As with the previous day, our morning was slowed by the time
for breakfast. However, we arranged to have an earlier breakfast so that we
could make good time and head out for some birds in areas near the park before
the heat of the sun. I was awake at first light and spent the time before
breakfast birding from the hotel rooftop.
Khumer
Having a guide really paid off today. He had been more of a
passenger for the previous couple of days as we had largely birded our own way
round the park. However, we had asked him about a couple of species we wanted
to target, namely Painted Snipe and Indian Courser, both of which he said he
could provide. First up was Indian Courser! Our initial plan had involved
driving round dry fields near Bharatpur in hope, but it was fortunate we did
not do this, as it turned out the site was 24 kilometres out from the town.
The site was little more than dry arable fields in the middle
of nowhere. Despite the fact that there was quite a bit of greenery, it did
have a very desert like feel. The birding mainly involved scoping across the
fields in the hope of picking up the Coursers, but there were also a number of
larks and wheatears in the fields that were worth looking for. The change of
scenery from the park was extremely rewarding as we saw a new range of species
that we would have otherwise missed. We spent the morning birding there before
heading back to Bharatpur.
Highlights
Indian
Courser - Not bad for my first Courser species! At our first stop in
the area we had two of these stunning birds drop in and begin running around,
but then at our next stop we were given a real treat with double figures
scattered across the fields. They were very skittish but showed much better
than I had expected.
White-browed
Bushchat - Whilst most of us had been scoping the fields for Courser
JHF had wandered off and found this. It looked like a cross between a stonechat
and a whinchat, but was apparently extremely rare in the area. A tour leader I
know actually leads a tour designed specifically for this species. But not only
is it rare, but it’s also a very smart bird.
Greater Short-toed
Lark - Seems like a bit of an odd choice for a highlight, but the
sheer numbers of this species in the area was really something to behold.
Thousands of birds could emerge from areas of crop forming huge flocks. The
only species we were able to extract from the hoards were a few Bimaculated
Larks, but it would not be unreasonable to think that there were plenty of
rarer larks mixed in.
-Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark
-Southern Coucal
-Indian Bushlark
-White-browed Bushchat
-Yellow-wattled Lapwing
-Indian Courser
-Long-tailed Shrike
-Pied Bushchat
-Indian Thick-knee
Species
List:
Khumer: Indian
Robin, Crested Lark, Tawny Pipit, European Stonechat, Black Redstart, Indian
Silverbill, Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark, Desert Wheatear, House Crow, Greater
Short-toed Lark, Egyptian Vulture, Large Grey Babbler, Indian Bushlark,
Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Common Myna, Isabelline Shrike, Ring-necked Parakeet,
Hoopoe, Southern Coucal, Indian Courser, Isabelline Wheatear, White-browed
Chat, Red-vented Bulbul, Green Sandpiper, Pied Bushchat, Long-tailed Shrike,
Spotted Owlet, Black-winged Stilt, Common Babbler, Lesser Whitethroat,
Bimaculated Lark, Indian Thick-knee, White-throated Kingfisher, Southern Grey
Shrike,
Bharatpur
Next on our morning of targets was Painted Snipe. These
cracking waders were something I had long wanted to see, but the site we were
taken to we would never have found; a small river running through the town,
full of little and smelling extremely strongly of phosphorus. Still, it was the
site of our quarry and it did not take us long to find them, two males perched
under the bushes bordering the stream.
Highlights
Painted
Snipe - Always going to be a highlight of the trip if we saw them.
Two males was extremely exciting to see, especially as well as we did. In my
headed I imagined having to walk areas of vegetation to flush them out, but
that was simply not the case, as they sat out in almost clear view.
Bank Myna - On our drive through the town we were
held up by a crash on a bridge. Fortunately the place we stopped happened to be
next to a bridge full of Bank Myna nests, and they helped entertain us whilst
we waited. Really nice birds!
