Birding Trip to North West India
(January 1997)
by Venkatesh Iyengar
Introduction
In the winter of 1997, my wife, Leena and I went on a birding and sightseeing
trip to North West India. These notes cover the birding and natural history
part of our trip. The sightseeing is covered in separate notes.
January 5, 1997
New Delhi
We reached my friend's home early morning. The whole day was spent relaxing
and getting acclimatized to India. Having been here just two years ago, I had
no problem getting set. Leena had left only a year ago and so, for her, it was
much easier. In the morning, we made our reacquaintance with the Pariah Kite,
lots of which were flying and roosting near my friend's place in Press
Enclave. That evening we met Bikram Grewal, a leading birdwatcher, bird
photographer and naturalist author. He had helped me in coming up with my
current itinerary. He promised to help me find a good car rental the following
day. Another invaluable resource for my birding trip was the advance drafts of
certain sections of Krys Kazmierczak's "Birdwatcher's guide to
India". Our field guide was "The Pictorial Guide to the Birds of India
and Pakistan".
January 6, 1997
Okhla, New Delhi
We had booked a taxi to take us for birding to Okhla. We were using Krys'
draft as our main reference. As we got close to the site, we came to the
marshes which are great for birding. We were happy to note that we had not
lost touch with our Indian birds. We could easily get the ducks - Brahminy
Duck, Eurasian Wigeon, Spotbilled Duck, etc. We also got the Pied Myna. It
took us a while to wind our way to the temple where we were supposed to end
up. On the dusty path leading up to the temple we saw the Red Munia -
beautiful birds. Some of them were in breeding plumage. We then went into the
fields which were right by the temple and there we saw some babblers. From the
pictorial plates and Krys' notes, we decided that this must be the wanted
Striated Babbler. We also saw a fair number of Ashy Wren Warblers. The other
interesting bird we saw in its natural, unintroduced habitat was the Starling,
otherwise known as the European Starling. We had a weird feeling seeing this
bird so far away from home. It was an Indian first timer for us. In about
3 hrs of birding we saw 33 birds.
We had one bad experience on the way out from there. We were stopped by Delhi
police when they saw our "instrument" (namely our binoculars). We had to
convince them that these were harmless things. We later found out why this
happened. It seems that the Delhi police was on high alert following news that
terrorists were going to disrupt the Republic day celebrations at the end of
the month.
By afternoon, our driver, Sardar Singh, had arrived and we left for Corbett
National Park. We reached Corbett by about 8:00 p.m. We had got referred to the
Temple Tiger resort place which had recently opened. There we met Manoj
Sharma, the manager of the place. We also met Kunwar Sinh, the bird guide. He
had been our guide during our previous trip to Corbett. We found out that he
was going to be our guide this time too. There was a group of youngsters from
Calcutta who were staying at the same resort. They were having a music session
and we joined them around an open campfire. So, it was quite late by the time
we had the excellent dinner. We then chalked out our program for the next few
days. We were then led to our tented accommodation. This were double beds
covered by tents with no room for movement. We were quoted a price of Rs 800/-
per night which we felt was quite high for such accommodation. In
any event we did get a discounted price. I also guess that all the "resorts"
around Corbett do go for the kill.
January 7, 1997
Dhukli, Ramnagar and Dhikala
The area where Temple Tiger is located is known as Dhukli. There is a walking
trail nearby and this trail is used by the folks at Temple Tiger to birdwatch.
One of the chief attractions of this area is that the Great Indian Hornbills
frequent this area. We left at 6:30 am for a pre-breakfast walk. It was a clear
day. Right away we heard the hornbills but did not see any. We were lucky with
Fantail Flycatchers and we saw the Whitethroated, Whitebrowed and the
Yellowbellied. We saw the Orange bellied and the Goldenfronted Chloropsis,
though I did not get a very good look at the former which was a lifer for me.
We had a very good look at a Large Cuckoo-Shrike. Another good bird was the
Bluethroated Barbet. In the earlier part of our walk our best bird was the
Yellowbacked Sunbird. The striking feature of this bird is the crimson front
and we had a wonderful view of this in the morning sun. On the whole this walk
was turning out to be quite disappointing till we hit a "feeding flock"
just as we were descending the slope to get out of the forest. Here we saw some
of the fantail flycatchers mentioned earlier, the Himalayan Tree Creeper and
the Blackheaded Yellow Bulbul. But no hornbills.
Before lunch we decided to go looking for the Ibisbill. This rare bird has been
spotted on the Kosi river in Ramnagar near the Kosi barrage. Along with Kunwar
Sinh, we went and had a walk near the barrage along the nearly dry Kosi. It was
hot and we were melting in the mid-day sun. We didn't see much of interest
though we did get a good look at a Pied Flycatcher-Shrike.
After lunch we headed out for Dhikala thus entering Corbett National Park for
the first time on this trip. We were also looking out for the Tiger. We heard
that tiger sightings had increased in the recent past and so our hopes were
high. We were also looking for Hornbills because they were found in the area
around the entrance to the park and on the Dhikala track. We drove on and
reached the area near the Dhikala rest house early enough so that we could go
looking for the tiger some more. There was high anticipation when we heard the
deer's call very near to our car. We waited about 15 minutes but the tiger
failed to materialize. Among the birds we saw that day were two of our old
favorites of which we got good views this time - Khaleej Pheasant and
Redbreasted Falconet. The Black Partridge is common at Dhikala. We had a fairly
decent double bed accommodation.
