16-Day North India Birds, Tigers & Taj Mahal with Nikhil Devasar

Meet at the Delhi hotel at 06:00 and travel approximately seven and a half hours to Corbett. Spend the afternoon birding beside the Kosi River and overnight at Wild Crest. Lunch and dinner are the meals recorded for this day.

After breakfast, enter the Dhikala tourism zone through Dhangari gate, visit the interpretation centre and continue by jeep through sal forest beside the Ramganga River. River Lapwing, mergansers, waders and other waterbirds are among the possibilities along the lower track.

Reach Dhikala for lunch, then bird the grasslands and forest during the afternoon. Owls, nightjars, francolins, sunbirds, leafbirds and raptors are all represented in the recorded species list. Overnight at Dhikala Forest Lodge.

Spend a full day birding and looking for wider wildlife in Dhikala’s grasslands. An elephant ride is included in the old programme only when available; current operating arrangements must be confirmed. Tiger and every bird remain possible rather than guaranteed.

Take a morning safari through forest and grassland, return for breakfast and use a watchtower overlooking a waterhole before lunch. Continue to Wild Crest Resort for dinner and the night. Sambhar Road and Khinanauli are named birding areas, with possibilities including Great Slaty Woodpecker, Great Hornbill and Pallas’s Fish Eagle.

Begin with a walk at Kumeria, where river and forest birds can include forktails, fantails, Brown Dipper and woodpeckers. After lunch, bird at Dabka causeway and Corbett Falls before continuing to Pangot.

Settle into a cottage at Mountain Quail Lodge and spend the afternoon around the grounds. Parakeets, doves, cuckoos, tits, nuthatches and treecreepers are among the groups represented here.

Explore Pangot village, Baggar and Gughu Khan on foot. Forest, terraced fields and hill edges support woodpeckers, thrushes, warblers, flycatchers, laughingthrushes and other Himalayan birds. Return to the lodge for the night.

Drive about two hours to Sattal, birding across the Cheena Peak Range with stops around Kilbury and Snow View Point. The forested route offers opportunities for Himalayan raptors, forktails, woodpeckers, pheasants and thrushes. Continue birding around Sattal and overnight in a camp or guest house.

Spend a full day birding with the guide around Sattal for hill-forest species such as accentors, tesias, woodpeckers, barbets, laughingthrushes and thrushes. Transfer to Lal Kuan at 16:00 and board the air-conditioned overnight train to Delhi.

Arrive in Delhi at about 05:00, meet the transfer and drive approximately five hours to the National Chambal Sanctuary. Take an afternoon boat cruise for possibilities including Indian Skimmer, Black-bellied Tern, migratory waterfowl and several cranes, as well as gharial, mugger crocodile, Gangetic dolphin and turtles. Overnight at Chambal Safari Lodge.

Visit the Taj Mahal in the morning, then transfer from Agra to Bharatpur in about one and a half hours. Spend the afternoon birding in Bharatpur’s wetlands and overnight at the hotel.

Spend the first full day birding in Keoladeo National Park on foot and by cycle rickshaw with the guide. Indian Courser, Sarus Crane, Dusky Eagle-Owl, nightjars, ducks, pelicans and geese are among the recorded possibilities.

Return to Keoladeo for a second full day, allowing the guide to revisit productive wetland and woodland areas or focus on species missed on Day 11. Travel remains on foot and by cycle rickshaw.

Drive about five hours from Bharatpur towards Ranthambore, stopping at Bund Baretha for birding. Use the afternoon outside the national park for dry-country and open-habitat birds, then overnight at the resort.

Choose between morning and afternoon wildlife drives in Ranthambore, using open trucks or jeeps when available, or a visit to the historic fort. Return to the resort for the night. Tiger is a possibility, never a guaranteed observation.

Use a second day for Ranthambore wildlife drives or the fort option, following what was covered on Day 14 and current park access. Overnight again at the resort.

Bird outside Ranthambore in the morning. After lunch, transfer to the station for the daytime train to Delhi, then use the arranged room to wash and change before the airport transfer for the homeward flight.