Ansar took my camera as we attempted a particularly slippery stretch. And he promptly lost his footing too, meaning that the place was no joke to navigate. Luckily, no harm done.
All that work eventually paid off as Irfan finally spotted the bird. Manju and he were closest as they got some really good pictures. The subject felt he needed to give us a change of background, so he hopped over to a faraway rock and posed. We managed to get slightly closer and I loosed off a couple of decent frames. On our way down, Manju's adversary, a Winter Wren, teased him quite a bit, hopping in and out of the bushes but never posing for more than a nano-second. We finally gave up and headed to base, dropping Irfan off on the way.
There was more to come. En route we stopped over at a riverside and walked down to the water. A Little Forktail kicked off the session and then we found what Ansar was looking for - Ibisbill. Five of them. And they were so incredibly camouflaged that it was a 'now you see it, now you don't' moment with each of them as they moved in and out of the rocks. Fascinated, we kept watching and shooting them till the light gave up on us. There was still time for a little more excitement - we read social media reports of a flock of extremely rare Long-tailed Ducks in Wular lake, about 90kms south of Srinagar. Ansar said we'd go the day after, making sure that the birds were sighted again the next day. And we prayed.
Morning dawned, bright and cold, but we could sleep in for a bit. The birding was to be in Dachigam National Park, a few kilometres from our hotel. Dachigam is famous for being the home of the Hangul, or Kashmir Stag, a critically endangered species. But our focus this morning would be the Orange Bullfinch, another of the star species on our list. We walked down the tar road, almost upto the gates of the national park when we got our first sighter of this stunning bird. A flock came up to feed on the nearby bushes and gave us a decent sighter. We started walking through the forest in search of more flocks and for some other species like White-throated Tits and Chestnut Thrush. We got a sighting of the latter, giving Jay another lifer, but no sign of the Tit. But we did get another belter of a sighting of an Orange Bullfinch, in brilliant colours. That, along with a beautiful walk through the forest made it a very special morning in paradise.
A sumptuous lunch of the most delicately flavoured Kashmiri Pulao almost derailed the afternoon plans, so sated were we all. Ansar, as always, kept us honest and focused on our targets for the afternoon - Pine Buntings, Bramblings and Yellowhammer, three more of Kashmir's winter tourists. We headed to the Hokersar wetland near Srinagar where we were joined by Reyan Sofi, another ace birder and a local. We spent the afternoon trudging through fields and jumping over fences to access the birds. There as a glut of Pine Buntings, and to find the other two species in the galaxy of Pines was a monumental task. After much waling and sifting, we finally settled on a mixed flock on a faraway tree. Using Jay's spotting scope, we were finally able to clearly see a couple of Bramblings and a brilliantly coloured Yellowhammer. Getting pictures of these skittish birds was a task even beyond the super-quick and resourceful Manjunath. A trek down to the water's edge yielded another much-coveted lifer, a Water Pipit. And we retired for the day, secure in the knowledge that the Long-tailed ducks were still around at Wular Lake. What wasn't as comforting was a sudden, searing pain in my left knee, totally out of nowhere.
The knee was better behaved in the morning but the weather was playing truant. Wular Lake was shrouded in fog and then it started to rain. And then a flurry of snow for good measure. We were reunited with Irfan for the morning and got an opportunity to meet Mr. Jagjit Singh, another of Kashmir's pioneering birders. The local boatmen predicted that the weather would clear by 11 am, but we weren't very hopeful. it did start clearing up though, but there was so sign of the ducks. Manju bravely went for a sortie with Ansar and almost ended up as an ice sculpture! And even as we were running out of hope, a flock of five ducks flew into view and landed in the water. A dekko through the binocs confirmed that they were indeed Long-tailed! What a spectacular bonus this was; a lifer for everyone who was present. We slid down to the water's edge and got into the little boat - nothing like adrenaline running high to overcome pain.
And so we got some decent photos of one super rare bird, seen in India after decades. Wular would be a pilgrimage site for India's birders for a few weeks after. Then we celebrated with Masal Chot, a Kashmir Roll if you like, from an elderly vendor next to the lake. He made them with so much care and with such joy that we all had multiple helpings. So it was a bunch of happy and well-fed birders that made the trip back to Srinagar. Some Tufted Ducks on Dal Lake completed the morning and even a largely uneventful trip to the Botanical Gardens in the afternoon failed to dampen our spirits. It was a historic day, with the Long-tailed Duck sighting making lamenting any misses seem quite petty. A dinner at Ahdoo's, one of Srinagar's oldest restaurants, was an extra sweet cherry on an overflowing cake.
Our first attempt at birding in paradise was an unquestioned triumph, not in the least because of Ansar and Irfan, amazing birds and incomparable hosts. There's still much to see in Paradise, so a repeat trip (or three) is on a very imminent anvil.
Kashmir Trip Guide
That Kashmir is paradise on earth is well known, but the birding paradise bit is less than a decade old. There are birds here in summer and winter, some which are found nowhere else in this vast country of ours. Srinagar is a wonderful base for all your birding expeditions.
How to get there
Srinagar is well connected to Delhi, with regular flights everyday and through Delhi to the rest of India.
Where to stay
Kashmir (and Srinagar) is tourist central, so there are many places to stay. We stayed at the Alhamra, a cozy, comfortable and welcoming hotel.
Birding
Irfan and Ansar are absolute legends. They leave no stone unturned to help you get what you're seeking and far far more.You can reach them on +91 7006280345 (Irfan) or +91 9018778977 (Ansar)
Food
Kashmiri cuisine is absolutely divine, and Ansar and Irfan take you to some really special places, so be prepared to go berserk a little bit.
Other tips
Temperatures in Kashmir routinely go below freezing in winter so do carry appropriate gear.
Wet weather protection is also important, for self and cameras.
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Bar-tailed Creeper |
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| Streaked Laughingthrush |
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| Black-throated Thrush |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Blue Whistling Thrush |
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| Yellow-billed Blue Magpie |
