Namdapha-Mishmi-Dehing: A Trip of a Lifetime, Grand Birding Experience-Part 3

 Trip Summary

This trip was an exploration through Assam and Arunachal Pradesh for birdwatching. I visited these states during late April 2026 during peak season for Mishmi Hills and Dihing-Patkai National Park. We visited 3 bird hotspots (Namdapha National Park, Dihing-Patkai National Park and Mishmi Hills) and saw quite a few birds between the hotspots. This blog is about my trip and how the birding went. In the trip I saw 40 lifers which boosted me to 721 bird species observed in India, the rarest being the Silver Backed Needletail.

Part-3: The Mishmi Hills, Sec-2

As we woke up, we started the day early. However, it was raining beyond Chikopani bridge (on the way to high-altitude Mayudiya pass) and we decided to not go above Tiwari Gaon the whole day. We left camp and went to Tiwari Gaon and kept venturing around a similar altitude and we saw a Rufous Faced Warbler. A bird which I thought was a bit weird because all the Abroscopus Warblers look very different, unlike the Phylloscopus Warblers like Green and Greenish Warblers. Anyways, I am dissapointed in the story of how I found the Gray Headed Parrotbill, the Parrotbill sighting was great and occurred quickly but the problem was that I wasted 1-1.5 Hours searching for these Lesser Shotwing things where I presume there vocal chords burst and they keep calling and we followed them, they went up and down the bush next to the road and we kept chasing them at one point we just gave up. And then we had the pain relief in the form of the Long-Billed Wren Babbler (in my words the Long-Named Wren Babbler). The bird came in the open with zero hesitation. I saw an extremely long bill and a feather tuft on the shoulder (I think a feather tuft on the shoulder was in an eBird photo also) and overall, my early morning frustration melted away. 

Mithuns resting

Next up we had Tiwari Gaon Maggi and were praying for a Tristram’s Bunting (very rare) to pay Mishmi another visit but instead we got a Little Bunting in what I assume is breeding plumage. So we got a Bunting Lifer at the end. Then while looking at a mixed flock of Minivets, Minlas, Woodpeckers, Parrotbills and Mesias we saw movement in the undergrowth and realized that it was a Gray Sided Bush Warbler. I observed the bird clearly and was able to differentiate this from Brownish easily. Towards late afternoon, we decided to head to Sally Lake at lower altitude. Over there, we found the bold Black Backed Forktail, so bold in fact it just was not scared to walk in front of us until we were a meter away. After that we heard a Blue Naped Pitta but we couldn’t locate it. We decided to head back to camp and rest for the night.

A female Blyths Tragopan while we were busy with Mishmi Wren Babbler (mobile pic)

The next day, the forecast showed clear weather so we decided to do high altitude birding. We first stopped by to see a Hill Partridge on the road. By my experience in every other Himalayan trip, I have never ever seen it, leave alone seeing it in the open. In the process, I also spotted and Identified a Rufous Fronted Babbler, an achievement for me to ID a lifer. Then I see the hero of the trip and how happy I was to see the bird I have near missed almost as many times as the Tickell’s Leaf Warbler, the Mishmi Wren Babbler with its own rusty throat. Let the years pass, be it 2024 or 2026, after 9 days of effort over multiple trips, I had finally seen the Mishmi Wren Babbler. We move on to see a roadside Slender Billed Scimitar Babbler and I was surprised to see how comparatively tiny to Indian Scimitar Babblers and how the ‘Scimitar’ term matches perfectly for this bird. Back at the Maya Hotel, we went to the hide and got surprised by the Scaly Laughingthrush, another lifer; Maya Hotel surprises me every single time. 

Long-Billed Wren Babbler

Manipur Fulvetta

Moving further uphill, we saw the Manipur Fulvetta, a bird which looks like a cartoon character with an extremely disproportioned head. We missed the Broad Billed Warbler, which apparently looks like a tailorbird. After walking on the road for a long time and eventually reached 65 mile. From there, we went further down to miss a Rusty Bellied Shortwing and decided to turn back. We finally packed up from Frogmouth Camp and set sail for Dehing-Patkai. On the way, and after entering Assam, we found two Slender Billed Vultures; a bird which has become Endangered due to use of Diclofenac in cattle. The medicine in carcass makes the vulture eggshells prone to breakage.

Slender billed vulture

Trip List Mishmi Namdapha Dihing Apr-26

Bird pics courtesy: Kalpa Sonowal