Red-tailed Minla
After biscuits and tea we set off at 5:30 and drove for an hour, heading back towards the pass, Thrumshing La. The road from the pass to points further east is called the Limithang Road and is one of the most famous birding and natural history roads in the world. It goes from 12,000' wth conifers and rhododendrons down to 5000' with tree ferns and strangler figs, and further east, who knows?
We have three nights here and once on the bus I felt that I had missed an opportunity to take a day off and relax, paint, wander around the village. So when we screeched to a stop and there was a male Satyr Tragopan, a bright red pheasant, I was not wildly impressed. Fortunately, I recovered and began enjoying birding once again as we walked down the road after the bus dropped us off. We walked and birded and reached our crew who are camped on the side of the road and had set up our table with porridge and eggs.
We birded until 12;30 and returned to our hotel for lunch. Strangely our food crew made lunch even though the hotel had food already for a birding group from India. After lunch, David gave us two hours of free time!! I pulled out my water color kit and painted a couple of small paintings - not very good ones, but it was fun to do anyway. I did one of the tiny store across the street from us and one of the farming scene right out our back window; two oxen plowing a field!
At 3;30 we assembled at the bus and took off. Ben and David A. had already walked up the road, supposedly following David Bishop who had said he would look at butterflies during the break. We picked up the members of our group but didn't see David anywhere. We figured he may have hitched a ride, but when we got quite a ways up the road without meeting him we stopped and started to bird, but were worried. If one were to fall of the side of the road, one would disappear into the greenery and never be found! Wangji drove back towards the hotel. Finally 30 minutes later the bus appeared with David inside. He had started writing on his computer and had been tracking time on the computer which turned out to be an hour off!! He was considerably ashamed to have worried us so, but we were greatly relieved to have him back safe and sound!!
At 6 we got back to our hotel, quickly showered, and reassembled in the dining room to do the List - we go over a list of all the birds of Bhutan each day, noting the quantity of each species. As there is a group from Germany in addition to our Indian friends, it was going to be pretty noisy. The Trogon Villa is the only hotel in the area so it is a real magnet for birding groups from March to May, prime birding season. Bed at nine.
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