Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam, India.(Part I)

Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is a Wildlife Sanctuary, UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger Reserve, an Elephant Reserve and a Biosphere Reserve in Assam, India. Located in the Himalayan foothills, it is contiguous with the Royal Manas National park in Bhutan.

It was declared a sanctuary on October 01, 1928 and was designated a World Heritage site in December 1985. On 21st June 2011, it was removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger and was commended for its efforts in preservation.The sanctuary is home to a great variety of wildlife, including tiger, Golden Langur, Wild Buffalo, Hispid Hare, Pigmy Hog, Capped Langur, Indian one-horned Rhinoceros, Elephant, Gaur, Hog Deer, etc.

The Manas river is the main river, a major tributary of Brahmaputra river. The Manas River flows through the west of the park, further it splits into two separate rivers, the Beki and Bholkaduba. The river also acts an international border dividing India and Bhutan.
We were there last December ...

The morning arrives...

The beautiful tea gardens in the morning sun...

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We thought we would just take a short walk...This was how we started and....


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Grey Backed Shrike

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White Wagtail

The White Wagtail(Motacilla alba) is a small passerine bird in the wagtail family Motacillidae,which also includes the pipits and longclaws.

This insectivorous bird isoften found in the open country, near habitation and water. It prefers bareareas for feeding, where it can see and pursue its prey. In urban areas it hasadapted to foraging on paved areas such as car parks. It nests in crevices instone walls and similar natural and man-made structures.



This is how we returned...we had a helpful guide...who carried Hiya:)...So in the afternoon we went for a Safari by Jeep...

Crested Serpent Eagle

We spotted this Common Kestrel very far away...

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Jungle Babbler

Oriental Magpie Robin(female)

Indian Treepie

It is slightly smaller than the European Magpie and has somewhat shorter, more rounded wings and a proportionately longer tail with shorter and thickerand slightly downcurved bill.as well as shorter legs.

The head, neck and breast are a deep slate-grey colour, sometimes slightly brownish.The underparts and lower back are a warm tawny-brown to orange-brown in colour with white wing coverts and black primaries. The tail is a light bluish-grey with a thick black band on the tip. The bill, legs and feet are black.
The range of this species is quite large, covering all of India up to the Himalayas, and southeasterly in a broad band into Burma (Myanmar), Laos, and Thailand in open forest consisting of scrub, plantations and gardens.
This is a typically arboreal species feeding almost completely in trees on fruits, invertebrates, small reptiles and the eggs and young of birds; it has also been known to take flesh from recently killed carcasses. It is extremely agile while searching for food, clinging and clambering through the branches .The nest is built in trees and bushes and is usually quite shallow.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufous_Treepie

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Rufous Woodpecker

The RufousWoodpecker, (Micropternusbrachyurus) is a brown woodpecker found in theIndian Subcontinent. It builds its nest within the nest of acrobat ants(Crematogaster).

It is a medium-sized, rufous-coloured woodpecker with ashort crest and a short, weak and slightly curved black bill. It has blackvermiculations on its rufous body and a dark eye stripe. The upperparts arefinely barred black. The male has small red patches at the eyes.



I just liked the colour of the leaves of this tree...









We spend a beautiful evening by the river at Mathanguri enjoying the sunset and then headed back to our lodge...

Thank you Springman for hosting World Bird Wednesday.To check out for more birds please visit http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com. Enjoy and have a great day!!!