India; Northwest - Day 23: Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary

   We spent the night at an airport hotel in Mumbai, and at 07:00 our drivers for the two days we were exploring the area came to pick us up and take us out of the city and to the Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary where we would have an afternoon and a morning birding, looking for just a couple of key species. The journey was surprisingly short, as we arrived at the hotel just before 10:00 which included a stop for some breakfast. 

  Once we checked in to our hotel, Hidden Village, we settled in for what we presumed would be a long morning/afternoon relaxing before going out in the afternoon to find our main target; the Forest Owlet. However, we had barely been settled in to our room when the guide rushed in telling us that the main guide, his boss, was currently watching an Owlet in the sanctuary. We rushed to the car and after a solid 20-30 minute drive arrived at the spot where he was.

  Fortunately the Owl had stayed put, but it had now moved and was badly obscured so much so that you could only see its head peeking out of the tree. After a short while however it jumped onto a more open perch and from then on we could see the bird with only a few leaves obscuring it. We were also able to pick out another bird perched slightly further away. Having dedicated essentially two days to this species, we were pretty thrilled to have it wrapped up within the first hour. 

  After an afternoon rest, we set off back to the field at 16:30, this time into the Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary itself, in search of the White-naped Woodpecker. Sadly we failed to find the bird in the time we had before dark and overall activity was quite limited. Still, we managed a few species of interest; Chestnut-tailed Starling, White-eyed Buzzard and some distant Cotton Pygmy Geese being the best of it. The highlight of the evening was a large, one metre long snake that we found near dusk in the tall grass. This was the first snake of our trip and my first snake in almost a year! 

India; Northwest - Day 22: Gir National Park

   We had one more game drive in the Gir National Park, but this one was an early morning drive starting at 06:00 in the dark and then finishing at 09:00. For a change this morning we were driving on route three, as opposed to route two of the previous two days. If we were to find a rare mammal then today would be our best chance. Unfortunately that is not how it transpired in the end, as we did not even see any Lions today, only picking up common mammal species like Chital, Bengal Sacred Langur, Sambar and Wild Boar. It was disappointing, but that is the way of wildlife.

  The birding was nice, but it was all commoner species from the previous day. We spent some time looking at Tree Pipits at a watering hole, and had two cracking male Common Iora but there was nothing different. Two Indian Cuckooshike that flew past would have been notable, but the views I got were far from tickable, leaving them frustratingly as the ones that got away. The highlight of the morning was probably a large Muggar Crocodile in the reservoir in the middle of the park

  At 11:00 we left our lodge in Gir and drove the four hours to airport in Rajkot. Here we said goodbye to Pawan and Jaipal, our drivers for the last three weeks, and boarded an internal flight to Mumbai where we would have two more days birding before heading back to Europe. 

Species List:
Gir National Park: Indian Peafowl, Feral Pigeon, Spotted Dove, Greater Coucal, Crested Treeswift, Red-wattled Lapwing, River Tern, Greater Flamingo, Red-naped Ibis, Eastern Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Black-winged Kite, Crested Honey Buzzard, Asian Green Bee-eater, White-throated Kingfisher, Coppersmith Barbet, Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Black-rumped Flameback, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Small Minivet, Common Woodshrike, Common Iora, White-browed Fantail, Ashy Drongo, Rufous Treepie, Indian Jungle Crow, Dusky Crag Martin, Red-vented Bulbul, Indian White-eye, Jungle Babbler, Brahminy Starling, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Black Redstart, Purple Sunbird, Yellow-throated Sparrow, White-browed Wagtail, Tree Pipit, 

India; Northwest - Day 21: Gir National Park

   Despite being in the area of the Gir National Park for the whole day, we only had a single game drive booked which was at the rather inconvenient time of 09:00 in the morning. Once we had finally got through all the bureaucracy involved with entering the park it was already 09:30, but we set off on our way anyway. We were a bit confused as we ended up doing the same route as the previous day which meant for the most part we would see the same birds and animals, but nature does always change so we were still excited for what we might find.

