India; Northwest - Day 9: Desert National Park

   Today would be arguably the most important day in our entire itinerary, as we dedicated two whole days in the Desert National Park to search for the Critically Endangered Great Indian Bustard, the worlds heaviest flying bird. With a population of possibly already less than 100 individuals, concentrated mostly in this area, we knew that it was the most important species on our trip.

  The day started driving an hour from our lodging to the gate of the National Park, as we then drove around the perimeter fence to scan to find the Bustards. Incredible, it took only around 15 minutes after passing the gate that we found our first bird, with one close to the fence but immediately flushed when we spotted it. It flew off away from us but fortunately looped back around and then flew off into the distance. Mission already accomplished!

  Not too much later we found two individuals on the ground together, but these were much more distance. They were good to watch as they walked through the tall grass, and while we watched another flew past us and into the agriculture beyond. Once we left the original two birds, we set off to find where this third bird landed, and it didn’t take us too long to find it. This allowed us an opportunity to see one close on the ground, before it took off and headed back to the protected area.

  There was limited other birdlife during this morning session, but it was still enjoyable. We had many of the same species we had seen over the previous few days, such as excellent numbers of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse and plentiful Variable Wheatears and a pair of Laggar Falcons. The only new species for us on the trip was the Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark, which was very common. At 10:30 we headed off to a restaurant for lunch, and then to sit out the heat of the day.

  At 14:30 we headed out again, to an area of grassland north of the village of Sam where we hoped to find the White-browed Bush Chat. The temperature was still warm and activity was pretty limited despite the good habitat. A male Montagus Harrier was the highlight, probably even after we found the Bush Chat, which we did after an hour of searching. The Chat was fairly approachable and showed very nicely, meaning everyone got to see this rare bird. Of course, I saw this bird previously in 2018 at Bharatpur, but it was still good to see again.

  From here we had to drive back to our accommodation, a journey of at least 90-minutes in the back of an open topped and very dusty vehicle. Fortunately the journey was eased as we found four more Great Indian Bustards feeding at the side of the road in the dull early evening light. Having expected just a few distant hazy views, to have seen so many and so well really was a treat! We arrived back at our lodging just as darkness fell, very satisfied with our days birding in the Desert National Park.

India; Northwest - Day 8: Keechan

  Today we travelled from the city of Bikaner to the Desert National Park, via the small village of Keechan for an unforgettable crane spectacle. On the way we made a few stops, but most of the day was spent driving. Before Keechan we stopped off at a few open desert areas to search for any Coursers but did not find any. We had a few Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse as well as my first Indian Desert Jird, a small sandy brown mammal that is quite common in the area.

  The village of Keechan is famous for its wintering population of several thousand Demoiselle Cranes, that visit the bird sanctuary here after feeding of the birds was start many years ago. It really was an unprecedented spectacle for us, with what we calculated to be in total 6000 Demoiselle Cranes all crammed around two small pools. We could only easily overlook one of these pools, and it really was quite something. We also had incredible views of birds flying past us at close range as they moved between the pools, and the noise was absolutely wonderful to hear! Probably the highlight of the trip so far. After 90 minutes here however we had to move on.

   The remaining drive passed without much incident. As we approached Desert National Park we did make a short stop in an area of desert to do some birding during the last hour of light, and while enjoyable we did not get anything new. A few more Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse were the highlight of this stop. Finally, as we entered the entrance road of the park with the sun setting, I had a final tick for the day with a White-eyed Buzzard perched on a roadside pylon. Our lodging for the night was settled deep in the desert, with a wonderful ambiance, ready for two days birding in the park. 

India; Northwest - Day 7: Tal Chappar & Jorbeer

   We continued our exploration of the Tal Chappar area, but since we did not have any more drives in the sanctuary reserved on our itinerary, we had to explore outside the park. We decided to bird the area where we had first visited, when we arrived in Chappar. This time though it was early morning and the weather was excellent, with clear blue skies and warm sunshine. The Blackbucks were on top form, allowing us to get some nice final views and finally get some satisfactory photos of the males.

  The birding was really good as well. It took only about 15 minutes to locate a pair of Indian Spotted Creeper, and they showed fantastically well and throughout the morning. I was still watching them when we left the site at 09:30. In between we explored the dry open woodland and found a few nice species such as Small Minivet, Common Woodshrike, Black-rumped Flameback and Yellow-crowned Woodpecker.

  The drive to Bikaner is only about three hours, which meant that even with a lunch stop we still arrived at 13:15 in the heat of the day. We were here to enjoy the spectacle of the raptors visiting the Jorbeer Carcass Dump, and to find the Yellow-eyed Pigeon. The latter issue was quickly resolved as we drove down the entrance road, our driver Pawan pointed our literally hundreds of the pigeons dotted all over the pylons. It took us a little while to be certain that these were what we wanted, since the numbers were so unprecedented, but they were indeed all Yellow-eyed Pigeons!

  We stopped again before we got to the main carcass dumping area due to the number of raptors circling over the road. We ended up stopping for about an hour watching the eagles and vultures soaring low above us. We picked out a few interesting species among the masses of Egyptian and Griffon Vultures, and Steppe Eagles. These included a few Eastern Imperial Eagles and a juvenile Himalayan Griffon Vulture.

  Once we entered the sanctuary it was quite overwhelming with the stench and the amount of litter blowing in the wind. There were a few raptors perched up but not many large vultures and only a few eagles. We still had fun with two Greater Spotted Eagles and a few Cinereous Vultures. It was not long though before we decided we had enjoyed the same experience back on the road, just without the litter, smell or feral dogs. So we headed back there to see out the day, and continue watching the raptors. We finished off our raptor fest with a flythrough Lagger Falcon and a Tawny Eagle. Overall a very educational afternoon and fun to watch the many birds of prey. 

  We then headed to our lodging, which was one of the poshest hotels I have ever stayed in. Quite the change in scenary from the rough digs we had been used to, having spent the best part of the day at a literal rubbish dump!