January 8, 1997
Dhikala and Lohachaur
We had been trying for quite a while to avail ourselves of the services of
Harak Singh, a forest officer and a famed bird-watcher. Last time around he
had been out of town. This time around he was just too busy. Anyway, he
managed to spare half an hour of his time and we went to the watchtower
overlooking the Ramganga river for some birding. The view from here, as from
the rest house is excellent. The early morning mist casts quite a spell. This
time, throughout our stint at the watchtower, we had the company of a
Peregrine Falcon. It just sat on a treetop, not far away from us, and gave us
a wonderful view of itself. Another bird we saw very well was the Red
Junglefowl. In fact we saw many of them walking out of the bushes on the path
below us. Harak Singh showed us two new bulbuls - Blackcapped Yellow Bulbul
and Browneared Bulbul. We also saw some River Otters playing in the river. This
was a very distant view, admittedly. In the fields enroute to the watchtower,
we saw the Yelloweyed Babbler. We dropped Harak Singh and then had a round
with the car looking for birds and tigers and saw a few new birds like the
Eastern Steppe Eagle and the Fulvousbreasted Pied Woodpecker. We decided to
skip
the elephant ride because we had done this the previous time. We started back
for Dhukli around lunchtime. We had two other persons in our vehicle as Manoj
Sharma was doing them a favor by transporting them to Dhukli. We then had a
late lunch.
Then we hired a jeep, arranged by Manoj Sharma, costing us an arm and a leg
(Rs 1500/- a day) to take us to Lohachaur. Lohachaur has a rest house inside
Corbett Park and there is a separate track leading to it. It is the single
most captivating place I saw during this trip. It is very close to a river
which joins Ramganga further downstream. This place does not have any resident
cook nor does it have electricity. So, food and light need to be arranged for.
But the boarding cost is not much. In our case, we took provisions and had the
watchman there cook the food for us. We took candles for light. The drive to
and from Lohachaur is great and the idea is to bird this route. An alternative
would be to take the once a day bus which goes there and then bird the track
using the rest house as a base. As soon as we entered the park we saw this
beautiful bird. It was dark blue in color from the back and it was a while
before we got to see the rufous belly. It was indeed the Rufousbellied Niltava.
We kept going ahead doing a combination of driving and walking and we kept
seeing some beautiful forest hill birds. We saw two kinds of nuthatches -
Chestnutbellied Nuthatch and Velvetfronted Nuthatch. A beautiful bird which we
saw in silhouette only was the Longtailed Broadbill. We then came to a stream
and an opening in the hillside around us and there saw more Pallas' Fishing
Eagles and Booted Hawk-Eagles at one location than I have ever seen before. We
had a not too great view of a Golden Eagle too. We then started walking on the
rocks alongside the stream and got our best birds of the day. The best thing
was the variety. For starters we saw a new kind of Drongo, the Bronze Drongo.
These have a light blue sheen on their back. This was followed by a sighting of
that massive kingfisher - the Himalayan Pied Kingfisher. We had great views of
the kingfisher with its erect crest. Then, right on the rocks just above the
water we spotted the beautiful Blackbacked Forktail. This was followed by the
Brown Dipper sitting on a large rock at the edge of the water. By this time it
was getting dark but Leena spotted a biggish bird fly into a tree at the edge
of the water and she said "Owl". We latched on to the owl soon enough
but it was a full 15 minutes in that fading light before we decided that it
was a Brown Fish Owl and started making a hasty walk back to the road at the
edge of the river since it was almost dark by that time. Not only was the food
problem solved as mentioned earlier but our driver and Kunwar Sinh got us some
branches to make us a roaring fire at the fireplace. That was a memorable
evening following the memorable day which had preceded it. In the night, we
had a wonderful view of the starlight sky.
January 9, 1997
Lohachaur
Right from the time we were at Dhikala, we had started hearing the weird
gurgling sound of the Whitecrested Laughing Thrush. Having seen pictures of
this beautiful bird, I really wanted to see it. So, imagine my joy when I
heard these birds calling, the first thing during our walk. We missed our
first view because the birds flew just as we rounded the corner and sighted
them. But we persevered and before long we were enjoying wonderful views of
not just one individual but the whole flock. They are quite a sight to behold
with their white faces and the rest of the body brown. A little further ahead
we saw another of its brethren, the Whitethroated Laughing Thrush. These move
about in a group too and so we had good views of many of these birds too.
Another beautiful bird we saw from a distance was the enchanting Green Magpie.
There was no mistaking this bird though. We did a little bit of looking around
the river but didn't get much. Everything seemed to be fizzling out till we
hit another feeding flock. In that flock we had a Lesser Rackettailed Drongo,
Blacknaped Woodpecker, Small Yellownaped Woodpecker and Large Yellownaped
Woodpecker. We rounded off the birding at Lohachaur with two orange birds -
Orangegorgeted Flycatcher and Orangeflanked Bush Robin. Then it was time to
head back to Temple Tiger for our lunch.
On finishing lunch we settled our account there and started for Nainital. On
the way to Nainital, before we started climbing up the ghat section, at
Kaladhungi, we stopped and listened for the hornbill but did not hear anything.
As we continued climbing we got good views of the hills and valleys. On the
way up, we kept a lookout for the Bajun bus stop near the Mongoli Valley
because Krys had pointed out that this was a good place to bird. We saw the
place and noted its location. We also noticed that it had become quite cold.
But it was quite sunny and the weather was quite good. We later heard that the
weather had been unseasonably good.