  Doing the drive in the heat of the day meant much less chance for rarer mammals, but the main attractions were still very much on the cards. Not far into our drive we had our first Lioness, basking in the shade before coming to drink right next to us and then walking straight past the car, giving even better views than the previous day. We also saw the same female with two cubs as the previous day, but they were not doing much. Otherwise it was the same large mammal species with the addition of Wild Boar.

  The birds were a bit more interesting. While we had the same Brown Fish Owl and Indian Thick Knee, as well as a different nest of Mottled Wood Owl, there were a few different birds around. In the morning before we set off I had a lifer with Thick-billed Flowerpecker, and once in the park we had a few trip ticks for this section with Indian Vulture, Tickells Blue Flycatcher and Black-naped Monarch. Despite being hot and late morning, there were a few spots that were still quite birdy and it wasn’t at disappointing as I had expected, going so late in the morning.

  In the afternoon, with no game drive, I was at something of a loose end, so went for a walk around the hotel Mango plantations. That did not yield much in half an hour so I spent the rest of the afternoon, around two hours, watching over the back wall into the national park hoping for something to walk past. In the two hours I saw my two favourite things in the park; relaxed looking Chital and relaxed looking Peacocks. There were no other mammals. However, there were a few nice birds such as Common Rosefinch and some dust bathing Grey Francolins. For lack of any other options, it was not a bad way to spend the afternoon. 

-Lion

Species List:
Gir National Park: Indian Peafowl, Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Spotted Dove, Laughing Dove, Greater Coucal, Asian Koel, Savanna Nightjar, Little Swift, Crested Treeswift, White-breasted Waterhen, Indian Stone-curlew, Red-wattled Lapwing, River Tern, Red-naped Ibis, Indian Pond Heron, Eastern Cattle Egret, Medium Egret, Crested Honey Buzzard, Indian Vulture, Shikra, Brown Fish Owl, Spotted Owlet, Mottled Wood Owl, Asian Green Bee-eater, Common Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Coppersmith Barbet, Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Black-rumped Flameback, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Plum-headed Parakeet, Small Minivet, Common Iora, White-browed Fantail, Black Drongo, Ashy Drongo, Black-naped Monarch, Indian Paradise Flycatcher, Rufous Treepie, Large-billed Crow, Cinereous Tit, Common Tailorbird, Grey-breasted Prinia, Dusky Crag Martin, Wire-tailed Swallow, Red-vented Bulbul, Indian White-eye, Jungle Babbler, Brahminy Starling, Indian Robin, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Tickell's Blue Flycatcher, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Black Redstart, Thick-billed Flowerpecker, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, Purple Sunbird, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Tree Pipit, Common Rosefinch, 

India; Northwest - Day 20: Jamnagar & Gir National Park

   Today was the day of the Hindu Holi festival, and as such our driver was keen to get moving nice and early to try and avoid any potential issues on the road that we might encounter, since we needed to be at the Gir National Park for 16:00 for our first game drive in the national park. However, since we had dipped the Indian Skimmer the previous evening, we decided to have a quick check of the various sites in the morning in the vain hope that we might be able to find them.

  In the end it took us about an hour to check the various salt pans and the lake where we had birded the previous day. We did more birding of the lake since there were a few more species to check through but overall a quick scan was all we needed to confirm that the skimmers were still not present despite our best efforts. The only new species for the trip of the morning were four Comb Ducks that were sitting on a spit on the lake, a nice addition to our overall species list for our time in India.

  We started our drive at 15:20, only so that we could have all the paperwork done for our entry time at 16:00. Even then we were only able to enter the park a little later than that, and whilst waiting in the office area we could see that the park was rammed with weekend visitors enjoying the holiday. Whilst we were nervous about what this might mean, we were pleased that our visit inside the park was very peaceful and we had no issues with other vehicles for the most part. The only time that happened was when we found the parks main attractions: the Lions!

