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Royal Chitwan National Park
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 There are a few jungle parks in Nepal, but none of them compares
with Chitwan. This is the best when it comes to bird watching.
Here is jungle, lush riverine forest, dry sal forests, open
grass lands, rivers and small lakes. The park is big, and
different areas vary considerably. Sauraha has easiest access
and great variety of accommodation. In general its much cheaper
to stay outside the park, than opposite. Close to Sauraha is the
Rapti River, some open grasslands and patches of jungle. The
river in it self holds a lot of birds, especially at winter
time. You are likely to see black storks, lesser adjutant, ruddy
shelduck and black ibis. At the big open grasslands just east of
Sauraha (but inside the park and across the river), keep an eye
for red-necked falcon which often seen perched in dead trees
here. Even further east, something like 2-3 hours walk from
Sauraha, is the Mul khola, a small and often dried up river bed.
Mul khola is surrounded by a very good riverine forest with a
thick under storey. Here you can see red-headed trogon,
white-throated bulbul, green magpie and long-tailed broadbill. At
Gaida Wildlife Tented Camp, inside the park, is a small river
where blue-eared kingfisher occurs. The camp might be closed
down at the moment due to political problems.
A few kilometers west of Sauraha is a series of small lakes
called Bis Hajar Tal or One Thousand Lakes. The area used to
hold more birds a few years back, but you are still likely to
see grey-headed fish-eagle here as well as greater spotted eagle
( the latter one in winter time).
Meghauli, just outside the park and a few hours bus ride south
of Narayanghat, is close to Tiger Tops and perhaps the best
areas in Chitwan when it comes to both bird watching and spotting
wild life. If you cannot afford Tiger Tops, there is a descent
budget option, Chital Safari Resort, in the outskirts of
Meghauli; it even come with its own brown fish owl in the
garden. Walk form here or Tiger Tops to discover the jungle
close to Bhimle and Tiger Tops. Here is pitas (summer), black
baza, great and oriental pied hornbills, trogon, red-winged
crested cuckoo, necklace- and rufous necked laughing thrushes,
white-browed piculet and all most all the goodies of Chitwan you
can imagine. In spring time you might encounter displaying
Bengal floricans in the grasslands east of Bhimle.
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Royal Bardia National Park :
 This is the second jungle park in Nepal when it comes to both
visitors and bird watching. While Sauraha in Chitwan sometimes is
quite crowded, much less people make it out here. The birding
is quite good as well. Bengal florican and even lesser florican
might be seen if you are very lucky. Close to the Karnali river
its fairly easy to see great thick-knees. A few hours west of
Thakurdwara there is a damp forest where silver-eared mesia is
quite common. In Thakurdwara you have a good choise of budget
accommodation..
Krishna Sar is of the beaten track for most birders and tourist,
tough its fairly close to both Barida and the towns of Nepalganj
and Gularia. The area is quite small and consists of open
grasslands reminiscent of a savannah. The last herd of nepali
blackbucks, a graceful antilope, is very easy to see. Just a few
years back, in early spring, there was at least one pair of
indian coursers here. Yellow wattled lapwing, bay-backed shrike,
pied harrier and lesser spotted eagles (breeding?) are other
specialties. Imperial eagle and Hodgson´s bush chat is also
observed. Not far from Krishna Sar, towards Nepalganj but a few
kilometers away from the highway, is Bardiya Tal. Few birders has
visited this man made fish pond which at least during winter and
migration holds an amazing array of wetland birds. Comb duck,
feruginous duck, red-crested pochard, painted stork, spoonbill,
saurus crane, short-toed eagle, lesser spotted eagle and marsh
sandpiper are a few of the species which can be seen here.
Rufous tailed-shrike is also observed.
