We drive on past the National Park entrance and the place where we went elephant riding and carry on along the highway to a place called Garjia Mandir, where a temple has been built on a rocky outcrop in the river. A substantial bridge has been built to carry worshippers across to the temple and amplified devotional music plays. The birds seem unconcerned by the noise and are down on the river bed in great numbers. There is a flock of Great Cormorants, colourful Redstarts, River Lapwings and more. After spell spotting from the bridge we head down to the river bed. The water only occupies about a fifth of this at this time of year and various businesses catering to temple visitors have set up on the river bed. They move out in June before the monsoon arrives and the river claims its bed back.
From here we see a pair of black and white Crested Kingfishers watching the river from a perch on the bridge piers. Every now and again one will dive into the river before returning to base. Something (maybe us) has disturbed the Lapwings and they give voice to their alarm call which freaks out the cormorants who fly away rapidly as a dense black mass. The kingfishers have moved downriver with us and are now using a cable across the river as a perch. There is a calmer stretch of water down here which contains a number of brightly decorated religious statues. Ramesh tells us that there will soon be a festival and these statues are used in the worship.
He now leads us upstream, under the bridge and further away from the noise. He is seeking the Ibisbill, a bird a bit like a curlew but grey and white with a long, curved orange bill. He finds one but to start with we have great difficulty in seeing it as it has perfect camouflage when its head is down searching for food. He tells us that this bird is very elusive and sometimes he has spent half a day looking for it without success. We feel privileged. Ramesh thinks that we have probably seen what there is to see on this stretch of river and he leads us back to the gypsy.
We follow the highway up the valley of the Kosi River. It is mainly well surfaced although it gets narrower as we go on, not a problem as traffic is light. At one point we stop and Ramesh points out a tree where leopards have stowed the remains of a spotted deer out of reach of tigers and jackals. At about 40km from base we turn off the road and follow a track down to the river bed. Here he hopes to find Forktails, Wall Creepers and Brown Dippers but warns us that it may take time. First comes our picnic breakfast which as well as eggs includes parathas and curd (unsweetened) and more divine black tea. Refreshed, we set out walking upstream along the stoney dried up river bed. There is nobody else about and a refreshing near absence of litter, the sun is now quite high in the sky which is hazier than the last two days, and there is a stiff north east breeze which means that the fleeces stay on.
After about ten minutes Ramesh stops and lifts his binoculars to examine a rocky cleft on the far side of the river. He finds a Little Forktail and manages to direct us to it. It flies a little higher up the bank where it is joined by another as they feed by a small stream. We had a very fleeting glimpse of a Forktail outside Darjeeling but this was a very good view indeed. Ramesh then spots a Wallcreeper but it flits away almost immediately. We approach the spot and wait, with other small birds providing false alarms from time to time. Ramesh has to take a call on his phone and while he is otherwise engaged D sees a rusty brown bird skimming the water with a jerky sort of flight. Surely it is a dipper but it has flown away downstream without the chance of a photo. Ramesh rejoins us and soon spots a Wallcreeper flying low over the rocks. It lands on a rock face and obligingly waits for us to get a bit closer.
We head back towards the gypsy still hunting the elusive Brown Dipper. There are a couple of enthusiastic but misguided sightings by us before the pro spots one on a rock over the river. This time there is lots of posing for photos and quite a feeling of achievement. It has suddenly warmed up and the second fleeces come off when we get back to the gypsy. On the road back we take a detour in search of the long billed thrush but draw a blank. Driving down the valley nearly everybody shouts a greeting or waves to Ramesh. He seems to know everyone. Back at the Sparrow Nest Mrs Ramesh has cooked a lunch of rice and some kind of lentil or small bean, served with curd and pickled chillies - very tasty. We take the chance of hottish water to shower and then vegetate for a while.
Around four we set out for a walk around the local area. Most Western tourists seem to stay at smart resorts outside the town and just pass through Ramnagar in their gypsies or Boleros. They are missing a treat. Nearly everybody is really friendly and the ones that weren't are shy. One man tries to talk us into going to the market but otherwise nobody tries to sell us anything. We head for the level crossing which sees plenty of action and is a major social hub when the gates are down. The local course authorities have decided to spice up the regular head to head Le Mans style start by dumping sand to form a chicane immediately on the north side of the crossing. This really confounds northbound competitors as they come over the crossing two or three abreast. The signalling here is all old fashioned semaphore stuff and the gates are lifted by a lad who turns a handle on some kind of geared capstan. The resulting melee never fails to disappoint.
We continue over the railway when the crossing is clear and watch a game of chase the goat. From what we see the goat looks odds on to win even when one unsporting chap starts throwing stones at it. We come to a main road and decide it is time to retrace our steps. It takes twice as long to get back as nearly everybody wants their photo taking. One youth even in a truck even gets the driver to stop so he can get out and have a photo taken. As we approach the level crossing the gates descend and we shoulder our way through to the front in order to get a good view of the mayhem. One chap in a hurry slides his motorbike under the barrier, rides across the two tracks and does the same at the other barrier. The crossing keeper does not stir from his seat. On the correct side of the barrier people are getting out of their cars and doing the rounds of their neighbours.
A group of young men approach wanting to take a photo with us. As usual we ask why. No response. A selfie stick appears so they can all be with us. "What are you going to do with the photo now you have it?" "Facebook!" comes the reply in a tone that suggests that only a real idiot would not have known that. We are tracking the Celebrities in Ramnagar FB group with trepidation. About 250 digital photos later we are back at the Sparrow Nest. Ramesh has just got back from his office and all of his family are there so we get a picture of them in front of the house. His children are alert, polite and help with chores, a great credit to their parents. There is time to show him some photos from the last few days and he is keen to find out more about D's camera which he has used a few times today so we find it on line. He has a wedding to go to tonight so we thank him and bid farewell. After supper we will head for the station and a whole new post.
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