  In the end we saw eight Lions, a female with two three-month-old cubs and a group of five. Apparently they were all from the same family. The female and cubs didn’t do much, simply lying by the side of the road dozing. But the other group was a bit more interesting, as they were drinking before crossing the road right in front of us at very close range. Considering that I expected to see them lying down and doing nothing, it was quite an encounter.

  Most of the other mammals were already familiar to us, with Bengal Sacred Langur, Nilgi, Axis Deer and Sambar Deer. But we had two bonus right at the end with first a Ruddy Mongoose, which was a species I had been trying to pick out from our various mongooses throughout the trip, and then a nice Indian Grey Mongoose right at the end. In addition there were two Muggar Crocodiles in a small stream at the furthest point along our drive.

  In terms of birds we knew that we were not expecting much of interest but had some nice owl action with a roosting Mottled Wood Owl by the side of the road, and then a fantastic Brown Fish Owl. While the latter was excellent, it was improved even more when we saw two medium sized chicks in a hole in the tree behind, their small heads poking out and looking at us. Otherwise it was mostly commoner species from the region that we had got used to seeing over the past few days. 

-Lion

Species List:
Jamnagar: Knob-billed Duck, Ruddy Shelduck, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Common Pochard, Eurasian Collared Dove, Greater Coucal, Eurasian Coot, Grey-headed Swamphen, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Red-wattled Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Ruff, Little Stint, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Whiskered Tern, River Tern, Greater Flamingo, Lesser Flamingo, Little Grebe, Asian Openbill, Painted Stork, Oriental Darter, Little Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Eurasian Spoonbill, Western Reef Heron, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Eurasian Hoopoe, Red-vented Bulbul, Common Babbler, Rosy Starling, Indian Robin, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Purple Sunbird, House Sparrow, Western Yellow Wagtail,
Gir National Park: Indian Peafowl, Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Spotted Dove, Laughing Dove, Asian Koel, Little Swift, White-breasted Waterhen, Indian Stone-curlew, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Red-wattled Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Little Cormorant, Indian Pond Heron, Medium Egret, Crested Honey Buzzard, Crested Serpent Eagle, Brown Fish Owl, Spotted Owlet, Mottled Wood Owl, Asian Green Bee-eater, White-throated Kingfisher, Coppersmith Barbet, Yellow-crowned Woodpecker, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Plum-headed Parakeet, Small Minivet, White-browed Fantail, Black Drongo, Bay-backed Shrike, House Crow, Cinereous Tit, Common Tailorbird, Red-vented Bulbul, Indian White-eye, Jungle Babbler, Brahminy Starling, Indian Robin, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Black Redstart, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Tree Pipit, 

India; Northwest - Day 19: Jamnagar

   We left Nakhatrana and the Greater Rann of Kutch at 04:00 so we could make good time to our next destination, the coastal regions around the city of Jamnagar. It was a six hour journey, but with a few stops we finally reached our first location, about half an hour from Jamnagar, at 10:30. It was already hot and the tide was not due to be high until 12:30, but we settled in to scan for wading birds for the next two hours.

  Our main target here was the Crab Plover. And there were plenty of them, although for the first hour they were little more than white blobs shimmering on the horizon. Fortunately as the tide came in we got much better views, but they never showed well, even spending high tide hiding behind a sand bank. Still, they were impressive with a few hundred on display. Other wading birds were plentiful as well, with Broad-billed Sandpiper and a distant Terek Sandpiper being the best of the rest. Other nice coastal birds included a distant full summer-plumage Pallas Gull.

  An unexpected bonus here were my first Mudskippers, which were abundant in the mud on the waters edge. They were really comical to watch, as they gorged themselves on silt, with the larger individuals displaying their dorsal fins. For the first half an hour I spent most of my time watching these fish rather than any birds.

  In the afternoon we searched the salt pans to the north of the town for Indian Skimmer. There was also a freshwater lake with plentiful eBird records where we spent some time, but ultimately we failed to find the skimmers during our evening of searching. The time was not wasted however as the area was quite birdy. Although most of the waders and waterbirds were common species, it was nice to appreciate them again. We had nice views of both Greater and Lesser Flamingo, two flyby Small Pratincole, nice views of River Tern and our first Osprey of the trip. Overall an enjoyable but overall disappointing evening, but we will try again in the morning. 