On reaching Nainital we started looking for a place to stay. We first checked
out the Kumaon Vikas Nigam rest house but finally decided to stay at the Hotel
Lansdale Manor. Since we were quite early, we decided to go out and see the
town. We parked the car near the lake and then walked around the lake to the
Mall which is the main street in Nainital. This street runs right along the
lake after which Nainital has been named. We had a look at the shops and had
dinner. We then returned to the hotel and had our worst night of the trip. It
was freezing cold and the electric heater they gave us could heat only one
body part at a time. We somehow managed to get some sleep.
January 10, 1997
Mongoli Valley and Nainital
We had our breakfast and started for Mongoli valley. Krys' notes proved
priceless for this day's birding. We started off the birding on a high note
by seeing the beautiful, diminutive Speckled Piculet. We also saw a lot of
Tits in those initial minutes. We saw Yellowcheeked Tit, Greenbacked Tit and
Redheaded Tit. As we proceeded down the valley, we had good views of
Blackthroated Jay. Right at the very top, as mentioned by Krys, we saw the
Lammergeier. Redbilled Blue Magpies put on quite a display as the flitted about
from tree to tree. On the way down, we also saw the Tree Creeper. At the bottom
of the valley, we had one of our toughies, a skulking Redheaded Laughing
Thrush.
This one was well spotted by Leena. Proceeding in the valley we picked up
Rustycheeked Scimitar Babbler and Longbilled Scimitar Babbler. Besides, we had
the Scarlet Finch, Cinnamon Tree Sparrow and Water Pipit.
On the way up, we saw Black Bulbul. This was a very long birding
session and we totally underestimated the distances and climbing involved. We
must have birded a good 4 hours at a stretch, that too involving a lot of
climbing. We ran out of water early on and didn't have much food reserves to
speak of. But the birding was excellent.
That afternoon we were quite tired to do any more birding. So, we decided to
take the cable car to Snow View Ridge. We had a good view of the main range of
the Himalayan mountains from here. We did get the Himalayan Griffon Vulture
and the Raven but not much else besides. The evening was spent taking a boat
ride on the lake and listening to tales of the different movie shoots which
had taken place here. That night we changed rooms and got one without windows
and so we were more comfortable.
January 11, 1997
Travel to New Delhi
The morning was spoilt with our first car trouble of the tour. Luckily happened
right on the Mall road and so we could get help. Anyway, Leena was not in a
mood to take a pony and we were a bit tired from the previous day's
exertions. Also, Leena was quite fed up of the cold. So, we decided to quit
Nainital for good. We stopped at Ramnagar for lunch and at Temple Tiger to
square up some billing discrepancy. Then off we went to Delhi and reached
Delhi late evening.
January 12, 1997
Bharatpur
After meeting a friend, for the first time in 10 years and having had a home
cooked meal, we left for Bharatpur around noontime from New Delhi. About 20
miles before we reached Bharatpur, we came across a lake with a lot of birds.
Here, I saw, for the first and last time on the trip, the Black Ibis. We had to
pay state tax at the entry to Rajasthan and here we saw many Rose-ringed
Parakeets feeding on the ground. These parakeets were ubiquitous throughout
Rajasthan. When we reached Bharatpur, we began our search for a hotel. We
first tried Hotel Saras but found it overpriced. We next went for Hotel
Eagle's Nest which is where we had stayed the previous time. We found that
the rates were reasonable and the rooms were decent. I heartily recommend this
hotel. It is on the highway which leads to the Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary.
As soon as we had kept our luggage, we proceeded to the Sanctuary because we
had a few hours left until sundown. We left word at the gate that we would like
to meet Ratansinh, the rickshaw driver bird guide. We then rented bicycles and
went into the sanctuary. Our main aim was to get reacquainted with all the
water
birds for which Bharatpur is so famed. In this we were eminently successful as
we started ticking far too many birds to enumerate here (They are given in the
bird list at the end of this report). But here is a sprinkling - Purple
Sunbird, Painted Stork, White Ibis, Spoonbill, Spotbill, Lesser Whistling Teal,
Common Teal, Cotton Teal, Pintail, Mallard, etc. Among kingfishers we had Pied
Kingfisher, Whitebreasted Kingfisher. We got a couple of owls too - Spotted
Owlet, Collared Scops Owl. As Leena commented, Bharatpur is almost like a zoo.
But the highlight of the day was the bird I had come to see. That was,
of course, the Siberian Crane. I had seen Siberian Cranes before but those were
introduced in the hope of inducing it to fly back with the visiting cranes
which never came that year. This year was different and these were the real
thing. They had come from Siberia in November and were the talk of the town.
By the time we got to the area where the cranes were feeding, it was getting
close to dark. Besides they were feeding in a field which was somewhat
obstructed from our view. Finally, we had the help of a park official who
showed us the exact spot they were feeding at and we got to see them. Then it
was quick cycling to try and beat the light. Ratansinh was waiting for us at
the entrance to the park. We fixed up our program for the next day and then
went to Bharatpur town for dinner. We had a good meal and then the
famous "matka milk" i.e. hot, fresh milk served in an earthen mini-pot.
January 13, 1997
Bharatpur
By around 8:00 am, we were in the park with Rattansinh. We were joined by a
Gujarati doctor and his son from Vadodara. They were staying at Shanti Kutir
within the park and so we started our birding from there. We walked just a
few feet further and saw many Ruddy Crakes. This was a first for us. What
also surprised us was that they didn't seem secretive in the least as had
been our experience with crakes in the past. Part of the reason may have
been that we weren't the noisiest group around. We saw many, many Grey
Partridges and their calls just filled the air. We hadn't seen as many the
last time around though a reason for this could be that we had not started out
this early the last time we were here. As we were turning back towards Shanti
Kutir after this short sojourn for the crakes, we saw another lifer, a
Tickell's Thrush. We had very good views of this bird as it went about its
business scraping insects from under dead leaves. Soon after, we saw the
Mahratta Woodpecker. We then went to the area which is called the Nursery.
