Rhododendrons, rosefinches and the fishtail at first light

Maria and Jonas flew in from Berlin with a long list of birds they had read about and no real idea how to find any of them. We drove from Pokhara up to Kande in the morning, and the road was lined with Himalayan Bulbuls and Great Barbets calling from the top of every tree. Before we had even reached the trail, Jonas had stopped to photograph a Grey-hooded Warbler that was not trying to hide at all.

The first two days of trekking are about getting the eyes and ears working. In the oak forest above Kande we stopped every few minutes for Black-throated Bushtits and a Verditer Flycatcher flicking off a wet rock, and we reached Forest Camp in the late afternoon with the first rhododendrons opening over the path.

From Low Camp the forest was at its most alive. A Himalayan Monal called from the slope above us, and a line of Yellow-billed Blue Magpies went over the path with their tails streaming behind them. At High Camp the trees gave way to rhododendron scrub and open ridge, and a Himalayan Griffon came down the ridge so low that Jonas could see the feathers on its neck. Yellow-billed Choughs walked about the teahouse yard looking for scraps.

Day six is the one everybody talks about. We left High Camp in the dark with frost on the tents, and reached Mardi Himal Base Camp at 4,500 metres as the light came over the ridge. A flock of Snow Pigeons went past below us, and the peak of Machhapuchhre went from grey to orange to white while Maria tried to keep her fingers working for the camera.

We came back down to Low Camp for a second night in the forest and walked out to Siding the next day in full daylight, with the birds still calling in the trees. Jonas said his favourite was the griffon coming down the ridge. Ask him again in a week and I expect it will be the monal.