![]() Though male birds are easy to spot in the wild due to their metallic glossy blue plumage, it is hard to spot females of the species where vegetation is too thick. ![]() Later that evening we celebrated the sighting with Ti-momo and vegetable-rice noodles! Himalayan Monal (♂ male) | Lophophorus impejanus | Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, East Sikkim, Sikkim Himalayan Monal (♀ - female) | Lophophorus impejanus | Tungnath, Chopta, Uttarakhand See the image, what I was reviewing at tea stall of Chopta. THE HIMALAYAN MONAL FULLIt was time for us to have lunch.Īfter a warm cup of milk-tea and a bowl full of noodles, I started reviewing images of Monal. In the morning, which took 50 minutes for me to trek uphill, the same path I descended down within 10 minutes and joined the group again at a local tea stall by mid noon. After waking up from nap of nearly one hour (didn't realise how time passed by quickly) I photographed a Lammergeier and an Olive-backed Pipit.įrom the top I could see the stone-cobbled path leading towards temple. I went asleep soon touched by clouds on a huge boulder, since I was too tired. After procuring memory card full of images, we took rest for few minutes. The best female of the specie I ever took was from Chopta. Though we saw three individual females and a male we could manage females only to be photographed, male of the specie was there only for split second. I saw a small backpack on a boulder and Shanker ji clicking Monals sitting beneath a overhang using that as his hide. At some point of time I thought probably Shanker is dead, and I am in a death circle encompassing the same path. Panting badly-nervous-lost I cried out loud by his name, but it was eerie and silent. On the way once for 10-15 minutes, I lost Shanker ji and became panic stricken. No trails or paved path was there, I just had to follow Shanker ji and we two managed to trek higher and higher until we reach to a fault line. This is me going uphill towards chandrashila. Photo courtesy: Tamanud Mitra (Link: Original post in Facebook) Myself trekking uphill towards Chandrashila, Shanker Ji was ahead of me by 50 meters. When we asked others to join us, they said a big "NO" to us, seeing the wall of mountain in front. After spotting his majesty, myself (Dibyendu Ash) decided to trek uphill by ~600 meters with Shanker Singh (a mountaineer guide cum paratrooper trainer). It was dizzling sometimes for 10-15 minutes when dark monsoon clouds were passing by, otherwise day was sunny at this altitude (at 12,000 ft).Įxactly at 10:33 AM, from the Tungnath Temple (highest Lord Shiva Temple in the world) we spotted a male perched on top a boulder to the ridge opposite to us distanced by 500 meters. Morning started with sighting of Grey-crested Tit and Red-billed Chough. ![]() ![]() ![]() A birding day, not to be forgotten easily, unless the head is hammered by Thor's hammer. Spending the night inside tent, next morning we started our birding days. After a full day drive from foothills, we reached at an altitude of 7,700 ft at Chopta. During my trip to Chopta valley for birding in the month of June '13, we started our journey from Kaladhungi. Chopta valley lies in Garhwal division of Uttarakhand, covered with Alpine steppe grassland, a perfect place to roost for this high altitude galliforme. Now let us start with the sighting from Chopta. Two places in this entire earth planet where these (elusive and) illusive beauty can be seen are - Chopta - Tungnath area in Uttarakhand and Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary (along old silk route) in East Sikkim. A dweller of high mountain ridges of Himalayas, found chiefly between 8,500 ft to 10,000 ft during winter months and above 10,000 ft in summers and falls. Himalayan Monal, is a bird of Galliforme family, who doesn't require a definition of beauty amongst all pheasants all over the world. Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, East Sikkim, Sikkim, India.Chopta valley and Tungnath, Uttarakhand, India. ![]()
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