The Lama Camp area, around 2,300 metres, is the site for the Bugun liocichla — a bird described as new to science in 2006, known only from a few square kilometres here, with a population thought to number a few dozen individuals. The Bugun community protects it, and seeing it is the reason many birders come.

The Bompu Camp area, lower down, holds the mid-elevation specialities: wren-babblers, laughingthrushes, ward's trogon, beautiful nuthatch and mixed flocks that can hold thirty species at once.

The Sessni and Khellong stretches, lower still in subtropical forest, add hornbills, broadbills and the lowland species, and are where the mammal sightings happen — capped langur, Asiatic wild dog, and very occasionally clouded leopard or red panda higher up.

The upper reaches near Eaglenest pass hold blood pheasant, temminck's tragopan and the high-altitude specialists, with rhododendron forest and views into Bhutan.

April and May are the peak for breeding activity and displaying pheasants; October and November are drier and better for clear weather.

Practicalities

Access is via Guwahati and Tezpur in Assam, then a long drive into Arunachal Pradesh. Indian visitors need an Inner Line Permit and foreign nationals a Protected Area Permit — arrange both well in advance through an operator, as this is a sensitive border region.

Accommodation is tented camps run by the Bugun community, with basic facilities and cold nights. The trip is organised through specialist birding operators; independent travel here is impractical.