-Greater Painted Snipe
-Bank Myna
Bharatpur:
Keoladeo National Park
For our final afternoon in the park we once again got a
Rickshaw up to where we had left off the previous evening as we still had so much
of the park left to explore. We continued birding the wetland area until the
habitat changed once again into a more wooded grassland habitat. The tall grass
was home to a few finch and sparrow species we had not previously encountered
in the park. There were also a few new species in the trees around the
grassland. Despite it being our third day, it was awesome to keep encountering
new species all the time.
Highlights
Keoladeo
temple - Just round the corner from the temple is a small picnic area,
and it was a brilliant place to stop. Brahminy Starlings, Bank and Common Myna
would all come down stupidly close if you threw out food, and Jungle Babblers
would take food from your hands if you offered it. House Crows and Rufous
Treepies would also come down, but were a bit more wary. It also provided a
relaxing location to scope for raptors flying over.
Dalmatian
Pelican - My first ever Pelican species! Normally the park would be
home to good numbers of these birds but because of the dry season we only saw
one, which was the first of the year. JAB was scoping for raptors from a
platform and radioed out to say that he had seen it flying high towards us. It
looked like we had missed it but a sharp eyed PC picked it up circling just
south of where we were.
Yellow
Monitor Lizard - We also saw this monster yesterday, but cool to see again.
Around a meter in length, easily the most spectacular reptile I have ever seen.
It presumably spent most of the day hanging around its burrow, which was
adjacent to the road, as it never seemed to move from this area.
-Asian Openbill
-Indian Cormorant
-Brahminy Starling
-Black-necked Stork
-Black-headed Ibis
-Bar-headed Goose
-Dalmatian Pelican
-Black Drongo
-Siberian Stonechat
-Grey-headed Lapwing
-Indian Spotted Eagle
-Baya Weaver
-Yellow-fronted Woodpecker
-Painted Stork
-Yellow-footed Green Pigeon
-Black-necked Stork & Nilgai
Species
List:
Keoladeo
National Park: Asian Openbill, Black-necked Stork, Grey-headed
Lapwing, Red Avadavat, Spotted Redshank, Red Collard Dove, Little Swift,
Coppersmith Barbet, Peafowl, Grey Francolin, Plain Martin, Pintail, Teal,
Spot-billed Duck, Knob-billed Duck, Lesser Whistling Duck, Garganey, Cotton
Pygmy Goose, Greylag Goose, Bar-headed Goose, Painted Stork, Grey Heron, Purple
Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Striated Heron, Indian Pond Heron, Great
White Egret, Little Egret, Intermediate Egret, Dalmatian Pelican, Indian
Spotted Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, White-tailed Sea
Eagle, Glossy Ibis, Black-headed Ibis, Shikra, Common Kestrel, Spotted Owlet,
Moorhen, Coot, White-breasted Waterhen, Grey-headed Gallinule, Asian Darter,
Little Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Black-winged Stilt, Wood
Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Common Snipe,
Spoonbill, Hoopoe, Pied Kingfisher, White-breasted Kingfisher, Red-wattled
Lapwing, White-tailed Lapwing, Crested Serpent Eagle, Southern Coucal, Indian Roller,
Eastern Jungle Crow, House Crown, Rufous Treepie, Ruddy Shelduck, Long-tailed
Shrike, Black Drongo, Asian Pied Starling, Brahminy Starling, Common Myna, Bank
Myna, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Plain Prinia, Ashy-headed Prinia, Laughing Dove,
Eurasian Collard Dove, Yellow-footed Green Pigeon, Baya Weaver, Indian
Silverbill, Bluethroat, Oriental Magpie Robin, Red-vented Bulbul, White-cheeked
Bulbul, Jungle Babbler, Large Grey Babbler, House Sparrow, Citrine Wagtail,
Pied Bushchat, Siberian Stonechat, Barn Swallow, Yellow-crowned Woodpecker, Nilgai, Sambar, Chital, Golden Jackal,
Five-striped Palm Squirrel, Indian Flying Fox, Rhesus Macaque, Yellow Water
Monitor, Indian Softshell Turtle, Brahminy Terrapin, Common Rat Snake, Plain
Tiger, Red Helen,
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