Last time around this area had been great for many kinds and numbers of
nightjar but we learnt that of late they had been disturbed a lot. As a result
we saw just the Long-tailed Nightjar. Rattansinh was then looking for some
biggies and soon he found one. Sitting in fairly open view, we saw the Black
Bittern. This is a beautiful bird with the black stripes on it breast and a
black back. We feasted on the bird for a while and then went looking for
another big catch. Rattansinh wanted this bird very bad and he got it. He came
running to us and asked us to follow him silently making as less a sound as
possible. This is where I missed a good photo-op and the doctor got one. Doing
its dead leaves thing was none other than the Orangeheaded Ground Thrush. This
is one bird which birders come to see from miles. It finds a prominent mention
in the brochure of the "Sunbird" birding tour company. We saw this
beautiful bird from a distance of about 15 ft and in very good light. Part of
the body was in sun and part in light shade and for a split second it was
totally in the sun. We had seen this bird before but never so well. We were
able to appreciate this bird well this time - orange head and breast and grey
wings. On the way out I scored another lifer - the Thickbilled Flowerpecker.
Then we were on the main road and ticking off waterbirds as we went. In
addition to many of the birds given before, we also did storks - Openbill
Stork,
Painted Stork and Whitenecked Stork. Rattansinh then alerted us to another
skulker, the Bittern. We viewed this in the brush. We also saw a lonely
Dalmatian Pelican swimming in the lake. Then we deviated from the straight
path and got to see a Dusky Horned Owl and its chick. In this area we also saw
a Shikra. We were happy to note that this year King Vultures seemed to be
breeding in the park and we had a nice view of a few. Rattansinh had
originally planned to plough ahead to see another owl but by now all of us,
especially Leena, were fairly hungry. So, we made a beeline for the canteen in
the center of the park. After a heavy meal of chips, biscuits and tea, we
proceeded to view one of the spectacles of this Bharatpur trip. We saw hundreds
of Rosy Pelicans in the marsh. They swam, played, squabbled, took off and
landed as we watched them amazed. As we watched the pelicans, Rattansinh
pointed out a few shorebirds. We saw the Ruff and Reeve and Green Sandpiper.
Rattansinh, being the ever watchful birder that he is, picked out a lifer for
himself and got what maybe an addition to the park birdlist - a Lesser
Whitefronted Goose which was feeding amongst the Barheaded Geese and Greylag
Geese. Then, in the bushes along the main road we saw two beauties. First we
saw the Painted Snipe and that too a female which is the more beautiful
specimen. Then, we followed a Rubythroat as it ran in the bushes along the road
till we had a wonderful view of the ruby throat. No account of the birds we saw
at Bharatpur can be complete without atleast a mention of some of the raptors
we saw - Greater Spotted Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Eastern Steppe
Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle. There are far too many birds that we saw on this day.
They are listed at the end. I have tried to cover all the birds which have a
story. The other promise I made to myself was that the next time I birded
Bharatpur or India, for that matter, I would do so after I had done my homework
on the warblers. A knowledge of these would easily have yielded atleast 15 more
species in Bharatpur itself.
That night it was again Bharatpur town and good food and milk.
January 14, 1997
Malah village and Helak ki Rundh
We had planned to bird outside the environs of the sanctuary on this morning.
>From Krys' notes, we knew that the Indian Courser was possible at a place
called Helak ki Rundh, not too far from Bharatpur. I wanted to get cracking on
some desert species in the company of Rattansinh. So, we decided to bird
outside the park. First Rattansinh took us to the pond at his village, Malah.
Here we saw a lot of shorebirds - Yellowwattled Lapwing, Redshank, Greenshank,
Spotted Greenshank, Jack Snipe, Fantail Snipe, etc. We also had Yellow Wagtail
and Large Pied Wagtail. We also got cracking on those confusing pipits. We had
the Tawny Pipit and the Vinaceousbreasted Pipit. We then went to some marshy
reeds and had another view of the Painted Snipes. On getting to an open field,
we saw a big flock of birds and amongst these we had Ashycrowned Finch-Lark,
Streaked Weaver Bird and Tree Sparrow.
Then we went to Helak Ki Rundh which is very close to an armory and so is
difficult for foreigners to get to. This was my first experience of birding in
the desert and the desert consisted of low shrubs. The first major bird was the
Indian Sandgrouse. We saw a flock of these feeding some distance away. They
would fly as a flock, then land and then continue to feed. We moved on. Got the
Desert Wheatear. Then we had the Brown Rock Pipit. This was followed by the
Brown Shrike. This was a new shrike for me. Finally got a warbler, unmistakably
the Rufousfronted Wren-Warbler. And then the bird of our dreams - the Indian
Courser. It is a very pretty bird. It would walk some, then stand and look
around, then run some more. We had a good look at the bird and then turned
back as the sun was beating down on us harshly.
We had an ommlete lunch back at the park entrance and discussed our plans for
the afternoon. We decided to quit Bharatpur and move on to Ranthambhor National
Park to take a crack at the tiger. So, we bid Rattansinh adieu (He is the very
best) and started for Ranthambhor. Near the town of Dosa, enroute, we came to a
lake which was filled with terns and we had to stop. Here we had the Indian
River Tern, Whiskered Tern, Blacktailed Godwit and the Brahminy Duck. By the
time we reached Sawai Madhopur, the town closest to Ranthambhor, it was dark.
