My Journey to the 1000 lifer : January, 2025

Van Hasselt's Sunbird

My January 2025 birding trip to Dosdewa forest, Karimganj was planned in September 2024. Dr Sanjeeth Peter, a senior birder with varied interests and a well known cardio surgeon from Gujarat offered me to join his group for a 3 -day birding trip to Dosdewa forest from January 12, 2025. I was more than happy to go as my earlier attempts for slots at this place in 2023 and 2024 could not fructify. This place is known to have some amazing and rare bird sightings and all birders look forward to a visit here. With my lifer list derailing at 998 on the last day of 2024, I was waiting for the two elusive lifers to reach the 1000 life list. An additional attraction was that I was sure that I will be able to spot at least 7-9 lifers. Van Hasselt's Sunbird, named after a Dutch medical student, one of the most colourful sunbirds found in North-East India and South-East Asia, is a sure sighting, restricted to small areas of Karimganj district.

I took the evening flight from Delhi to Kolkata on January 11 and the 7 am flight from Kolkata to Silchar the next day. Though I was supposed to travel in the same flight with Dr Peter from Kolkata due to an oversight, I took the later flight to Silchar. It was an hour's flight and I landed at 8 am. The airport was very small and nothing fancy with only two old conveyor belts. Dr Sanjeeth Peter and Sonal Jain, an HR professional from Mumbai were waiting for an hour at the airport for my arrival. We immediately left for Karimganj, which is nearly three hours drive from Silchar.

Silchar Airport

Shacks opposite Airport

During the drive, Dr Sanjeeth Peter narrated his close association with Dosdewa forest birding camp and with Mr Rejoice Gassah who runs the place with his brothers. Dr Peter helped Rejoice find the locations for setting up bird hides in the Dosdewa forest in 2021 and has been a regular visitor. Dr Peter's friend and colleague from CMC Vellore, Dr Vijay Anand Ismavel, a Paediatric surgeon is credited for bringing Dosdewa on the birding map of the country. He headed Makunda Christian Leprosy and General Hospital at Karimganj for nearly 30 years and spearheaded the fight to bring down the high infant mortality rate in the district and improve the health and social conditions of communities living in Karimganj. His selfless work and contribution in protecting the bio-diversity of the place culminated in the setting up of Dosdewa birding camp by Rejoice Gassah, a young man in his 20s, who worked in the hospital.

We reached Dosdewa by 11.30 am and were warmly welcomed by the people at the camp. I found them extremely happy to receive Dr Sanjeeth Peter , whom they consider as one of their own. We shifted our bags into the newly constructed, rather bare cemented rooms. Sonal and I shared one room and Dr Peter took the adjoining room. The room and toilet were clean with basic facilities but found no wash basin. Apparently, there is no concept of wash basins in the village living. We had an early lunch of steaming boiled rice, dal, two vegetables curries, fish fry and papad in a small hut for dining, opposite our rooms. I liked the food and its preparation. As the afternoon birding trip was planned to the Bird Hide, we started by 1.30 pm. It takes 30-45 mins to reach the hide, 20 mins walk till the stream and another 15 mins walk through the stream to the hides. There are 2-3 people from the village who work as porters to help in carrying the camera tripods. Jimmi, Rejoice's brother is the bird guide. I was a little wary walking through the stream initially but it turned out to be a fascinating experience to wade through cool water of 1-2 feet high. I was extremely careful walking through the soft bed of sand of the stream which was uneven and also had hard rock at some spots.

Place of Stay

Way to Bird Hides

Selfie by Dr Peter

We reached the Bird Hide-1 by 2 pm, a hut made of bamboo and palm leaves. We fixed our tripods and waited silently for the birds to arrive. I was anxious to get the two lifers for my 1000. The parade of birds started and the first bird to visit was the Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, a common forest bird and for the next one hour 12 bird species could be seen from the hide, foraging in the puddles of water. Around 6-7 bird species flew down one after the other, but none were my lifers. After sometime, a blue bird with orange underparts was seen perched on a bamboo branch and Dr Peter whispered, "Hill Blue Flycatcher". I was excited to get my lifer # 999. I quickly got some shots of it. It flew down and quirted water in the puddle. It was 4.15 pm and the light was fading even as we waited for the Asian Stubtail, which turned out to be the show stopper, making an appearance the last, before it got dark. The light was already poor in the area and I was shooting at 1/100 shutter speed at 5000 ISO and 300 mm f-5.6. The Asian Stubtail flew down and slowly walked towards the puddle. "My lifer #1000 has been sighted", I whispered to my friends. I quickly took some shots of the bird and made a video. I felt a sense of elation. Within five minutes, the sunlight faded into dusk. Dr Peter was happy that I had achieved this important moment here at Dosdewa. We closed our cameras and tripods quickly and started our walk back through the stream to the camp. It was a nearly 45 minutes walk to the camp. I was waiting to share the good news of reaching 1000 life list with my friends. But there was no network at our place of stay, except at one spot near the dining hut where two bars of network connection could be seen on WhatsApp. I messaged all my friends to share the good news and was happy to receive congratulatory messages for achieving the important milestone.