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Shey Phoksundo National Park :
 It is the largest national park of Nepal, which covers an area
of 3,555sq.kms. It is rich in trans Himalayan eco system which
lies in the Dolpa and Mugu districts in western Nepal. The park
consist the kanjiroba Himal and other peak, which is over 6,000
meters in height. Shey Monastery, the Phoksundo Lake and langu
Gorge are also the major attraction of park. Blue pine, walnu,
willow, oak, poplar and cypress are found in the lower southern
parts. Pine, spruce, juniper and birch predominate makes up the
major flora in the higher altitude. The alpine areas are
vegetated by barberries, wild rose & caragona. The arid trans -
Himalayan mountains are grassy alpine meadows to the north are
almost devoid of trees. It is primal habitat for the snow
leopard, sheeps, ghoral, musk deer, wild dog, wolf, marmot,
weasel, mouse hare, rhesus, langur, Himalayan thar, screw,
leopard, jackal, Himalayan black bear, yellow-throated marten &
various species of birds. The park is inhabited people of
Tibetan descent who are pre - Buddhist bon religion.
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Rara National Park:
 Rara National Park abound by coniferous forests a smallest
National park, which covers an area of 160sq. kms. It lies in
the northwest of Kathmandu nearly 370 kms far. The park ascends
from 1800m - 4080 meters. Most of the park lies at an altitude
of about 3,000 meters. Alpine and sub alpine ecosystems of
Himalaya are its major inhabitants. The biggest lake of Nepal
the Rara Lake stands at an altitude of 2,990 meters in the park.
The Lake is hebetated by snow trout fish and it is surrounded by
hills richly forested by blue pine, black juniper, west
Himalayan spruce, oak, Himalayan cypress, Indian horse -
chestnut, walnut and Himalayan poplar, chuchemara (4,087m), Ruma
Kand (3,731m) and Malika Kand (3731m) are the summits situated
at the northern side of the park. It is an ideal habitat for the
musk deer, red panda, black deer, yellow throat martin, ghoral,
serow, leopard, wild Boar himalayan thar. Wild fowl like teals,
pochards and mallards are seen migrating while birds like
impeyan, kalij & blood pheasant & chukker partridge are found
inhabiting the park.
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Shukla Panta Wildlife Reserve:
 The western most nepali jungle park with the highest density of
tigers in the kingdom. Few people make the long trip here, but
is really worthwhile, especially if going by bus to New Dehli or
trekking in Api Himal. Again a mix of jungle (mostly dry
forest), big open grasslands and a few small lakes (jehls).
During winter time the grasslands attracts quite a few pied and
pallid harriers. Oriental pied hornbill, changeable hawk eagle,
hodgson´s bush chat (at the grass lands), grey-headed and pallas
fishing eagle is also seen on a regular basis (there is a
watchtower at one of the lakes). Besides birds, there is big
herds of barasingha, swamp deer. There is a good, but expensive
cam – Silent Safari – inside the park. You can also find
inexpensive but good accommodation at the park borders and in
Mahendranagar town.
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Makalu Barun National Park:
 It covers an area of 2,330 sq. kms. Is the conservation area
which borders with Arun River in the east, Sagarmatha National
Park in the west, Nepal - Tibet border in the north and saune
dada in the south. It consists of 67 species of aromatic and
medicinal plant, 25 varieties of rhododendron, 15 types of oak,
48 species of aromatic and medicinal plant, 25 varieties of
rhododendron, 15 types of oak, 48 species of primrose, 86
species of fodder trees &19 species of Bamboo.
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Koshi Tappu National Park:
 The most important wetland area in Nepal is in the south east,
reasonable close to the town of Biratnagar. Especially during
winter and migration, there is a huge flocks of waterfowl here.
Up to 50 000 ducks has been counted in February. Falcated duck
and bear's pochard are both rare winter visitors and baikal teal
is observed. The barrage in itself is good as well as several
small ponds along the highway and the river banks close to Koshi
Tappu. This area also attracts a lot of birds of prey like white
tailed sea eagle, pallas fishing eagle, tawny eagle, greater
spotted eagle and red necked falcon. Swamp francolin is another
specialty for the area. Both Indian skimmer, spot-billed pelican
and bengal florican is observed as well. Gangnetic dolphin is
often seen close to the barrage and wild buffalos occur in the
grasslands close to Koshi Tappu.
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Nepal
