Locating in the hill of Astam, Hananoie is surrounded by plentiful forest, peaceful village and beautiful terrace fields. Therefore we can find diversity for birds around Hananoie such as egrets and herons in the paddy fields, hawks and krestels hovering in the sky, colorful parrots, nimble swifts, etc.

There is a special bird that can be seen in August called Common Hoopoe. I found it at the entrance of Hananoie on my arrival as if it had welcomed us. The 30-cm length bird has orange-brown body with black and white stripes on its wings and tail. It head features a long, black-spotted crest. It was very impressive when it broadened its crest.

I also found many birds that I had never seen. While I was writing the diary at the terrace, a couple of swifts flew speedily passing me. I saw several flocks of birds flew down to the field to find their foods. When I looked at the tree near by my room, I found a couple of vivid yellow birds. I wished I had a more zoomable lens. I took a photo of the beautiful birds and show to Mr. Ramesh, a hananoie staff who knew many birds. After looking up in the bird guides, we found that they were “Scarlet Minivet”. The yellow ones I found were females, while the males were red.

It was very fun and excited to look up for the bird I had seen. I bought a bird watching guidebook as my memorial of my visit to Nepal.

(This is the last article from Lilit, a staff, visiting Hananoie during 4 – 6 August 2013.)