When:  December 2014                     Temp 10-20C

Leica M240 35mmSummilux.  Sony A55.  70-400mm

 

Arriving in Hetauda after our loooong journey over the mountains, we checked into the Avocado/Orchid Resort just a 10 minute walk outside Hetauda town centre.  The wifi even worked here!  Always researching the places I go to, I discovered that Hetauda has a river called the Rapti river running through it and extending all the way to Chitwan National Park.  More interesting was the fact that the shingle beds of the Rapti river at this location is where one of the most unique birds in bird watching migrates to in the winter, the Ibisbill…what serendipity that we were staying in a hotel just a 10-15 minute walk away from birding nirvana!

The first evening we arrived, we set off for the river about 330pm to catch the light before the sun set at 530pm or so.  The path leading to the river is almost directly opposite the road leading to the resort.  Walking through the paddy fields, we soon came to the scenic river….

 

 

 

So I started my earnest search for the Ibisbill, scanning the calmer patches of water…..but I only saw…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So my first outing had drawn a blank…..well, I still had 3 more days to go.  The next morning, I got up at daybreak and headed out in the cold and walked all the way to the suspension bridge on the right of the river as there had been reports the ibisbills were in that area….

 

 

 

 

 

 

But again, no luck with the ibisbills..back to the Avocado for breakfast and birding in the garden…

 

 

 

 

 

So on to the next morning when at daybreak we all went for a walk up to and beyond the suspension bridge to climb the hill…another chance to check out the upper reaches of the river…

 

 

 

 

Alas, my third and final walk still did not yield any Ibisbills…nevertheless, the hunt for the bird had been fun and I enjoyed the scenic walks very much.  So I headed off from Hetauda the next morning to Chitwan National Park leaving a few friends behind who were to pick me up the next day.

The story doesn’t end here though…when my friends came to pick me up from Chitwan the next day, they could barely contain their glee….they had seen the elusive Ibisbill on their final morning….such injustice and typical birder’s bad luck….my friends couldn’t even remotely be described as being birders and they had seen the Ibisbill, whilst I, I who had tried so hard had failed miserably..  😦   But such is life and whilst I was jealous, I was happy for my friends that they had seen something so unique!  At least a partially happy ending…