BANGLADESH EXPEDITION – Masked Finfoot, Cachar Bulbul & More

PRICE INFORMATION

Birdquest Inclusions: Our tour prices include surface transportation, accommodations, meals and entrance fees.

We also include all tipping for local guides, drivers and accommodation/restaurant staff.

We also include these flights: Dhaka-Jessore-Dhaka.

Deposit: 20% of the total tour price. Our office will let you know what deposit amount is due, in order to confirm your booking, following receipt of your online booking form.

TO BOOK THIS TOUR: Click here (you will need the tour dates)

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2024: £2680, $3350, €3110, AUD5150. Dhaka/Dhaka.
2026: provisional £2920, $3650, €3390, AUD5620. Dhaka/Dhaka.

Single Supplement: 2024: £60, $80, €70, AUD120.
Single Supplement: 2026: £70, $90, €80, AUD130.

The single room supplement applies to the nights near Satchari only. If you would like guaranteed single occupancy of a cabin on the riverboat the additional charge is $600 (or equivalent).

The single supplement for the hotel nights will not apply if you indicate on booking that you prefer to share a room and there is a room-mate of the same sex available. If you opt to share a cabin on the riverboat you will not have to pay the single cabin supplement if there is no cabin-mate available.

This tour is priced in US Dollars. Amounts shown in other currencies are indicative.

Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency will be pleased to arrange your air travel on request, or you may arrange this yourself if you prefer.

BANGLADESH EXPEDITION: DETAILED ITINERARY

Bangladesh: Day 1  Our expedition begins this morning at Dhaka. From the capital city of Bangladesh, we will make our way northeastwards to the vicinity of Satchari National Park for a two nights stay. This afternoon we will commence our exploration of Satchari.

Bangladesh: Day 2  Satchari National Park is situated in the southwestern part of Sylhet District. Unlike most of Bangladesh, Sylhet District is quite hilly and Satchari, which means ‘Seven Streams’ in Bengali, protects an extensive tract of tropical forest.

The bird which has brought us here is the extremely range-restricted Cachar Bulbul, a species only found in northeast Bangladesh and in adjacent India (where it is hard to access for non-Indians). Fortunately, it is reasonably straightforward to find at Satchari.

Another good bird at Satchari is the White-cheeked Partridge, a species which we have a moderate chance of encountering during our short visit.

The other birds in and around Satchari are more widespread and include Red Junglefowl, Large-tailed Nightjar, Asian Palm and House Swifts, Plaintive Cuckoo, Common Hawk-Cuckoo, Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo, Oriental Turtle, Eurasian Collared, Red Collared, Spotted and Asian Emerald Doves, Ashy-headed and Yellow-footed Green Pigeons, Grey-headed and Red-wattled Lapwings, Crested Serpent Eagle, Shikra, Spotted Owlet, Collared Scops Owl, Eurasian Hoopoe, Blue-bearded, Asian Green and Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, Lineated, Blue-throated, Blue-eared and Coppersmith Barbets, Speckled Piculet, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Greater and Lesser Yellownapes, Fulvous-breasted, Streak-breasted, Grey-headed and Rufous Woodpeckers, Common, Black-rumped and Greater Flamebacks, Common Kestrel, Blossom-headed, Red-breasted and Rose-ringed Parakeets, and Vernal Hanging Parrot.

Likely passerines include Blue-naped Pitta (much more likely to be heard than seen), Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Large Woodshrike, Ashy Woodswallow, Common Iora, Small and Scarlet Minivets, Large Cuckooshrike, Brown and Long-tailed Shrikes, Black-hooded and Black-naped Orioles, Black, Bronzed, Greater Racket-tailed and Hair-crested Drongos, White-throated Fantail, Black-naped Monarch, Rufous Treepie, House and Eastern Jungle Crows, Cinereous Tit, Bengal Bush Lark, White-throated, Black-headedm, Black-crestedx, Red-whiskered and Red-vented Bulbuls, Barn Swallow, Yellow-browed, Green-crowned, Dusky and Greenish Warblers, Blyth’s Reed Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Common Tailorbird, Indian White-eye, Pin-striped Tit-babbler, Puff-throated and Abbott’s Babblers, Jungle Babbler, Asian Fairy-bluebird, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Common Hill, Jungle, Common and Bank Mynas, Indian Pied and Chestnut-tailed Starlings, Orange-headed Thrush, Grey-winged Blackbird, Oriental Magpie-Robin, White-rumped Shama, Hill Blue, Blue-throated Blue, Verditer and Taiga Flycatchers, Siberian and White-tailed Robins, Blue-capped Rock Thrush, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Orange-bellied and Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers, Ruby-cheeked, Purple-rumped, Purple and Crimson Sunbirds, Little Spiderhunter, Baya Weaver, Indian Silverbill, White-rumped Munia, White Wagtail and Olive-backed Pipit.

Mammals tend to be few and far between in this part of the world but we should encounter Capped Langur.

Bangladesh: Day 3  Today we will head back to Dhaka and take a short flight to Jessore in southwestern Bangladesh. From there we will head for a channel of the Ganges and board our comfortable riverboat for a six nights stay. Afterwards, we set sail for the Sundarbans!

Bangladesh: Days 4-8  The vast delta of the combined Ganges-Brahmaputra rivers, known as the Sundarbans, is a geographical wonder of the world. Nowhere else on our planet do two of the world’s great rivers enter the sea in the same area!

The ‘grailbird’ of the Sundarbans is the fast declining and Critically Endangered Masked Finfoot. We used to see this species at various locations in Southeast Asia, but nowadays it has become extinct or very hard to see in all of them. The Sundarbans of Bangladesh appear to be the Masked Finfoot’s last stronghold and here we have a very high chance of an encounter.

Other great birds of the area include Indian Spotted Eagle, Buffy Fish Owl, the big Brown-winged Kingfisher and the impressive Mangrove Pitta.

Other birds we may well encounter while in the Sundarbans include Greater Coucal, Green-billed Malkoha, Asian Koel, White-breasted Waterhen, Greater Sand Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Eurasian Whimbrel, Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Little Stint, Brown-headed Gull, Asian Openbill, Little Cormorant, Black-crowned Night Heron, Indian Pond Heron, Striated Heron, Eastern Cattle, Great and Little Egrets, Western Osprey, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Black and Brahminy Kites, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Grey-headed Fish Eagle and Ruddy, White-throated, Black-capped, Collared and Common Kingfishers.

Ganges River Dolphins are regularly encountered and we should also see Rhesus Macaque, Jungle Cat, Asian Small-clawed Otter and Small Indian Mongoose. The Sundarbans still have a good population of Tigers, but our chances of an encounter are low as the Tigers are shy and still persecuted. If we are really lucky we will come across a Fishing Cat.

Bangladesh: Day 9  Today we will return to Jessore and take a flight to Dhaka airport where our expedition ends this evening.