After checking up a couple of places we decided to stay at Anurag Resort. We
fixed up a trip on the cantor the next morning to go for a safari round in the
park.
January 14, 1997
Ranthambhor National Park
This day saw the continuing saga of our hunt for the tiger (This saga is a long
one and has taken us, so far, to Corbett Park twice, Kanha National Park and
now Ranthambhor National Park). We started off the day fairly early and on a
good note because we got a good naturalist guide. He was fairly good with his
birds which can't be said of many naturalist guides there. The big bird for
Leena there was the Storkbilled Kingfisher. She saw this bird. She kept
pointing it out to me but I could never spot it. By the time the cantor
stopped,
the bird was out of view and we could not back up. A word about the scenery in
the park. It is quite striking. You are constantly moving amongst small hills
and there is a fort which quite dominates the scenery. We saw the handsome
Chinkara (a type of deer) here for the first time. I spotted it sitting by the
side of the road. At one of the lakes in the Park we saw a number of Brown
Crakes. We kept asking for the Little Green Heron and our guide duly obliged
by a streamside. We saw a Painted Spurfowl scurry into the bushes. Right at the
entrance to the park (near the fort), we saw another spectacle of our trip.
This
is a place where grains are spread and Blossomheaded Parakeet come to feast off
it. There must have been about 50 of these birds at least when we saw them. It
was quite a sight! The morning session ended with no Tiger and what is more, no
leopard (whose lair, we knew, was on a cliff just before the entrance to the
park).
During lunchtime we found out that our jeep ride for the afternoon had not been
booked and that we would have to do it ourselves. When we went to the booking
window we were told that there were no more jeeps available for the afternoon
(There is only a fixed quota allowed per session). We then asked an Indian
group
to accommodate us in their jeep (They were staying at our hotel). They refused.
Finally, we decided to try our luck at the entrance gate with one of the groups
going in. Then we went for an afternoon birding round with our guide of the
morning. While birding in the desert, we saw a biggish bird which kind of
looked
like a shrike but was acting secretively. It half ran, half flew almost
touching the ground. It had an orange colored breast. We later found out from
another guide that this must have been the Sirkeer Cuckoo. While taking another
chance with the leopard, we saw a Crested Serpant Eagle. But, on the whole, the
session was quite disappointing. We then went to the entrance gate and after a
lot of cajoling we were able to take a ride with a European couple. We saw a
Brown Fish Owl which has become quite a standard in this Park. It stays at
pretty much the same place. The view was great too. Now for the tiger. The
guide said that there had been reports of a tiger sighting in a certain area.
We went to that area and hung around. That place was very quiet which is a good
sign. There weren't deer loitering about. Anyway, after about half an hour
in that area, we gave up. I felt that that was the place we had got closest to
the tiger.
With that we left Ranthambhor and Sawai Madhopur. After losing half an hour
because of some personal item we left behind, we turned and headed towards
Jaipur.
January 16, 1997
Jaipur
The only birding item of interest was the Tufted Duck we saw in the lake below
Amber Fort.
January 17, 1997
Sambhar Lake
Sambhar Lake is about a 2 hour drive from Jaipur and it is Asia's biggest
saltwater lake. It is known for it flamingos though not well enough. We got
there thanks to Krys' notes and our personal vehicle. It would be difficult
to do without transport of your own. We reached Sambhar village and found out
that going beyond that without a jeep would be dangerous. So, we rented a jeep
for Rs 250/- and headed out towards the lake. People usually take the jeep to
go to a temple which is at a diagonally opposite side of the lake from the
village. So, if you do the same route, you get to take in the birds on the way.
The first birds we saw were the Greater Flamingos. They were a bit far
initially but then there was a group which was not that far. But the view was
still not that satisfactory. But the numbers certainly were. There must have
been tens of thousands of these birds. When we got near the temple we started
seeing the Lesser Flamingos. These were even farther away but the spectacle
was awe inspiring. It felt as if somebody had laid a pink carpet in the water
for miles on end. Unfortunately, we never got a close look at these wonderful
birds. Binoculars helped but a scope would have been better. On the way back we
were granted our wish as we saw a group of the Greaters close enough for us to
photograph. At this place we also saw a number of Kentish Plovers which were
lifers for me. We also saw one more bird which was on Leena's wish list and
made our day. As we were driving back, a bird flew over us and landed in front
to the left quite near. We saw it and there could be no mistaking it. It was
the Curlew with its wonderful downturned beak. Earlier in the day we had seen
the Avocet with its beautiful upturned beak and so our day was made.
January 20, 1997
Gajner, near Bikaner
Gajner used to be a wildlife sanctuary before it was bought over by Heritage
Hotels. My only advise to everybody is avoid this place. It is pricy. You pay
Rs 200/- to get in and this gets you a cup of tea. If you take anything else,
you easily end up spending megabucks. What is the attraction here? It is the
Imperial Sandgrouse which come to feed here at the lakeside. We saw the
sandgrouse but again no scopes (For a Rs 200/- charge one would think they
would atleast keep a scope). Anyway, unless you have to have that tick avoid
this place. Better yet, is there a place nearby to catch this bird?
Bikaner to Jaisalmer
This trip proved to be eventful. First of all we saw an interesting bird and we
stopped our car to see this bird and it proved to be a courser. I
said "Indian Courser". Leena said "No way. Its coloring is different.
