Bird Watching in Kathmandu Valley

• Three Hundred Species on One Hill: Phulchowki holds more recorded species than most whole countries manage in a comparable area.

• The Spiny Babbler: Nepal's only endemic bird, findable on the lower slopes with a guide who knows the call.

• Every Forest Zone in a Morning: Subtropical broadleaf at 1,500 m through to oak and rhododendron cloud forest at 2,782 m.

• Half an Hour from Thamel: Godavari is on the valley's southern rim, so the day costs no travel time at all.

• A Specialist Bird Guide: Someone who birds for a living, in a group of six or fewer.

The day starts at first light at the Godavari Botanical Garden (1,515 m) at the foot of the hill, which is itself excellent — the garden and the marsh behind it hold babblers, sunbirds, flycatchers and the best chance at spiny babbler in the scrub above.

From there the road climbs 1,270 m to the summit through changing forest, and the technique is to bird on foot in the productive stretches while the vehicle moves ahead to meet you. Upper slopes bring the cloud forest specialities — hoary-throated barwing, cutia, black-throated parrotbill, golden-breasted fulvetta, rufous-bellied niltava and mixed feeding flocks that can produce twenty species in ten minutes. The summit has a shrine, a radar station and, on a clear winter morning, Langtang and Ganesh Himal along the northern horizon.

Every trip in this region runs with a specialist bird guide rather than a general naturalist — someone who birds for a living, knows the calls, and can put you onto a skulking warbler rather than pointing at a raptor. Groups are kept to six or fewer, because a line of twelve people does not see anything shy.

We do not use call playback to draw territorial birds, except sparingly and never for a threatened species in the breeding season; it stresses the bird and it is increasingly restricted in Nepal's protected areas. Nests are not approached, flash is not used on roosting birds, and habitat is not cut or moved for a photograph. If your guide asks you to stay on the path, that is why.

February to April is the best period: resident birds are in song and display, the rhododendron is in flower on the upper hill from March, and altitudinal migrants are moving. October to December is the other good window, with clear air, wintering thrushes and accentors, and the mountain views at their sharpest.

The monsoon from June to September is leech-heavy and often cloud-bound on the upper hill, though the birding is still good if you can tolerate the conditions. Realistically a good day yields sixty to ninety species; a very good spring day with active flocks can exceed a hundred. A quiet winter morning may give forty, which is the nature of birding rather than a fault of the site.

This is a moderate day rather than an easy one. You walk perhaps six to ten kilometres in total, much of it uphill on a rough road at between 1,500 m and 2,780 m, stopping constantly. It is not fast walking but it is a full day on your feet. Anyone who would rather bird from the vehicle can — tell us and we will plan the day that way.

Bring binoculars — 8x42 or 10x42 is the right choice — a field guide to the birds of Nepal or the Indian subcontinent, walking shoes with grip, a fleece and a waterproof for the summit, sunscreen, water and a packed lunch, which we provide. Leech socks are worth having from May to September. The guide carries a spotting scope.

• Bird Watching in Nepal: 880 Species in One Small Country — Nepal holds around 880 bird species in an area the size of England, because it runs from 60 m to 8,848 m.

• Patan Travel Guide: Newar Craft and the Valley's Finest Square — Twenty minutes from Thamel and routinely skipped — Patan has the best Durbar Square, the best museum in Nepal.

• Nagarkot and the Sunrise Viewpoints Near Kathmandu — You can see the Himalaya from the Kathmandu valley rim on a clear winter morning without walking more than an hour.

• Short Treks Near Kathmandu: Himalayan Walks in 2 to 6 Days — You do not need a flight or a fortnight to see the Himalaya from Kathmandu.