Gulmarg - Baba Reshi - Drung
Gulmarg is located at a distance of 48-km to the south-west of Srinagar. It is a world-class ski resort and a major tourist destination boasting of the worlds highest ropeway. A wide variety of bird life is seen in the biosphere which ranges from 2000m at Tangmarg to 4114m at Apharwat with the Gulmarg valley lying at 2,699m.
Bird Roll Call: Common Kestrel, Common Stonechat, House Sparrow, Russet Sparrow, Large-billed Crow, Oriental Turtle Dove, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Citrine Wagtail, Common Myna, Black Kite, Himalayan Bulbul, Red-headed Bullfinch, Rock Bunting, Grey Bushchat, Eurasian Collared Dove, European Goldfinch, Yellow-breasted Greenfinch, Common Hoopoe, Black-billed Magpie, Yellow-billed Blue Magpie, Rosy Pipit, Common Rosefinch, Rufous-naped Tit, Blue Whisting Thrush, Lemon-rumped warbler, Scaly-bellied Woodpecker.
Baba-Reshi is a charming shrine a few kilometres from Gulmarg. Drung is a developing resort where the downhill road [3.5 km] from Tangmarg reaches the Ferozepore stream. On the hill across the river there are the ruins of an ancient temple and a meadow slightly higher up the hill.
Bird Roll Call: Yellow-billed Blue Magpie, Grey Wagtail, Large-billed Crow, Blue Whistling Thrush, Spot-winged Tit, Grey Bushchat, Rock Bunting, Oriental Turtle Dove, Black Kite, Scaly-bellied Woodpecker, Himalayan Woodpeckers, various warblers and flycatchers, falcons and an unidentified large raptor.
More info about the birds of Gulmarg is available here.
