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19 Mar,25

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23 Mar,25

4 Seats Left

Location

Ramnagar

Duration

5D/4N

45,000 52,000

45,000₹ 52,000

Overview

4 nights 5 days of Bird Photography Expedition to the majestic mountains, beautiful meadows and gorgeous valleys of the Himalayas with DCP Expeditions. 

DCP Experts

Entry fees

Images Review

Meals

Post Event

Stay

About The Tour

A mystical place with lots of stories from the Vedic ages, timeless beauty of the majestic mountains, beautiful meadows and gorgeous valleys, well that’s Himalayas for most of us. What many miss is the phantasmagorical avian life which call this part of the earth a home. Uttarakhand a state that has over 80% covered by mountainous regions and over 60% forest is the best place for any bird photographer to spend time in the serenity and enjoy the rich avian life and capture the memories for a life time.

Chopta located within the Kedarnath WLS (part of Garhwal range) and at an elevation of 2680 MSL / 8790 ft. is famous for the beautiful Monal Pheasant and is also home to Musk Deer apart from the Himalayan Red Fox, colorful birds like Scarlet Finch, Bush Robins, Thrushes and Vultures & Raptors. This is a paradise for any bird photographer.

Some Target Species

Birds

Kalij Koklas & Himalayan Monal Pheasants, Black Francolin, Crested Kingfisher, Himalayan & Rufous-bellied Woodpeckers, Cinerous & Bearded Vulture, Maroon Oriole, Flycatchers (Verditer, Ultra Marine & Rufous Gorgetted), Finches (Scarlet, Red Headed, Common, Dark Breasted), Niltava, Laughing Thrushes (White Crested, Streaked, Striated and Variegated), Yuhinas (Whiskered & Stripe Throated), Flower peckers, Minivets (Scarlet & Long Tailed and Sunbirds (Fire Tailed, Vigor’s).

Mammals

Himalayan Thar, Jackals, Yellow Throated Martin and Mountain Goral

Quick Information

Route:

Dehradun - Chopta - Dehradun

Start Point:

Dehradun

Duration:

4 nights 5 days

End Point:

Dehradun

Inclusions

  • A bird photographer's paradise
  • Unique biodiversity of avian life
  • Handholding by DCP Senior Mentor
  • Accommodation for 4 nights and 5 days.
  • All meals as mentioned in itinerary
  • All internal transfers
  • All guide charges

Experts

How To Reach

We suggest you reach Jolly Grant airport from where our journey will start. Please coordinate with our admin team for a group travel (not included in package). 

Not applicable

Not applicable

Getting Ready

Things to carry:

Temperatures at Chopta may hit subzero with a chance of snow at isolated places. Hence we request you to carry ample woolen clothing, Thermals along with protection from cold for your Head, Hands and feet. Use gloves which can allow you to operate camera without having to remove them. Your skipper will be able to help you with a list of essentials (to be carried) and precautions to be taken prior to and during the trip.

  • Telephoto lenses – preferably above 400 mm
  • Wide angle lenses for the wonderful landscapes
  • Carry fully charged batteries for your camera / flash.
  • Carry battery charger. Carry extra pack of camera batteries
  • Carry backup memory cards / HDD storage drives, Laptop
  • A sturdy tripod is a MUST.
  • It is advisable to carry basic first aid along with you.
  • Enough warm clothing

Equipment available on rental - please mail us at rentals@dcpexpeditions.com.

Itinerary

We request our guests to arrive at Dehradun a day prior and stay at Dehradun overnight. We will have an early breakfast and leave for Chopta. The roadways drive is very scenic as we drive along the Ganges and Alakananda rivers. The drive is anywhere between 5 – 7 hours depending on sightings enroute and some pit stops for Tea / Coffee / Lunch. We plan to reach the hotel in Mandal by about 2 PM. 

After checking in and freshen up, we will do photography around the property and look for Redstarts, Finches, Dipper and forktails. Return to the hotel by 6 PM and the evening is at leisure. We retire early after the dinner.

Start the day with a wakeup call at 6 AM followed by Tea / Coffee, we start looking for the Scarlet Finch at the trail followed by photographing more birds at the nearby stream until lunch.

Post Lunch we leave for Chopta which is an hour and half drive (depending on the road conditions). On the way up, we stop to admire the beauty of Nandadevi peak before hitting the famous Monal point. Look for Monal, Koklas and Thar’s until dusk and head to the resort.

Have tea and refreshments. Spend the evening by joining the group for discussing your experience and you can consult our skipper for any guidance in photography and most of all enjoy the Himalayan winter at 2680 MSL

Wake up call at 5:30 AM. Have your tea/coffee by 5.30 am and then we start again at the Monal & Koklas points and photographing opportunities in the early morning beautiful light followed by breakfast. Post breakfast head to the Chopta area looking for Red Foxes, Vultures and other common species found at this altitude until afternoon.

We spend the second half at Makku bend looking Maroon Oriole, Tits and Yuhina’s. Return to resort by 6 PM followed by group discussions, plans for the next day and dinner.

We follow the same schedule as Day 3 with an exception to the target species list (it depends on the prior day sighting and images). 

This is our last session, we wake up early and spend 3-4 hours photographing vultures and fox / jackals  before returning to the resort around 10 AM. After breakfast, checkout from the resort 

As they say “All Good Things must End”, we start our return journey towards Dehradun (around 11AM) with loads of memories, images and the crisp Himalayan (winter) air in our lungs.


Field Learnings

On field learning from the experts is said to be one of the best methods of improving your skillsets. Our Wildlife Photography Expert will hand hold you at every possible step for a better understanding of perspectives, camera controls and how to make use of the best opportunities to get better images. The training will focus on the following

  1. Bird and landscape photography
  2. Exposure control in field under difficult light conditions
  3. Mastering metering techniques (Spot, partial, center weighted, evaluative)
  4. Mastering auto focus, focusing points, AF locking and focus tracking
  5. Framing and composition in the field

To maximize and complete your photographic learning, join our evening session of informal discussions on digital image processing. Our Expert will work on few of his own images or a few of yours (which you have clicked during the day) and demonstrate various techniques of image processing to give a final shape to your artwork. The following will be discussed


Package Cost

Rs 45,000 per head inclusive of all taxes
*To know charges for foreign nationals please write to info@dcpexpeditions.com

Cost includes

  1. Accommodation for 4 nights and 5 days.
  2. All meals (Veg / Non Veg) with Tea / Coffee
  3. All transportation from Ramnagar (and back)
  4. DCP photography expert for all days
  5. All guide charges
  6. All Taxes and service charges.

Cost does not include

  1. Travel up to Dehradun and back to your source
  2. Mineral Water, Soft Drinks, Laundry Charges, Phone Calls, Tips etc.
  3. Any kind of insurance, Medical or/and Emergency Charges
  4. Any extra meals not included in the above itinerary.

Map

Chopta


Policies

Cancellation policy

  • All cancellations before 30 days of the event date - 100% credit
  • All cancellations between 20 - 30 days of the event date - 50% credit
  • All cancellations within 20 days of the event date - No credit possible

FAQ's

Yes. Please send us a mail to info@dcpexpeditions.com as it is subject to availability.

Yes certainly. However, the cost will remain the same



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