Species List:
Jamnagar: Ruddy Shelduck, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Wigeon, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Tufted Duck, Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Little Swift, Eurasian Coot, Grey-headed Swamphen, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Red-wattled Lapwing, Tibetan Sand Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Kentish Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Terek Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Ruff, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Dunlin, Little Stint, Crab-plover, Small Pratincole, Slender-billed Gull, Brown-headed Gull, Pallas's Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Whiskered Tern, River Tern, Greater Flamingo, Lesser Flamingo, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Asian Openbill, Painted Stork, Oriental Darter, Little Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Glossy Ibis, Black-headed Ibis, Red-naped Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Little Egret, Western Reef Heron, Indian Pond Heron, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Osprey, Western Marsh Harrier, Asian Green Bee-eater, White-throated Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Black Drongo, House Crow, Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark, Barn Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, Red-vented Bulbul, Rosy Starling, Indian Robin, Purple Sunbird, House Sparrow, Western Yellow Wagtail, 

India; Northwest - Day 18: Greater Rann of Kutch

   Having completed our target list for the Greater Rann of Kutch area, but with still a full day birding to be done, we were at a little bit of a loose end as to where to go. In the end we decided to visit the Banni Grasslands where we had spent a little bit of time the previous day, but this time we would go straight there early morning to try and find some mammals. Sadly we were not successful with the species we wanted, but still had a bit of luck with a few sightings of Indian Grey Mongoose, a few Wild Boar and an Indian Hare. As we were leaving the site at 11:00 when it was very hot, we also added an Indian Fox to the mammal list.

  For birding we enjoyed nice encounters with Common Crane, with large groups feeding on the grassland early morning. But the best birding was done between 08:30 and 10:30 when we explored an area of bushes not far from the wetland we had visited the previous day. Here I had a new species with Black-headed Bunting, but there were several migrant species that we found here, including several Bluethroats, Black Redstart, Red-breasted Flycatcher, two Eastern Orphean Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats and a Chiffchaff. Despite the heat and the flies it was very enjoyable birding.

  For the afternoon we set off at 15:30, which was far too early as the heat meant activity was extremely subdued for the next two hours. Still we drove around the grasslands hoping for something to appear but the best we could manage was another (or the same) Indian Fox. Consequently, we had 45 minutes at the side of the water drinking tea and watching the birds on the water whilst the sun slowly set. Here there were a few good birds such as Clamorous Reed Warbler and Kentish Plover, as well as the usual wetland species.

  Our main reason for returning to the grasslands was to search the late afternoon and early night for Jungle Cat. Our mammal-watching search started well, with a group of five Indian Jackal passing by as we were drinking tea. As the dark came in we set off driving across grasslands again. Not much was happening and as the light faded we began to get nervous, but then we spotted a Jungle Cat walking through the grass at close quarters. It was quite confiding, and not particularly scared by our presence as it walked through the grass. At one point it looked like it might be trying to hunt two Crested Larks at the side of the road near to us, but it in the end it did not try, but wandered off into the grass! An excellent way to round off our stay in the Greater Rann of Kutch! 

Species List:
Banni Grassland: Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Eurasian Teal, Grey Francolin, Common Quail, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Greater Coucal, Indian Nightjar, Common Crane, Black-winged Stilt, Red-wattled Lapwing, Kentish Plover, Common Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Temminck's Stint, River Tern, Greater Flamingo, Painted Stork, Glossy Ibis, Little Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Eastern Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Great White Pelican, Crested Honey Buzzard, Greater Spotted Eagle, Booted Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Shikra, Western Marsh Harrier, Montagu's Harrier, Eurasian Hoopoe, Asian Green Bee-eater, White-throated Kingfisher, Black Drongo, Isabelline Shrike, House Crow, Crested Lark, Common Tailorbird, Plain Prinia, Sykes's Warbler, Clamorous Reed Warbler, White-eared Bulbul, Common Chiffchaff, Lesser Whitethroat, Eastern Orphean Warbler, Common Babbler, Rosy Starling, Bluethroat, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Black Redstart, Siberian Stonechat, Purple Sunbird, House Sparrow, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Western Yellow Wagtail, Tawny Pipit, Black-headed Bunting,

