Manas National park

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Manas, at the base of foot hills of the Bhutan-Himalayas in the state of Assam, with unique biodiversity and landscape is one of the first reserves included in the network of tiger reserve under Project tiger in 1973.n 1985, the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary was inscribed as World Heritage Site.

In 1989, Manas acquired the status of a Biosphere reserve.It extends over an area of 2837 Sq. Km from Sankosh river in the west to Dhansiri river in the east, with a core area of 500 Sq. Km. of the National park, which declared in 1990. The average elevation of the area is 85 m above mean sea level. The river Manas flows into the national Park from the gorges of Bhutan and split into two major streams of which the main water course comes out of the National Park about 30 km downstream is known as ‘Beki”. The peace and tranquility of Mothanguri tourists site on the bank of river Manas close to Bhutan is the rarest gift of the nature and in its finest form.

There is no insurgency in the park as reported by most of the uninformed sources. With the coming of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), a peacefull situation has prevailed over the entire park. In the past, bad law and order situation was utilized by the organized smuggling gangs to operate inside. Now, there is no need of fearful attitude to step in the park. Such imaginary fears are not necessary for visiting Manas.

About the half of the Park is covered by Grasslands of Terai and Bhabar type, the riparian areas have colonizing grasslands and woodlands of several species. The thick woodlands are called Eastern Moist Deciduous Forests of various types. The undergrowths are very thick. There are more than 650 species of Angiosperms alone. The commonly seen trees are the Simul, Oxi, Sissoo, Khaie, Gamari, etc.

Manas is the only landscape in the world where pristine Terai Grasslands are seen merging with the Bhabar grasslands interspersed with diverse habitats ascending to Semi-Evergreen forests and then to Bhutan Himalayas. The Biodiversity is very rich here. The last population of the Pygmy Hog survive in the wilds of Manas and nowhere else in the world. The diverse habita of Manas is ideal home for a specialized birds. Manas boasts the largest population of the endangered Bengal Florican in the world and is also a great place to see the Great Hornbill. The National Park lists around 380 species of birds. Notable among are

Black-tailed Crake

Red-headed Trogan

Swamp Francolin

Wreathed

Rufous-necked Hornbill

Marsh and Jerdon’s Babbler

Rufous-rumped and Bristled Grassbirds

Hodgson’s Bush-chat

Rufous-vented Laughingthrush

Finn’s Weaver

Ibis bill and variety of foothills species

Greater Adjutant and many more

Oriental Hobby. (Falco Saverus) Oriental Hobby Resembles Shaheen Falcon. The male, a juvenile/subadult, is on the Left. Note the very long wing tips that reach the tail tip and beyond, and the delicate toes. Like many raptors, Oriental Hobbies exhibit RSD (reverse sexual dimorphism) the female, seen on the Right is larger than the subadult (spotted) male on the Left.

The golden-fronted leafbird is a species of leafbird. It is found from the Indian subcontinent and south-western China, to south-east Asia and Sumatra. It builds its nest in a tree, laying 2-3 eggs. This species eats insects and berries

The striated babbler (Turdoides earlei) is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in southern Asia from Pakistan to Myanmar

Plain Prinia ...Grassland birding is not a favourite one for me before I met Rustom. Rustom insist me to go with him for grassland birding . I am overwhelmed . Got some goid species as well as rare one.

The changeable hawk-eagle or crested hawk-eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus) is a bird of prey species of the family Accipitridae. It was formerly placed in the genus Spizaetus, but studies pointed to the group being paraphyletic resulting in the Old World members being placed in Nisaetus (Hodgson, 1836) and separated from the New World species.[2]

Changeable hawk-eagles breed in the Indian subcontinent, mainly in India and Sri Lanka, and from the southeast rim of the Himalaya across Southeast Asia to Indonesia and the Philippines. This is a bird occurring singly (outside mating season) in open woodland, although island forms prefer a higher tree density. It builds a stick nest in a tree and lays a single egg.

The common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the 'European kestrel', 'Eurasian kestrel', or 'Old World kestrel'. In Britain, where no other brown falcon occurs, it is generally just called 'the kestrel'.[1] The bird lives all over Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Taiga Flycatcher (Ficedula Albicilla) Common winter visitor through most of India, Nepal , Bangladesh.

Golden Headed Cisticola Or Bright Headed Cisticola

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How to Go - Nearest Railway station is Barpeta Road - Railway station code is -BPRD which is 35 km From the National Park . Time will Take Maximum 1,30 Hours . Apart from this you Can Drop to New Bongaigaon (Station code - NBQ) . Distance 90 km and Time will Take # hours .

By Air - Guwahati (GAU) - is the Nearest airport . Distance is 140 Km and time will take 3-3.5 hours.

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Where to Stay - Forest dept has two Bunglows - One is Mathanguri upper and Other is Mathanguri lower Bunglow . Apart from this there is Dormitory Which Can accommodate 8-12 people.

Apart from the forest Department Bunglows Lots of Private property outside the Jungle .