Situated at an altitude of about 2000 meters in the Himalayas, Pangot was the final destination of the trip. Pangot is home to about 250 bird species. Here I stayed at the Jungle Lore Birding Lodge, the first birding lodge established in the region. The first three days in Pangot I had a guide. After 15 strenuous bird-watching days, I stayed for another three days at this lodge. The driver was still with me these last days, so I could visit nearby areas even without a guide.
In Pangot we checked for birds at many different locations. One of the most memorable was Cheer Point, a nice place where the road was winding across a tree-less overlook. Cheer Point is named after the Cheer Pheasant, a bird species we did not see. But Cheer Point was excellent for vultures and eagles. Numerous Himalayan Vultures were soaring past Cheer Point in the mornings, and I ended up with hundreds of photos of these majestic giants.
Another target species in Pangot is the Koklass Pheasant. This species we did find twice. Also, mentionable birds we found in Pangot are the three species of Accentors (Altai, Black-throated and Rufous-breasted). Furthermore, a highlight for me here was the only sighting of the Bearded Vulture / Lammergeier. All in all, Pangot was an excellent birding destination, and I had a very fine stay there.
Himalayan Vulture (Gyps himalayensis)
Himalayan Vulture
Himalayan Vulture
Cinereous Vulture / Munkegribb (Aegypius monachus)
A juvenile Bearded Vulture / Lammegribb (Gypaetus barbatus)
Black Eagle (Ictinaetus malaiensis)
Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela)
Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus)
Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis)
Himalayan Buzzard (Buteo refectus)
Himalayan Buzzard
Upland Buzzard (Buteo hemilasius)
Upland Buzzard
Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus)
Oriental Honey-buzzard
Eurasian Sparrowhawk / Spurvehauk (Accipiter nisus)
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Our Asian Adventure car parked at Cheer Point, Pangot
View from Cheer Point. A good lookout for raptors and vultures!
Looking for birds in Pangot. Here we found the Koklass Pheasant
Alpine Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) harassing a Himalayan Vulture
Koklass Pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha)
Koklass Pheasant
Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos)
View from Cheer Point toward the lowland further south
Brown-fronted Woodpecker (Dendrocoptes auriceps)
Scaly-bellied Woodpecker (Picus squamatus)
Rufous-bellied Woodpecker (Dendrocopos hyperythrus)
Rufous-bellied Woodpecker. Also callaed a sapsucker (look at the holes in the tree!)
Himalayan Woodpecker (Dendrocopos himalayensis)
Himalayan Woodpecker
Terrace farming, to retain or remove water and reduce the steepness of the hill
Dalveer doing his eBird list on site
Common Wood Pigeon / Ringdue (Columba palumbus)
Red-rumped swallow (Cecropis daurica)
Rufous Sibia (Heterophasia capistrata)
Rufous Sibia
Eurasian Jay / Nøtteskrike (Garrulus glandarius)
Eurasian Jay
A placed called Woodpecker Point
Pangot birding location
Black-headed Jay (Garrulus lanceolatus)
Grey Treepie (Dendrocitta formosae)
Red-billed Blue Magpie (Urocissa erythroryncha)
Oriental Turtle-dove (Streptopelia orientalis)
Striated Laughingthrush (Grammatoptila striatus)
Streaked Laughingthrush (Trochalopteron lineatum)
Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush (Trochalopteron erythrocephalum)
Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush
White-throated Laughingthrush (Pterorhinus albogularis)
Dalveer looking for the Golden Bush Robin (another species we did not find)
Tickell's Thrush (Turdus unicolor)
Black-throated Thrush (Turdus atrogularis)
Blue Whistling Thrush (Myophonus caeruleus)
Grey-winged Blackbird (Turdus boulboul)
Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush (Monticola rufiventris)
Indian White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus)
Bar-tailed Treecreeper (Certhia himalayana)
Bar-tailed Treecreeper
Himalayan Prinia (Prinia crinigera)
White-throated Fantail (Rhipidura albicollis)
Grey-crowned Prinia (Prinia cinereocapilla)
The Grey-crowned Prinia is a rare bird species
Green-tailed Sunbird (Aethopyga nipalensis)
Black-throated Bushtit (Aegithalos concinnus)
Himalayan Coal Tit (Periparus ater aemodius/rufipectus)
Black-crested Tit (Periparus ater melanolophus)
Yellow-browed Tit (Sylviparus modestus)
Yellow-browed Tit
Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus)
Green-backed Tit (Parus monticolus)
White-tailed Nuthatch (Sitta himalayensis)
Upland Pipit (Anthus sylvanus)
Grey Bush Chat (Saxicola ferreus)
Grey Bush Chat
Black Bulbul (Hypsipetes leucocephalus)
Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach)
White-browed Shrike-babbler (Pteruthius aeralatus)
Difficult photography in the tree-tops! Maroon Oriole (Oriolus traillii)
Spotted Forktail (Enicurus maculatus)
Blue-winged Minla (Actinodura cyanouroptera)
Himalayan Bluetail (Tarsiger rufilatus)
Himalayan Bluetail
Slaty-blue Flycatcher (Ficedula tricolor)
The red Tree Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) was blooming in the Himalayas
Blue-capped Redstart (Phoenicurus coeruleocephala)
Blue-capped Redstart
Blue-fronted Redstart (Phoenicurus frontalis)
Blue-fronted Redstart
Grey-hooded Warbler (Phylloscopus xanthoschistos)
Black-chinned Babbler (Cyanoderma pyrrhops)
Hume's Leaf Warbler / Blekbrynsanger (Phylloscopus humei)
Hume's Leaf Warbler. This species eluded me at several locations. It was very difficult to get photos of as it quickly moved around in the branches. Luckily, during my last day in Pangot I found this individual. Species ID confirmed on Birdforum
There are mnay species of Phylloscopus leaf warblers in the Himalayan region. They can be very difficult to identify. This is also Hume's Leaf Warbler
Confirmed as Hume's Leaf Warbler on a bird ID forum
Buff-barred Warbler (Phylloscopus pulcher)
Lemon-rumped Leaf-warbler (Phylloscopus chloronotus)
Grey-hooded Warbler (Phylloscopus xanthoschistos)
Brown-flanked Bush Warbler (Horornis fortipes)
Black-faced Warbler (Abroscopus schisticeps)
Black-faced Warbler
Altai Accentor (Prunella himalayana)
Altai Accentor
Black-throated Accentor (Prunella atrogularis)
Black-throated Accentor
Rufous-breasted Accentor (Prunella strophiata)
Rufous-breasted Accentor
Spot-winged Grosbeak (Mycerobas melanozanthos)
Spot-winged Grosbeak
Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia)
Rock Bunting
Yellow-breasted Greenfinch (Chloris spinoides)
Russet Sparrow (Passer cinnamomeus)
Roadside birding in Pangot
Soaring vultures in Pangot
Sibynophis collaris, commonly known as the Common Many-toothed Snake
Common Many-toothed Snake
The diseased snake was slowly being devoured by what I think is the Common Asian Yellowjacket wasp (Vespula flaviceps)
Himalayan Goral (Naemorhedus goral)
Small Copper / Ildgullvinge (Lycaena phlaeas). Not 100% sure about species ID here
Indian Tortoiseshell (Aglais caschmirensis)