Although assignments for October and November were cancelled after the September protests, November turned out fairly well; I even had an opportunity to return to the mountains. But before I describe that, the Mustang mountain-bike trip that started around 24 October came to an end at the start of the month.
Continuing in Mustang, the ride went up to Titi Lake and then down to Tatopani, where we packed the bikes and left for Pokhara in the afternoon. It had been a couple of years since I last visited the lake, so I was looking forward to seeing which migratory birds were in the area.
After a 30-minute ride uphill, we finally reached Titi Lake. The warm sun and the view called for a short break. Looking down at the water, I spotted a couple of Great Cormorants perched on a dead tree branch near the shore. Ducks were plentiful; I could make out Eurasian Coots and Mallards resting at the water’s edge. Nearby, a few trout could be seen swimming.
A stone-slab pathway leads to the road on the south side of the lake. Riding down it, I noticed a Eurasian Wren grooming itself on a fallen tree. Further toward the lake, I saw Gadwall and Eurasian Wigeon leisurely floating in the middle of the water. This little lake always showcases impressive biodiversity, but without proper rules and management, I can see it turning into what Dhumba Lake has become: a highly disturbed ecological place. What alarmed me was a sitting bench placed very close to the shoreline: it damages the shore and disturbs the birds, much like the situation at Dhumba.
After Titi Lake, we headed to Kunjo village with Nilgiri South and other peaks in the background, then on to Chhyo village and downhill to Tatopani, which concluded the mountain-bike tour for the year. Mustang is changing fast as new road networks spread, and changing weather patterns may alter the high alpine desert dramatically: late and heavy rainfalls could bring new problems we haven’t seen before. For me, this trip, even though it was late in October, was about brainstorming, creating plans A, B, and even C, and tackling issues caused by the rain. Clear skies and visible mountains were largely absent; I’m hoping for the clearer springs and autumns we used to have in the years to come.
Back in Kathmandu, I was offered another assignment: to work as a first responder for Everest Skydive. I said yes immediately. Skydiving has always been on my bucket list, and here I could observe operations up close in a high-altitude zone where hypoxia is a concern.
The flight to Lukla from Kathmandu was beautiful: the crisp morning weather showed the Himalayan range to the north. I searched for trails from above that I had walked from Jiri to Lukla while recce-ing for a race in 2018. New jeep tracks have replaced many singletracks, and I could see the jeep track that runs from Phaplu toward Surke. Landing at Lukla was smooth as always. We then headed to the helipad and flew directly to Syangboche, where the skydive would take place. The helicopter crew prepared the aircraft while the skydive team got ready with their equipment. I chose a couple of places to sit around the landing zone and keep my responder and first aid kits so they would be easy to reach if needed.
Over the next couple of days, I watched jumps that were happening from about 7000 meters, including Hop-n-Pop and HALO jumps. It was a great learning opportunity: jumpers prepared their gear, including the priority/check given to the portable oxygen system carried by the jumpers, and the helicopter crew followed standard operating protocols before takeoff and during the jumps. Usually, the jumps finished by 3 p.m., after which we’d head back to the hotel to relax. On the first day, I returned to Lukla and took a short hike into the woods behind the hotel. I saw at least four or five White-collared Blackbirds foraging on the ground. As the sun set behind the big hills to the east, a flock of White-browed Fulvettas moved slowly through the trees, and I also noticed a couple of Yellow-billed Blue Magpies with fruits on their beaks, perched briefly before flying away.
From day two, I stayed in Syangboche, a 15-minute hike from the landing zone to the hotel. Walking the pine and juniper treeline on the way to and from the hotel, I spotted Rosefinches, White-winged Grosbeak, and once a Himalayan Monal foraging in a rock-fenced meadow. The hotel occupies a beautiful location overlooking Ama Dablam, Everest, and the valley below; the sunsets were magical, with clouds sometimes sweeping over the landscape.
On the third day, the jumps finished by 1 p.m., so after lunch, I explored behind the hotel. Weaving through the pine trees, I found a single track leading to a meadow with a small brook flowing between the grasslands. I stationed myself at the meadow’s northern end to soak up the late-afternoon sun and listen to the birds. A woman carrying a woven bamboo basket walked the trail searching the area. When I asked what she was collecting, she said yak dung. In the high mountains of Nepal, yak dung remains an important fuel source for cooking or heating the house because wood is scarce.