India; Northwest - Day 17: Greater Rann of Kutch

   We would have two days birding the Greater Rann of Kutch area, based in the town of Nakhatrana. After discussion the previous afternoon, we decided to spend the morning targeting the Grey Hypocolius. Although a species most of us had seen before, the fact that it is a migrant species meant that it could leave any day, and as such we put it to the top of our priorities. Fortunately we arrived at the area the birds were frequenting to find a flock of nine flying over us! We followed them to where the landed and got excellent views of them jumping around the bushes. Over the next hour we continued to follow the flock and got some incredible views of them feeding on berries.

  In the same area we also had another of the main targets for the area with Marshalls Iora, although it did not show as well as the Hypocolius. In the same area we had my first Jungle Prinia, an unspectacular species but one that I was happy to get out of the way. But the highlight of the other birds was probably a big flock of around 100 Great White Pelicans that passed low overhead!

  Once we were satisfied with our Hypocolius we moved to a drying pool in the middle of the desert to hopefully get some birds drinking. Although it was only 09:00, it was already getting very hot, with temperatures of around 40 degrees forecast for the day. We had a nice Grey-necked Bunting drop in to the area, but that was the only species and individual. In the adjacent bushes there were two more Marshalls Iora and these showed better than the bird in the morning. Additionally in the desert areas there were quite a few Rufous-tailed Larks.

  At around 10:15 we moved again, this time to a nearby large lake that is a bird sanctuary. It was incredibly hot once we arrived here, but still had a few nice birds including a Jack Snipe that we flushed but got nice views of as it flew away. Otherwise the majority of the species present were wetland birds we had become familiar with over the last few weeks. A few warblers singing in the reedbed frustrated us, with no conclusive outcome before we succumbed to the heat. Otherwise we had nice views of two Indian Grey Mongoose and a mother and piglet Indian Wild Boar that crossed the road in front of us. After this site we returned to the lodging to see out the worst of the heat, arriving back just after midday.

  After the midday heat we set off out at 15:30 to find our two remaining main target species for the area, starting with Sykes Lark. It was still hot and we failed to find them during our initial sweep of the open areas, however it wasn’t long after we started searching the bushes that the birds appeared… when we found about 10 feeding in an area with cows next to where we parked the car. After prolonged, enjoyable views we continued birding and found an Indian Grey Mongoose, and a few nice dry forest species like Yellow-wattled Lapwing and Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse.

  With the lark safely seen, we continued into another area of thorny woodland to search for the  very localised White-naped Tit. Unfortunately there was no response to our tapes, and after over an hour searching the only species of note that we managed were two Eastern Orphean Warblers. However, after I had wandered off into the woodlands, I heard yells to come back and returned to find out the tit had just flown off. After a short and agonising wait, the bird came back and showed quite well, relieving the pressure.

  We had a short drive at dusk to try find some mammals, but the best we could manage was a nice Indian Hare and a few Indian Peafowl. 

India; Northwest - Day 16: Little Rann of Kutch

   Rather than return to the sanctuary and pay the camera fees again, we decided to bird and area to the north where there was more water and hopefully more birds. This area was called Nava Talav and it turned out to be a productive site for a few hours birding before we set off for our next journey.

  There were many waders and wildfowl present. Most of the waders were species we have been familiar with across Eurasia, but we enjoyed fantastic views of Great Thick Knee very close to the car. Otherwise we were treated to good numbers of Great White Pelicans and hundreds of Demoiselle Cranes. Exploring the bushes found us a few more birds, including Bluethroat and Wryneck, as well as a tick for me with Barred Buttonquail. The grassy areas were full of birds, with Hoopoes and Yellow Wagtails galore. It really was a fantastic few hours of exploring.

