birding never sleeps: 30 years ago: 31 May 1982, Langtang Trek day 15, Gopte to Thore Pati

Monday, 31 May 1982

30 years ago: 31 May 1982, Langtang Trek day 15, Gopte to Thore Pati

Monday 31st May 1982: Gopte to Thore Pati (4 miles)

We had another good night’s sleep, so much so that we were up late. We slowly made our way through the beautiful forest, descending 1000 ft to cross a small tributary before climbing up to Thore Pati (11,500 ft). We had many long stops overlooking ravines and gulleys along the way. I finished my last 400 ASA film on pair of Beautiful Bush Robins which I later found the nest of - the female sitting tight in a hole directly under the path. Excellent, although I later found out from Carol Inskipp that the nest hadn’t been described and wished I’d taken more photos of it. We stayed in a hut with only a partial roof at Thore Pati, arriving at 16:00 and being joined there by a rather noisy VSO ex-pat (the only other person seen today). It was then too cloudy to then go birding which was just as well as a very violent storm hit us just before dark with water dripping through the roofed part of the hut and hailstones coming in the unroofed part. We sat around a fire we’d eventually made until most of the storm was over, then crashed out.

Birds recorded: Sparrowhawk 1, Upland Buzzard 2, Common Hill Partridge h, Blood Pheasant 1 male and 1 female, Impeyan Pheasant 1 male and 1 female, Large Hawk Cuckoo h, Cuckoo h, Oriental Cuckoo h, Little Cuckoo h, Asiatic House Martin 3, Rosy Pipit 3, Long-tailed Minivet 2, Rufous-breasted Accentor 1, Red-flanked Bluetail 1, Golden Bush Robin 2, White-browed Bush Robin 2, Beautiful Bush Robin 4, Blue-fronted Redstart 2, River Chat 2, White’s Thrush 1, White-collared Blackbird 2, Aberrant Bush Warbler 5, Rufous-capped Bush Warbler 2, Golden-spectacled Warbler 3, Orange-barred Leaf Warbler 5, Ashy-throated Leaf Warbler 1, Lemon-rumped Warbler 2, Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher 6, Yellow-bellied Fantail 4, Scaly-breasted Wren Babbler 2, Black-faced Laughingthrush 3, Fire-tailed Myzornis 2, White-browed Fulvetta 1, Black-capped Sibia 3, Stripe-throated Yuhina 3, Rufous-vented Yuhina 5, Black-crested Tit 1, Fire-tailed Sunbird 10, Gold-billed Blue Magpie 2, Large-billed Crow 4, Dark-breasted Rosefinch 3, Pink-browed Rosefinch 2, White-browed Rosefinch 3, Red-headed Bullfinch 3, Allied Grosbeak 3, White-winged Grosbeak 2.