Bharatpur, Rajasthan

Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary, formerly known as Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, located in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, along the Jaipur-Agra NH 11, is known for its avian winter visitors.

I decided to stop over here for a couple of days while on my way to Delhi for a winter break (Dec '15).

The break was planned with a mix of a long drive in the Thar, birding and photography at the Bird Sanctuary and loads of north Indian food both homemade and dabha.

Day one was a long 800 km drive from Mumbai to Udaipur via Surat, Golden Gate Bridge at Ankaleshwar (the NH8 bridge over Narmada tends to be jammed), Vadodara, Halol, Godhra and Modasa. Started early at 6 in the morning and reached Udaipur by about 8 in the evening. The tarmac on the Halol - Modasa section was amazing. The Udaipur bye pass was pretty patchy and jammed with heavy trucks.

The Thar with its peppy 2.5 ltr CRDe engine cruised effortlessly on the super tarmac in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Winter caught up at Udaipur requiring a jacket late in the evening.

The next day started early at 6 am after a hot cup of tea. Super enjoyed the drive in the cold winter morning, long straight highway, scattered trucks trudging along, the sun just about starting to break the horizon and a lone Thar cutting through all of this at 100 kmph.

The 600 km drive through Rajasthan to Bharatpur via Chittorgarh (NH 76), Bhilwara (NH 79), Shahpura, Jahazpur, Deoli, Tonk, Lalsot and Dausa. Road conditions were generally good. Some sections around Shahpura and Lalsot were patchy. Reached Baratpur(NH 11) at about 6 in the evening and checked into Hotel Sunbird.

MM550, Fully loaded!

The best way to explore the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary is to hire a rickshaw (at Rs. 100/hour) as the rickshaw pullers themselves are pretty well versed with the avian fauna in the park and the rickshaw allows you to leave your camera bag and other equipment in the rickshaw while you walk down different tracks.

Nilgai, agri fields around Shahpura

I realized that a basket is pretty handy to carry along for all your nick-knacks like water, packed lunch tripod, spare camera batteries, winter wear, etc, as it tucks in neatly under the rickshaw seat. The camera bag isn’t exactly handy as you’ll only be using your longest lens.

I paired the Nikon D5300 with a Tamron 150-600 mm telephoto lens for maximum reach. Settings were generally at Shutter Speed Priority, Spot Metering, Auto ISO, continuous focus and continuous shooting.

Spotted Owlet, Snooze  mode on a cold winter morning!

Some of the Birds spotted during the two days at the sanctuary:

1. Grey Francolin
2. Indian Peafowl
3. Lesser Whistling Duck
4. Knob Billed Duck
5. Rudy Shelduck
6. Indian Spot Billed Duck
7. Northern Shoveler
8. Painted Stork
9. Black Headed Ibis
10. Glossy Ibis
11. Eurasian Spoonbill
12. Indian Pond Heron
13. Grey Heron
14. Purple Heron
15. Darter
16. Great Cormorant
17. Sarus Crane
18. Egyptian Vulture
19. White Breasted Waterhen
20. Purple Swamphen
21. Eurasian Coot
22. Common Moorhen
23. Yellow Footed Green Pigeon
24. Rose Ringed Parakeet
25. Spotted Owlet
26. Common Hoopoe
27. White Throated Kingfisher
28. Pied Kingfisher
29. Indian Grey Hornbill
30. Lesser Golden Back Woodpecker (M)
31. Shrike
32. Black Drongo
33. White Browed Fantail
34. Rufus Treepie
35. Wire Tailed Swallow
36. Jungle Babbler
37. Orange Headed Thrush
38. Bluethroat
39. Siberian Rubythroat
40. Oriental Magpie Robin
41. Indian Robin
42. Black Restart
43. Red-breasted Flycatcher
44. Red Avadavat
45. Marsh Harrier

Bluethroat

Bharatpur was cold and as birding starts early at about 630 in the morning you need to be pretty well covered.

Siberian Rubythroat

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Day two at the sanctuary was fogged out so had to wait till about 11 to pull out the camera. Spotted a pair of Sarus cranes just as the fog started to lift.

Egyptian Vulture

Darter

Painted Stork - Nesting

The Bharatpur – Delhi run took me through Mathura and the slick Yamuna Expressway.

Be sure to take the Mathura bye pass via Gokul Barage else you’ll be stuck in messy city traffic as you try to reach the Expressway from the Mathura – Agra Highway (NH 2).

Also take the Bharatpur bye pass to circumvent Bharatpur city.

Birds spotted at Surajpur, Gaziabad

1. Wooly Necked Stork
2. Black Headed Ibis
3. Glossy Ibis
4. Spot Billed Duck
5. Crested Lark (at NOIDA airfield)

After a couple of days in Delhi, drove up to Shimla for a joyride. The Chandigarh - Shimla section was fun, though had to be careful with the heavy traffic flow on the two laned NH 22. The early morning drive up to Theog via Kufri and Fagu was also fun. It had snowed at Kufri a day or two back and some part of the hills between Kufri and Fagu still had some snow.

As four majestic Himalayan Vultures glided past at Kufri,I could only watch and take in the sight, as I had the 18-55 mm lens on.

On the way back to Mumbai, I took the expressway back to Bharatpur and then headed to Jaipur (NH 11) – 400 km for the day. Day 2 was a long 780 km drive from Jaipur to Vadodara via Kishangarh (NH 8), Bhilwara (NH 79), Chittorgarh, Udaipur (NH 76), Ratanpur (NH 8), Modasa, Godhra and Halol (SH 5). Day 3 was a comfortable 400 Km drive on the NH8 to Mumbai from Vadodra.

Some stopovers along the way -

Udaipur
RTDC Hotel Kajri for its value for money stay. Food is lousy.

Bharatpur
Hotel Sunbird for its convenient location – 200 mtrs from the park, good rooms, service and food.
ITDC Hotel Ashok located inside the sanctuary is good for a quick lunch.

Shimla
Thethys Dahba, Kufri for aloo parathas and chai.

Chandigarh-Shimla
Giani Dahba, Dharampur for an assortment of Indian vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes and rotis.
Puran Singh Dahba, Ambala for an assortment of rich Indian non vegetarian dishes.
Pal Dahba, Chandigarhfor an assortment of rich Indian non vegetarian dishes.
Pehlwan Dahba, Murthal for tandoori parathas and chai.
Neelkanth, Karnal for kheer.

Gujarat
Legend Hotel, along the NH8 for its convenient location and value for money stay on the NH8 Vadodara bye pass.
Parsi Da Dahba at Talasari along NH8 for some great parsi food. Don’t miss the caramel custard.