Kasauli & Doon, May 2016

Enjoyed a great family vacation to the Himalayan summer homes of Bikram Grewal. The first was to Win Haven in Kasauli, about 90km from Chandigarh in Himachal Pradesh. Kasauli is a pretty cantonment town, located in Solan district, established by the British Raj in 1842 as a Colonial hill station.

Win Haven (L) & Walterre. Great birding destinations!

After 3 nights at Win Haven (mainly watching Red-billed Blue-magpies while having tea) we moved to the popular Walterre in Dehra Dun. Bird activity was fantastic in the gardens with several species in breeding frenzy. See some images below.

Big thanks and shout out to Biks, Alpana, Keya and Darcy for the hospitality!

I also include some images from my February trip to the Uttarakhand Bird Festival, during which I stayed at Walterre. That trip included a freezing visit to Dhanaulti (~2300m altitude).