Grey-headed canary Flycatcher

Hill Blue Flycatcher#999

Asian Stubtail #1000

With a hot cup of tea, I sat down to reminisce my birding journey of four years to 1000 lifers with Dr Peter and Sonal. Dr Peter had himself completed 1068 lifers and could relate to my sense of elation. Sonal whom I discovered to be a very affable person and easy to get along, had visited Costa Rica and few places in India for birding. After dinner, Dr Peter planned Owling in the Dosdewa forest adjoining the village. I am generally wary of night birding after an ankle fracture on one such trip and knee pain, but I decided to go along. We left at 7.30 pm on the look out of Owls with Jimmy. After an hour of search in deep forest, adjoining the Dosdewa village, we could hear loud calls of Brown Boobook, Mountain Scops Owl, Oriental Scops Owl reverberating in the silence of the dark but could not get a sighting of them. I heard another different sharp call which Jimmy had identified as Great-eared Nightjar. As the call seemed to be coming from close, Jimmi tracked it in the trees and located it perched on a branch of a tall tree in the open. We could get some decent shots using the torch light. It is a rare Nightjar, which I barely could get a shot at Thatekkad, Kerala in 2023. After one hour in the forest, we decide to return to the camp. We reached by 10 pm and immediately went to bed. It was cold outside and as the night temperatures fall to 12C.

Great-eared Nightjar

Cachar Bulbul

Next morning, at 7 am we started our walk to the other side of the village of Dosdewa, along the forest area looking for our target birds, the elusive Large Scimitar Babbler, Vas Hasselt's Sunbird, Cachar Bulbul, Black -Headed Bulbul and other sunbirds. I was hoping to sight four lifers. After 3 hours, I got to sight three lifers , 20 bird species and many shots of beautiful butterflies. Large Scimitar Babbler could not be seen, though we heard its loud calls. We all got some superb shots of the Van Hasselt's Sunbird, including Ruby-cheeked and Crimson Sunbird on the inflorescence of the palm tree which gives an excellent frame for a photograph.

Black-headed Bulbul

After another sumptuous lunch, we headed to the Bird Hide-2 which is opposite Bird Hide-1. This hide was approached after a 5 minutes walk from Hide-1. We settled in the hut with our cameras on the tripod waiting in silence for the birds. The birds started coming in by 3.30 pm and for one and half hour there were 9 species of birds. The Siberian Blue Robin was my lifer #1004 in blue with white underparts. As the light faded, Lesser Shortwing also came to the puddle but it was very difficult to get good shots in the poor light. By 4.30 pm , it was dark and we quickly closed our cameras and tripods and started our long walk through the stream back to the camp. On way, I got to know that Grey-bellied Tesia also had made an appearance for a few minutes. I was not sure if I had seen it or taken any shots in the low light. After reaching the camp, I checked my photos of the evening and I was completely disappointed for not finding any shot of the Testia, a very difficult bird to click, as it is extremely skittish. My legs were hurting from the morning and evening walks so we went to bed soon after a good hot tasty dinner.

Snowy-browed Flycatcher

Lesser Shortwing

Siberian Blue Robin

Next morning on January 14, by 7 am we were ready and walked towards the forest area adjoining the village, to the Owling track to look for Large Scimitar Babbler. We went to the area of Owling spot and it was not long before we saw two Large Scimitar Babblers flying in and out of bushes making loud calls. We waited for an hour to get a clear shot but as it is the character of this bird to confine to the undergrowth of trees, we could barely get a few decent shots of the Babbler. It is known to be a difficult Babbler to see in the open as it is mostly confined to the thick bushes. We spent three hours in the forest exploring the area and could see nine species of birds, including Van Hasselt's Sunbird, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Square-tailed Drongo and nearly 10 species of beautiful butterflies.

Ruby-Cheeked Sunbird

Van Hasselt's Sunbird

Large Scmittar Babbler

After lunch, we went early to the Bird Hides, spending an hour at Bird Hide-1 and at 3pm moved to Bird-Hide -2 as the activity starts by 3.30 pm. My only target was to get some good shots of the Grey-bellied Tesia. Around 4.15 pm, the Grey-bellied Tesia made an entry into the area. Dr Peter immediately alerted us. The bird is tiny without a tail and highly skittish moving continuously from one perch to another. I followed its movements and got many shots of the Tesia. We saw 12 bird species that evening. After sunset, we started our walk back in the dark, through the stream, with the help of a torch. We were leaving next morning to Silchar to board our flights back home. These two and half days at the Dosdewa camp was a different experience staying so close to the forest , no connectivity to the world and feeling like one of the locals, who take the stream to go into deep forest to earn their daily livelihood. Interestingly, the locals men we met during our walk through the streams to the hides in the evening were coming back from the forest carrying on their back, the days harvest of betel leaves in baskets weighing 20-25 kg. They all conversed in good English, a testimony to the success of the Missionary school started by the Missionary Hospital. I got back and was happy to get good shots of Tesia and few bonus shots of Pin-striped Tit-Babbler that had appeared only for a few seconds. I wish I could have sighted another two lifers, Black-breasted Thrush and Buff-Breasted Babbler. Later, I got to know that the groups before us and those who visited after us, were lucky to have sighted these two. We chatted for an hour before dinner. While Sonal and I were trying to connect to the WhatsApp , Dr Peter went on to explain some technical aspects of the camera to Rejoice, for long after dinner. The cook who prepared our tasty meals was also Rejoice's brother. He had learnt cooking from his mother.

Good bye to Dosdewa

Next morning, on 15 January, Dr Peter decided we should give an another try to spot the Large Scimitar Babbler before we start for Silchar at 8.30 am. We were ready by day break and left for the location close to the village. We only had an hour. It was a foggy morning and the visibility was not so good and bird activity was very poor. On return, we quickly got ready. Rejoice's family came to meet Dr Peter and wish him goodbye. Dr Peter assured the family that he will be visiting them again, soon. Finally, we started at 9.15 am on our drive to the Silchar airport.

This Dosdewa trip was a wonderful experience of birding in deep forests in harmony with nature. The uniqueness of natural Bird Hides and to share the experience with outside world , is a beautiful effort by Rejoice and his brothers , not only to protect but nurture the bio-diversity of the place. I was joyously content to close my trip at 1005 life list with seven lifers and 50 bird species seen during the trip. Hope to visit it again someday !