Loading search...
A client travelled on our 'India - Assam, Darjeeling & Bhutan' holiday and submitted this entry to our writing competition.
White-bellied Heron by Michael Ball
Quest for a Heron
Punakha Dzong - not a comic book expletive but one of Bhutan’s very impressive 17th century fortresses which also serves as a Buddhist monastery and administrative centre. Its setting is achingly beautiful at the confluence of the Mother (Mo-chu) and Father (Pho-chu) rivers. These two fast-flowing wild rivers flow bright shades of blue and green reflecting their provenance as glacial meltwater from the high Himalayas not far to the north on the border with China.
After lunch at our hotel, the Damchen Resort, interrupted, as is so often the case on nature holidays, this time by two Ibisbill probing an eddy amongst the river boulders in the hotel grounds, we visited the Dzong for a mixture of culture and birds. On the short drive up valley from the hotel we failed to locate the rare White-bellied Heron. However, this was not a major problem as we had a secret weapon with us, our charming, poised and very knowledgeable Bhutanese guide, Jatso, who had spent time studying this Heron and observing its breeding habits. We also gained up to date information from other ecotourists visiting the Dzong.
Jatso and our Naturetrek guide, the larger than life, humorous and expert naturalist, Sujan Chatterjee, hatched a plan to search for the heron the following afternoon along the Father river.
The weather was fine, bright and sunny as our driver, Pema, carefully guided us in our small bus along a small, bumpy and only partly made up road passing through the pleasant farmland and rice fields along the south side of the river valley. We were not all birders so the tension level was not high, but we all felt a sense of considerable anticipation as we bumped our way up the valley, with frequent stops to view the river below. After a while, eagle-eyed Sujan spotted our quarry on the water’s edge around a distant wooded island in the river. The bird flew off upstream before we could all be truly satisfied with our views of this globally threatened species, which is more than 25% larger than a Grey Heron.
We continued our quest further upstream and stopped by a typical, decorated wooden farmhouse where Jatso asked permission to go down a track to overlook the river. Eureka! There was a White-bellied Heron stalking along the edge of a shingle bar showing off its improbably long neck and huge bill. The whole family from the farmhouse came out to watch us, with the children in particular wide eyed at the large, pale westerners complete with cameras, optics and telescope.
Not entirely satisfied, despite our excellent sightings, we continued further upstream and got lucky again!! At that stage a little tiffin was called for so tea, coffee and biscuits were consumed whilst looking down on the magnificent rare heron from a high promontory overlooking the river. Some of us saw the bird fly off downstream, but others saw it fly upstream – in fact we had seen three birds having been convinced we had only found two.
How can you improve on such a quest, from the most imposing Dzong, the wild and beautiful river, the sunny weather, the unspoilt scenery and the smiling Bhutanese people? Certainly the young national costume clad children en route home from school enjoyed our biscuits and having their photographs taken and then chasing our small bus down the valley.
Maybe you can improve on that wonderful afternoon? But sitting on a frosty night in a wooden bath in a shed, heated by hot stones taken from a fire outside, whilst sipping arak and listening to the Black-necked Cranes is another story!
Read more about our 'India - Assam, Darjeeling & Bhutan' holiday.