  The rest of the day was spent driving from our base in the Little Rann of Kutch, to our next base in the Greater Rann of Kutch. The journey was long and hot, and in the end it consumed the rest of the day, but we arrived before dusk and discussed with the local guide about the plan for the next days.

Species List:
Little Rann of Kutch: Ruddy Shelduck, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Northern Pintail, Eurasian Teal, Tufted Duck, Indian Peafowl, Grey Francolin, Rock Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Greater Coucal, Eurasian Coot, Grey-headed Swamphen, White-breasted Waterhen, Demoiselle Crane, Common Crane, Great Stone-curlew, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Red-wattled Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank, Ruff, Temminck's Stint, Little Stint, Barred Buttonquail, Collared Pratincole, Pallas's Gull, Whiskered Tern, Greater Flamingo, Painted Stork, Little Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Glossy Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Little Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Great White Pelican, Greater Spotted Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Hoopoe, Asian Green Bee-eater, White-throated Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Eurasian Wryneck, Black Drongo, Isabelline Shrike, Bay-backed Shrike, Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark, Crested Lark, Sykes's Warbler, Barn Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, Red-vented Bulbul, White-eared Bulbul, Common Chiffchaff, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Babbler, Rosy Starling, Indian Robin, Bluethroat, Siberian Stonechat, Desert Wheatear, Purple Sunbird, House Sparrow, Western Yellow Wagtail, Citrine Wagtail, White Wagtail, Paddyfield Pipit, Tawny Pipit, 

India; Northwest - Day 15: Little Rann of Kutch

   We had the full day to explore the Little Rann of Kutch wildlife sanctuary. Our agency had arranged a member of the park staff to drive us around to make sure we could have the best experience exploring the area, and hopefully see all of our target species. We started our drive at 06:45 and continued until around 10:30 when it was far too hot to continue exploring the area.

  It was strange morning, with much of our time spent clearly searching for target species but this information was not relayed back to us, so it often felt like we were travelling aimlessly across the desiccated landscape without an end goal in sight. We had a few commoner species that we were glad to see, such as Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark, Sand Lark and more Streak-throated Swallows, but in general for the first hour the birding we seemed to be travelling without purpose.

  Fortunately this improved when we made began driving around the bushes searching for roosting Sykes Nightjar, when we flushed two Short-eared Owls. Shortly after we explored a little on foot and found at least three Sykes Warblers, including an individual singing. And then for the last hour we continued searching for the Nightjar. Although the strategy of looking in rough grass seemed strange it eventually turned up the goods when our ranger managed to pick out a bird roosting in the middle of the desert. This eventually turned into three birds once we had got our eyes used to looking for them. This was our main target and we were pretty thrilled that our morning had ended on such a satisfactory note.

  The sanctuary is most well known for its population of Asiatic Wild Ass of the Indian subspecies, which now only occurs here. It took us about 45 minutes before we saw our first individual, but we then quickly found a group together and by the end of the morning we had seen quite a few individuals.

  In the afternoon we returned to the same area of the sanctuary, and had more success when we found three Indian Coursers on the edge of the water. We were able to get quite close, much closer than the last time I had seen them in 2018. We also spent more time filtering through the commoner waterbirds that were present, finding goodies like Dalmatian Pelican and wading birds. Afterwards we spent some time exploring the grasslands hoping for MacQueens Bustard, but we failed to find any. And then for the last light we visited the den of a Striped Hyena, but it failed to materialise before we had for dark, which was very disappointing. 

