21 Oct 2018, My colleague Sandesh has begun migration count at Thoolakharka watch site, Nepal. This year we could set up the count little late so that we couldn't meet up our first Steppe Eagle, which is likely to come our watch site between 7 to 12 October. Based on our previous count, it is likely we missed to say Goodbye to approximately 50 (range: 10 - 110) Steppies. Therefore, this is just a beginning for Steppe Eagle migration in this part and  many more still waiting to make their first takeoff of this long journey from the Mongolian Steppes and some already did it and suffering to cross high Himalayas from the eastern Nepal and even Bhutan. Satellite tracking data shows they mostly enter from the eastern Himalayas and follow the east west extension of Himalayan Mountain chain. Besides Steppies we get fairly good species of raptors (however in low number), previously 35 species of migrating raptors were recorded here. Additionally 11 resident raptor species are around thi

Dear friends and supporters, warm greetings on behalf of Raptors of Nepal Team!   Raptor of Nepal is a Raptor Studies Group in Nepal under Nepalese Ornithological Union ( www.birdsofnepal.org ). In Nepal, raptor study is a young field of research. Since 2011, Raptors of Nepal has started intensive study on diurnal birds of prey species throughout the country. In this period, we have conducted several interesting studies focused on birds of prey species. Some of these studies included raptor migration studies, raptor trade studies, wintering raptor survey in Nepal, raptor survey and monitoring in the Himalayas, GPS tracking of Bearded Vulture, breeding study of Indian Spotted Eagle etc. Raptor migration studies is the longest project we are conducting.   In 2012, we discovered a raptor migration watch-site in the elevation of 2050 m at the mountaintop of Thoolakharka along the southern rim of Annapurna Conservation Area at the foothills of Himalayan Mountains. Since its disc

Indian Spotted Eagle chick on nest First of all, my apologize for not posting updates regularly. Now I will have more time and make regular updates if I got something interesting. In this post I am pleased to inform you about Indian Spotted Eagle project. One of my student Sandesh Gurung is currently working hard to collect data about the breeding biology of Indian Spotted Eagle in Nepal. This species is one of the rarest and least known eagle in the Indian subcontinent and that breeds in the lowland belts of Nepal. Currently Sandesh is conducting intensive study of few nests to understand breeding biology. Many interesting data are coming on our way that would definitely help to understand this species better. Dheeraj Choudhary is assisting Sandesh during the field work. I wish all the success of this project. See those recently taken pictures, Sandesh just sent me from the field. For details about the project and more updates please visit the link https://www.rufford.org/proje