The Holy Lake
After a quick snack in the jeep, we decided to explore the area around Lhanggyi Tso, the Holy Lake. It is a sacred place for Tibetan Buddism, attracting many pilgrims, including me. A well-constructed boardwalk leads from the parking area up to the lake.
Walking along the boardwalk, we passed more alpine shrubs, and some laughingthrush song came from nearby. It reminded me of the song of Black-faced Laughingthrush, but I was a bit unsure. After a short wait, we found indeed this speices. Jun indicated that this one belonged to the nominated subspecies I was unfamiliar with.
We found Phylloscopus in the bushes, mainly Tickell’s Leaf Warbler, and an unidentified rosefinch, which quickly vanished. It was probably a Pink-browed Rosefinch, but we never found it again. Himalayan Griffons finally started to hover above us. Near the pass, a small Accipiter hawk rose around us. Initially, we thought it was an Eurasian Sparrowhawk, but then we found its five-fingered wings and a throat strip. We confirmed that it was a Besra–quite impressive to reach 4,000 m altitude for this species!
When we reached the lakeside, we found a stream of pilgrims continuing to come. According to the legend, the lake’s reflections can align with the surrounding landscape to form an image resembling Guanyin in sunny weather. Mr. Shi seemed interested in that, and he took many photos then while the weather was nice. That is rare here, as the lake was mostly misty, giving it an “ethereal” atmosphere.
Looking toward the cliffs, there were only a few yaks and their herders, with no other wildlife in sight. We heard the call of a Himalayan Snowcock remotely but never managed to see it. Gradually, the mist began to cover the lake, obscuring the Guanyin image.
A few minutes later, the calls of the Himalayan Snowcock had faded, and the surrounding ridgeline was covered by fog—scanning with the scope was impossible now. It seemed our chance encounter with another Snowcock had come to an end.
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