Species List:
Little Rann of Kutch: Greylag Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Teal, Common Pochard, Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Greater Coucal, Sykes's Nightjar, Little Swift, Grey-headed Swamphen, Common Crane, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Red-wattled Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Ruff, Temminck's Stint, Indian Courser, Slender-billed Gull, Little Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, River Tern, Greater Flamingo, Lesser Flamingo, Painted Stork, Great Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Glossy Ibis, Black-headed Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Little Egret, Great Egret, Medium Egret, Grey Heron, Great White Pelican, Dalmatian Pelican, Steppe Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Pallid Harrier, Montagu's Harrier, Short-eared Owl, Asian Green Bee-eater, White-throated Kingfisher, Common Kestrel, Black Drongo, Isabelline Shrike, Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark, Crested Lark, Sand Lark, Sykes's Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, Streak-throated Swallow, White-eared Bulbul, Lesser Whitethroat, Indian Robin, Siberian Stonechat, Desert Wheatear, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Purple Sunbird, Indian Silverbill, House Sparrow, White Wagtail, Tawny Pipit, 

India; Northwest - Day 14: Mount Abu & Little Rann of Kutch

   Fortunately the sickness of the previous day had all but passed overnight, meaning I was back to full strength and able to get out birding properly. We returned to the same area where we had seen the Avadavat the previous evening, but failed to find them. Instead we had nice views of more Indian Black-lored Tit, a few White-spotted Fantail and a brief Red Spurfowl. The area across the road was also birded for a short while, and here we had a group of around 10 White-capped Buntings, as well as three distant Green Avadavats.

  After 90-minutes birding the aforementioned area we carried on up the road, before we stopped to check the area of road above the Mini Nakki Lake. We initially stopped to check out a Crocodile that was swimming in the lake below, but then stopped and started birding when two Red Spurfowl appeared in the road, with one seemingly displaying. Pawan mentioned that this could be a good area to check for Sulphur-bellied Warbler, so we set off here and it did not take us too long to find one hopping around on the rocks below us. Another bonus species we had here was a nice confiding Indian Scimitar Babbler.

  Sadly the other car had continued and missed out on all the action, so we continued to meet up with them where we got to see a flock of around 15 Green Avadavats, followed by a short stop to see a smart Crested Bunting, which was sadly distant. Still, we had to return to the area around the Nakki Lake before breakfast, but our return visit produced none of the birds that we had seen.

  It was another long drive from here on, leaving at 11:00 and only arriving at our final destination at the Little Rann of Kutch at 18:00. There were a few highlights along the way, including many Bengal Sacred Langur as we descended Mount Abu, and a smart female Greater Painted Snipe in a dirty roadside pool in the middle of a town as we approached our destination.

  Just before our lodging we drove over a bridge which had good numbers of hirundines circling, so we stopped for half an hour to check if they were Streak-throated Swallow! And they were. A little investigative work found a colony of elaborate nests underneath the bridge, with the birds coming and going in little bursts. In the same area we had plenty of Little Swifts, 40 Common Cranes, a Caspian Tern and three Rosy Starlings. It was an excellent way to round off the day!

Species List:
Mount Abu: Indian Peafowl, Red Spurfowl, Grey Junglefowl, Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Spotted Dove, Laughing Dove, Greater Coucal, Common Hawk-Cuckoo, Red-wattled Lapwing, Indian Pond Heron, Common Buzzard, Coppersmith Barbet, Brown-headed Barbet, Yellow-crowned Woodpecker, Plum-headed Parakeet, White-spotted Fantail, Long-tailed Shrike, Rufous Treepie, House Crow, Large-billed Crow, Cinereous Tit, Indian Black-lored Tit, Common Tailorbird, Ashy Prinia, Dusky Crag Martin, Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Red-vented Bulbul, Hume's Leaf Warbler, Sulphur-bellied Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Indian White-eye, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Jungle Babbler, Brahminy Starling, Bank Myna, Indian Robin, Black Redstart, Purple Sunbird, Green Avadavat, House Sparrow, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Tree Pipit, Crested Bunting, White-capped Bunting,
Little Rann of Kutch: Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Laughing Dove, Little Swift, Common Crane, Spotted Redshank, Caspian Tern, Black-headed Ibis, Little Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Eastern Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Western Marsh Harrier, House Crow, Streak-throated Swallow, Rosy Starling, Bank Myna, Purple Sunbird, House Sparrow,