As the sun sank behind Kongde Ri, I saw at least three or four species: Himalayan White-browed Rosefinch, Red-throated Thrush, Rufous-vented Tit, and Himalayan Vulture. The cold arrived with the dusk, so I took some photos of the Red-throated Thrush and headed back to the hotel, where I spotted another Himalayan Monal foraging. I couldn’t document it because my camera was set to time-lapse for the sunset. I also glimpsed a Mountain Weasel near the gate, but it disappeared into the bushes.
On the fourth day, there were two jumps from the Ama Dablam area, with the landing zone set at Ama Dablam Base Camp. We flew to base camp first with the required equipment and landed there to prepare the site. The second flight brought in the jumpers, and preparations began. The base camp had snow, but it was tightly packed and easy to walk on. The views of the surrounding mountains were incredible, and watching the helicopter take the jumpers up to around 7,000 m was an unforgettable sight. Both the jumps and landings were perfectly executed. After the operation, we flew back to Syangboche, then to Lukla later in the day, and returned to Kathmandu on an early-morning flight the following day.
No matter how many times I return to the Everest region, it never feels monotonous. The biodiversity and the altitude range you can cover are astonishing, and I still have many species left to document here. This trip was an amazing opportunity to learn new things and meet talented people.
Back in Kathmandu, the remainder of the month was spent working from home with some early-morning mountain-bike rides. I went on a morning birding trip to Shivapuri with Prakash dai and Abishkar dai. I focused on documenting plants but also recorded birds such as Fire-tailed Sunbird, Blue-throated Barbet, Oriental Turtle Dove, Himalayan Bulbul, Long-tailed Minivet, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Black-throated Thrush, and Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon. Walking the buffer zone of the national park, you encounter different mammals and birds depending on the season and time of day.
My last outing of the month was a solo morning ride to Bhimdhunga to survey birds and wintering plants. The idea worked: I saw Common Kestrel, Black Bulbul, Great Barbet, Grey Treepie, Black Kite, and Blue Whistling-Thrush, among others. Great Barbets and Black Bulbuls were feeding on the fruits of a tree I couldn’t identify; Blue-throated Barbets dropped by occasionally.
A pair of Orange-bellied Leafbirds were busy foraging on a Wild Himalayan Cherry tree in full bloom; the pink flowers glowed in the morning sun as rays trickled over the hill. One interesting (but poorly documented) sighting was a Red-billed Leiothrix moving inside a Lantana bush, shy and hard to photograph because of the foliage. I’ll definitely be back in December to try for a better picture.
Overall, a good month in the field. Below are some of the species I was able to document or observe in November.
Bird:
Great Cormorant, Eurasian Wren, Eurasian Coot, Mallard, Gadwall ♂ ♀, Eurasian Wigeon, Orange-bellied Leafbird ♂ ♀, White-collared Blackbird, White-browed Fulvetta, Yellow-billed Blue Magpie, Himalayan white-browed rosefinch ♂ ♀, Himalayan Monal ♂, Black-faced Laughingthrush, Red-throated Thrush ♂ ♀, Rufous-vented Tit, White-winged Grosbeak ♂, Fire-tailed Sunbird ♀, Blue-throated Barbet, Oriental Turtle Dove, Himalayan Bulbul, Long-tailed Minivet ♀, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker ♂, Black-throated Thrush ♀, Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon, Common Kestrel, Red-billed Leiothrix, Black Bulbul, Great Barbet, Grey Treepie, Black Kite, Blue whistling Thrush, etc.
Insect:
Indian Tortoiseshell Butterfly, etc.
Mammal:
Mountain Weseal.
Reptile:
Oriental Garden Lizard.
Flora:
Jacaranda, Morning Glory, Bristletips (Oxyspora paniculata), Crimson Seeded Sedge (Carex baccans), False Staghorn Fern (Dicranopteris linearis), Pleasant Luculia (Luculia gratissima), Yellow Flax (Reinwardtia indica), Wild Himalayan Cherry (Prunus cerasoides), Knotweed, etc.
Ajay Narsingh Rana
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