It is lighter in color." Sure enough. It was the Creamcolored Courser. As
we were looking at it, we saw a Crested Lark. I also saw a warbler and ticked
off Streaked Wren- Warbler. Feeling quite happy we moved on. Around 25 kms
before the town of Pokharan, we hit pay dirt. Leena was sleeping and I was
looking around when far away in the shrub filled fields (We were in the Thar
desert by now), I saw a big bird (3 in fact) and I yelled "Stop. I think I
have the Great Indian Bustard". Sure enough we had GIBs. We kept looking and
looking through the binoculars. They didn't move much. They were a bit far
for photography but great for viewing through the binocs. As we were watching
them, I saw my first Kestrel too. That was an exciting moment. On referring to
Krys' notes it looks like these might have been near the Diyatra Closed Area.
We moved on and came to the area of Kheechan. Krys had mentioned this place but
had also mentioned the time of day to see thousands of cranes. Timing was
morning and evening and this was the middle of the day. I vetoed any nay votes
and off we went to Khhechan. After a little bit of asking around we were
pointed towards the village tank and when we reached there we had another avian
spectacle. Thousands of Demoiselle Cranes feeding, hoinking, flying and
generally doing there crane thing. We took pictures and pictures, talked to
some
local villages, gave a few local view the binocular view and left the place
totally thrilled and satisfied.
January 22, 1997
Fossil Wood National Park, near Jaisalmer
We had some time in Jaisalmer after some general sightseeing and so we decided
to see this park. We got there late in the evening and did see the fossilized
wood. But I was looking around for birds. We saw a biggish bee-eater which we
later decided was a Bluecheeked Bee-eater. The bird we saw a lot of was the
Black Redstart. While leaving the park, right at the entrance I had a very good
view of a warbler. I opened my pictorial and there was one plate filled with
pictures of warblers any of which this bird could have been. But I later read
up Krys' notes and by golly, that must have been the Plain Leaf Warbler. The
habitat was right, the place was right and appearance was definitely right.
January 23, 1997
Jaisalmer to Jodhpur, Jodhpur
It is worth mentioning a few places where we dipped. We tried these places
based on Krys' notes but due to various reasons we weren't lucky. We
checked the place around the temple of Ramdevra. We were looking for enclosures
for the Spiny-tailed Lizard and a heavy concentration of raptors near these. We
saw neither and couldn't find anybody knowledgeable about these either. Could
the lizards have been hibernating in winter?
In Jodhpur, we saw hundreds of Griffon Vultures at the Mehrangarh Fort. We
tried
to check out Balsamand Lake and the Gardens on the outskirts of Jodhpur but
found out that unfortunately, this area has also been bought over by Heritage
Resorts and we were in no mood to pay Rs 200/- to smell the sweet air of that
place. Again, alternate budget areas for the Rock Eagle Owls found there will
need to be found.
January 28, 1997
Sasan Gir National Park
We went to this park in Gujarat via Rajkot where we picked up a guide, Anwar
Khan Babi. We reached Sasan Gir late evening and got a room in the Forest Rest
House. We immediately met a guide introduced by Anwar (His major contribution
and certainly not worth the Rs 500/- per day which were his charges).
Incidentally, we knew another guide for whom we didn't need Anwar. Anyway,
these two guides are noteworthy - Isabhai and Murad. Get them if you go to Gir.
That same evening we took a drive outside the core area of the park and
didn't see anything. We were of course looking for the Asiatic Lion.
The next morning we started searching for the Lion again. At one point, Isabhai
got down and went to a certain place. He came back after a few minutes with the
news that he had seen the lions but they had fled deeper into the woods. This
was disappointing news for us but he consoled us that Murad would get us some
information about their whereabouts in the afternoon. Armed with this
information, we went looking for the lions in the afternoon. We came to a place
we had been told about and there were a few vehicles there and we saw the
Asiatic Lion. We got to see two lionesses and a young male lion. I finished one
roll of film right there. We moved on and started looking for more and sure
enough we saw an adult male and an adult female . They played with each other
and right before our eyes, they mated. This was quite a thrill. After the tiger
fiasco, we hadn't hoped to see any lions let alone any action. Soon enough,
many more jeeps came and they got the sight of these lions too. Later on, we
found out that these tourists got to see the leopard too. This, we missed. As
for birds, we saw a number of Painted Sandgrouse from up close. Interestingly,
on this trip, I saw the Koel for the first and only time on the grounds of our
rest house. That night we took a night drive to try and see the leopard. It was
a nice drive but we couldn't see the leopard. We did see a Striped Hyena run
across the road, though.
At the seashore of Somnath, the next day, we saw a few Blackheaded Gulls.
January 31, 1997
Little Rann of Kutch Wild Ass Sanctuary
We had parted company with Anwar by the time we got here. We learnt that that
particular season had been very poor for birds because of the lack of rainfall.
Since all lakes were dry, there was no issue of waterbirds and as a direct
consequence of this, there were hardly any raptors to be found. While we were
in that neck of the woods, we visited two places which will forever stay in my
memory. We stayed at the Gabi Girnar Guest House in Patdi (Rs 25/bed in a room
which had two beds. The Guest House is cleaner than most establishments in
India. The other place which I recommend highly is the place where we ate. It
is known as Joshi Lodge, but in reality is Jai Bhavani Paying Guest. For Rs 20,
you get an unlimited meal of the highest quality. I had my two best meals of
this trip and many other trips for that matter. You get a Gujarati "thali"
served with traditional Gujarati hospitality. In fact, it is run by a family
purely as a service to the out of towners who come to that town for work e.g.
to the bank. The head of the family works elsewhere and does the feeding on a
no profit, no loss basis and his wife cooks up heaven on earth. By the way,
this place is in Patdi too.
