Sundarban Brown Wood Owl & Mangrove Whistler in October 2025
This 03 Day October 17-19, 2025 Sundarban Trip was Led by Mr. Ikbal H Babu. The Team started from Dhaka on Thursday evening and arrived Mongla at around 1AM. The Ship started promptly, picked up the Forester Guard and cruised towards Shekhertek Area of Sundarban via Bhadra Canal. This Trip was targeted to capture primarily the Brown Wood Owl and Mangrove Whistler. The Owl was first found here by us earlier this year in February during out Masked Finfoot Tour and this location seems like a solid place to look for it. Few other teams have come and found it in september & earlier october.
Note: This Owl is found in few other forests in Bangladesh but very rarely seen, no records outside sundarban in about 5-6 years. Recently being seen in Sundarban during night safaris.
The Mangrove Whistler is also rather scarce in Sundarban. But this area seems like a good place to look for it. Photos are by Mr. Ikbal H Babu & Guest Mr. Shahriar Shams.
The Team arrived at Location at 06:30AM and went inside the Boardwalk to look for the Mangrove Whistler. Brown-winged Kingfisher & Ruddy Kingfisher was seen early. Along with Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker. Chestnut-winged Cuckoo was heard only, Green-billed Malkoha seen twice.
After trying few hours first Mangrove Whistler was photographed. But photos were to be improved later. The group explored Nearby Canals in the afternoon and photographed Black-capped Kingfisher & more.
After sunset the Group played back Brown Wood Owl call few times to draw it’s attention. It came quite quickly and sat nearby while responding. The Team got pretty good photos of the bird early at night. No night safari was done that night. Guests went to sleep early.
Next day early morning, guests went for Canal Cruise again, explored few side canals and photographed Whimbrels, Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, Black-naped Oriole etc. Then returned for Breakfast.
The Next Boardwalk & Foot Trail session was super good. Guests got fantastic views of the Mangrove Whistler, Several Velvet-fronted Nuthatches and one Large-billed Leaf Warbler.
Weather started to go bad in the afternoon. Brown Wood Owl came again this evening but would not come out in the front branches. No good views were possible, all blurry photos. One Buffy Fish Owl was heard also. The Team decided to start return cruise towards Karamjal for next Day. Thankfully the Rivers weren’t too rough and they arrived safely.
Last Full Day was to be spent at Karamjal Boardwalk & Foot Trail. The Ruddy Kinfisher gave great views. Along with Streak-breasted Woodpecker & a pair of Greater Yellownape. More Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Speckled Piculet & Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrikes was Photographed. One Scaly Thrush was photographed which was a nice surprise for this location.
The Team headed back towards Khulna in the afternoon, and caught the 8PM Bus back to Dhaka. They saw Total 78 species of Birds in 3 Days. All main targets gave excellent views. A Nice succesful Trip Indeed.
See Full Species List on eBird here
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