North India Tour,

Description:

Day 1
04 Feb'06
Morning fly from London to Delhi

Day 2
06 Feb'06
Early morning arrive Delhi and board connecting flight to Udaipur(9W 3401; 0645:0810 daily). Met on arrival and transferred to your hotel wher you will check in for 01 night. After freshening up in the hotel you will enjoy a morning bird watching session with your guide.
Later in the day you will have a sightseeing tour through the city of Udaipur with further chance to catch up with some birds that you might have missed in the morning. Overnight you will be in the hotel.

Day 3
06 Feb'06
Early morning you will go for a guided bird watching in the outskirts of Udaipur. Later you will be transferred by surface to Kumbalgarh (85 kms; 2 hrs15 mins). On arrival check in to your hotel for 02 nights.

Day 4
07 Feb'06
Morning you will explore the fort of Kumbalgarh which is at a commanding height on the Aravalli hills offering spectacular views of the adjoining forest sanctuary and the plains. Later you will go for a jeep safari to the nearby wildlife sanctuary.

Day 5
08 Feb '06
After a morning session of birding in Kumbalgarh you will drive to Siana where you will stay overnight to explore the possibilities of an encounter with the rare and elusive leopard.

Day 6
09 Feb'06
Morning you will transferred to Jodhpur wher you will stay for 1 night. On your way to the hotel you will get a very good chance to explore the wetlands and waterbodies of Jodhpur and the impressive Mehrangarh fort. Later you will proceed to Dechu for your night stay.

Day 7
10 Feb'06
Early morning you will drive to Khichan to be witness to the amazing spectacle of thousands of Demoiselle cranes living in close proximity to people. From here you will drive on to Jaisalmer and on arrival to Jaisalmer you will check in to your hotel for 03 nights.

Day 8&9
11 Feb &12 Feb'06
Early morning and throughout the day you will explore the Desert National Park. You will also visit the local waterbodies to check for the waterbirds and the waders.

Day 10
13 Feb'06
Morning after a session of birding you will proceed to Gajner for 01night. Here you will get a good view of a high number of waders, waterbirds and grassbirds in the adjoining lake and grass patch.

Day 11
14 Feb'06
Morning you will be transferred to Harike in Punjab State for 03 nights.

Day 12 & 13
13th & 14th Feb'06
You will be exploring the Harike lake where you have a good chance to see the Indian Skimmer and a lot more. One afternoon you will go for a tour of the Golden Temple in Amritsar the sanctum sanctirum of the 'Sikhs'.

Day 14
16th Feb'06
After a final morning birding in Harike you will be transferred to a nearby hotel airport for lobby use & facilities in Delhi.

Day 15
17th Feb'06
Early morning you will board your flight to London.

Extension:

Day 14
16th Feb'06
Early morning you will be transferred to Nainital for 03 nights. Here you will try to explore the Western Himalayan avifauna. Nainital lies at 1940mm and there are surrounding peaks to 2600mm. You will see birds like Black Headed Jay, Red Billed Blue Magpie and Chestnut Crowned Laughing Thrush within the city itself.
Our initial explorations will concentrate on the northern and western side of the town. Blue Whistling Thrushes can be seen all over. White Tailed Nuthatch, Blue Fronted Redstarts, Bartailed Treecreeper are some bird you can expect here. Later you will explore the higher ares of the town to look for Himalayan Giffrons and Lammergeier.
Also you might see the Himalayan and Rufousbellied Woodpeckers, Altai Accentors, Collared Grossbeaks.

Day 15 & 16
17th & 18th Feb'06
You will be trekking to Mongoli Valley(12 kms; 30 minutes) and Sattal over these two days not necessarily in that order. Mongoli valley is open woodland forest and offers good possibilities of Scarlet Finch, Smal and Rufous Nilatava, Chest Headed Tesia , some Bush warblers, Spotted and Slaty- backed Forktail. Also expected are the Crested Goshawk, Long Legged Buzzard, Mountain hawk Eagle, Black Francolin, Eurasian Crrag and Nepal House Martins, Red billed Leothrix, Blue Winged Minla, Hill Prinia, Fire breasted Flowerpecker.
Sat Tal(14 Kms, 40 minutes) is good for Rusty cheeked Scimitar Babbler,