Anyway, we took a desert safari in a large jeep with Desert Coursers operating
out of Camp Zainabad. Just as we were heading to the desert, we saw many Large
Pintail Sandgrouse. The first thing we saw when we entered the Sanctuary was
the
Wild Ass. And we saw many of these. They were handsome looking creatures and
had
a pinkish tinge. And boy can they run! The guide told us an interesting story
about them. One male has a harem of a big group of females. Every once in a
while, another male challenges him. If that male succeeds, that male takes over
and the previous one is banished to further bachelorhood. If the aggressor is
defeated, he is right away condemned to bachelorhood. As a result of this
interesting behavior, we just saw one adult male and many females. The group
of adult male bachelors would be found elsewhere in the desert according to the
guide. In the desert, in terms of birds, we saw lots of Shorttoed Larks. Then
the guide asked us to look carefully and we did as something moved on the
ground. It was the Houbara. Soon, we could count 6 of them. We took a
circuitous route trying to get closer to them. But they were slowly moving away
from us. Finally, we got close enough for a fairly decent shot and then let
them go.
We then left the Little Rann and on the way to Ahmedabad I saw my final bird of
the trip, a Pied Harrier. We flew from Ahmedabad to Bombay and from Bombay to
New York to complete the trip.
Trip Bird List
D C N B R S O G L
Little Grebe x x x
Rosy or White Pelican x x
Dalmatian Pelican x
Cormorant x x
Little Cormorant x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Darter x
Grey Heron x x
Purple Heron x
Little Green Heron x x
Pond Heron or
Paddybird x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Cattle Egret x x
Large Egret x x x
Smaller Egret x
Little Egret x
Indian Reef Heron x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Night Heron x
Black Bittern x
Bittern x x
Painted Stork x
Openbill Stork x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Whitenecked Stork x x
White Ibis x x
Black Ibis x
Glossy Ibis x x
Spoonbill x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Flamingo x x
D C N B R S O G L
Lesser Flamingo x x
Lesser Whitefronted
Goose x x
Greylag Goose x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Barheaded Goose x
Lesser Whistling
Teal or Tree Duck x
Ruddy Shelduck
(or Brahminy Duck) x x x x
Pintail x x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Common Teal
(Green-winged Teal) x x x
Spotbilled Duck x x
Mallard x x
Gadwall x
Wigeon x x x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Garganey x
Shoveller x x x x
Redcrested Pochard x x
Common Pochard x x
Tufted Duck x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Cotton Teal x
Comb Duck x
Blackwinged Kite x
Honey Buzzard x x
Pariah Kite x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Shikra x x x
Bonelli's Eagle x x
Booted Hawk-Eagle x x
Golden Eagle x x
Eastern Steppe Eagle x x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Greater Spotted Eagle x x
Lesser Spotted Eagle x
Pallas's Fishing Eagle x
Black or King Vulture x
Griffon Vulture x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Himalayan Griffon x x
Indian Longbilled
Vulture x
Indian Whitebacked
Vulture x x x x
Egyptian or Scavenger
Vulture x x
Bearded Vulture or
Lammergeier x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pied Harrier x x
Marsh Harrier x
Crested Serpent Eagle x x
Osprey x
Redbreasted Falconet x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Peregrine Falcon x x
Kestrel x x
Black Partridge x
Grey Partridge x x
Painted Spurfowl x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
D C N B R S O G L
Kaleej Pheasant x
Red Junglefowl x
Common Peafowl x x x
Common Crane x
Sarus Crane x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Siberian Crane x x
Demoiselle Crane x x x
Ruddy Crake x
Brown Crake x
Whitebreasted Waterhen x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Moorhen x x x x
Purple Moorhen x x
Coot x x
Great Indian Bustard x x
Houbara x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pheasant-tailed Jacana x x
Bronzewinged Jacana x x
Painted Snipe x x
Blackwinged Stilt x x x
Avocet x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Creamcoloured Courser x x
Indian Courser x x
Whitetailed Lapwing x x
Redwattled Lapwing x
Spurwinged Lapwing x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Yellow-wattled Lapwing x
Little Ringed Plover x
Kentish Plover x x
Curlew x x
Blacktailed Godwit x x x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Redshank x
Marsh Sandpiper x x
Greenshank x x
Green Sandpiper x
Spotted Greenshank x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Common Sandpiper x
Pintail Snipe x x
Fantail Snipe x
(or Common Snipe)
Jack Snipe x x x
Little Stint x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Temminck's Stint x x
Ruff and Reeve x x
Blackheaded Gull x x
Whiskered Tern x
Indian River Tern x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Large Pintail
Sandgrouse x x
Indian Sandgrouse x x
Imperial Sandgrouse x x
Painted Sandgrouse x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Yellowlegged Green
Pigeon x
Blue Rock Pigeon x x x
Rufous Turtle Dove x x x
D C N B R S O G L
Indian Ring Dove
(or Collared Dove) x x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Red Turtle Dove x x
Spotted Dove x x
Little Brown or
Senegal Dove x x x
Roseringed Parakeet x x x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Blossomheaded Parakeet x x
Slatyheaded Parakeet x
Common Hawk-Cuckoo or x
Brainfever Bird
Koel x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sirkeer Cuckoo x x
Crow-Pheasant or Coucal x x
Collared Scops Owl x x
Dusky Horned Owl x x x
Brown Fish Owl x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Spotted Owlet x x
Longtailed Nightjar x
Whiterumped Spinetail x x
House Swift x
Himalayan Pied
Kingfisher x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Lesser Pied Kingfisher x x
Common Kingfisher x x x
Storkbilled Kingfisher m m
Whitebreasted Kingfisher x x x x
Bluecheeked Bee-eater x x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Green Bee-eater x x x
Indian Roller x
Hoopoe x x
Large Green Barbet x
Lineated Barbet x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bluethroated Barbet x x
Crimsonbreasted Barbet,
Coppersmith x
Speckled Piculet x x
Blacknaped Green
-----------------------------------------------------------
Woodpecker x
Large Yellownaped
Woodpecker x
Small Yellownaped
Woodpecker x
Lesser Goldenbacked
Woodpecker x x
Brownfronted Pied
Woodpecker x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Fulvousbreasted Pied
Woodpecker x x
Yellowfronted Pied
Woodpecker x
(or Mahratta Woodpecker)
Greycrowned Pigmy
Woodpecker x x
Longtailed Broadbill x x
Ashycrowned Finch-Lark x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
D C N B R S O G L
Desert Finch-Lark x x
Short-toed Lark x
Crested Lark x
Dusky Crag Martin x
Swallow x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Wiretailed Swallow x
Striated or Redrumped
Swallow x x
Grey Shrike x x x
Rufousbacked Shrike x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Brown Shrike x x
Blackheaded Oriole x
Black Drongo or
King-Crow x x
Whitebellied Drongo x x x
Bronzed Drongo x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Lesser Racket-tailed
Drongo x x
Blackheaded, or
Brahminy, Myna x
Rosy Pastor x
Starling x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pied Myna x x x
Common Myna x x x
Bank Myna x
Blackthroated Jay x x
Green Magpie x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Redbilled Blue Magpie x x
Indian Tree Pie x x x
House Crow x x
Jungle Crow x x
Raven x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pied Flycatcher-Shrike x x
Common Wood Shrike x x
Large Cuckoo-Shrike x x x
Scarlet Minivet x
Small Minivet x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Common Iora x
Goldenfronted Chloropsis,
or Leaf Bird x
Orangebellied Chloropsis,
or Leaf Bird x x
Blackheaded Yellow Bulbul x x
Blackcapped Yellow Bulbul x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Redwhiskered Bulbul x
Whitecheeked Bulbul x x
Redvented Bulbul x x
Browneared Bulbul x x
Black Bulbul x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Rustycheeked Scimitar
Babbler x x
Yelloweyed Babbler x x
Common Babbler x
Striated Babbler x x
Large Grey Babbler x
-----------------------------------------------------------
D C N B R S O G L
Jungle Babbler x
Whitethroated
Laughing Thrush x x
Whitecrested
Laughing Thrush x x
Redheaded Laughing Thrush x x
Redbreasted Flycatcher m
Orangegorgeted Flycatcher x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Rufousbellied Niltava x x
Tickell's Blue Flycatcher x
Greyheaded Flycatcher x x
Yellowbellied Fantail
Flycatcher x x
Whitebrowed Fantail
Flycatcher x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Whitethroated Fantail
Flycatcher x x
Rufousfronted
Wren-Warbler x x x
Streaked Wren-Warbler x x
Plain Wren-Warbler
(or Indian Prinia) x
Ashy Wren-Warbler
(or Ashy Prinia) x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Jungle Wren-Warbler x x
Tailor Bird x x
Lesser Whitethroat
(Sylvia curruca blythi) x
Plain Leaf Warbler x x
Rubythroat x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bluethroat x x
Orangeflanked Bush Robin x x
Magpie-Robin or Dhyal x x
Black Redstart x x x
(Phoenicurus ochruros
phoenicuroides)
Plumbeous Redstart x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Blackbacked Forktail x x
Brown Rock Chat x
Stone Chat x
Pied Bush Chat x
Desert Wheatear x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Whitecapped Redstart or
River Chat x x
Indian Robin x x
Blue Whistling Thrush x
Orangeheaded Ground
Thrush x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Tickell's Thrush x x
Brown Dipper x x
Grey Tit x x
Greenbacked Tit x x x
Yellowcheeked Tit x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Blackspotted Yellow Tit x x
Redheaded Tit x x
Chestnutbellied Nuthatch x
D C N B R S O G L
Velvetfronted Nuthatch x x
Tree Creeper x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Himalayan Tree Creeper x x
Tree Pipit x x
Tawny Pipit x x
Vinaceousbreasted Pipit x x
Brown Rock Pipit x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Water Pipit or
Alpine Pipit x x
Yellow Wagtail x x x
Yellowheaded Wagtail x x
Grey Wagtail x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pied, or White, Wagtail x x
Large Pied Wagtail x
Thickbilled Flowerpecker x x
Purple Sunbird x
Yellowbacked Sunbird x
-----------------------------------------------------------
White-eye x x
House Sparrow x x x
Tree Sparrow x x
Cinnamon Tree Sparrow x x
Yellowthroated Sparrow x x
-----------------------------------------------------------
Baya x
Streaked Weaver Bird x x
Red Munia, or Adavat x x
Himalayan Greenfinch m m
Scarlet Finch v v
-----------------------------------------------------------
Key:
D - Okhla, Delhi
C - Corbett
N - Nainital
B - Bharatpur & surroundings
R - Ranthambhor
S - Sambhar Lake
O - Other Rajasthan
G - Gujarat
L - Lifer for India
x - Seen by Venkat and Leena
v - seen by Venkat only
m - seen by Leena only
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