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.
Keechan Sanctuary: Eurasian Teal, Feral Pigeon, Demoiselle Crane, Black-winged Stilt, Little Ringed Plover, Red-wattled Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Little Grebe, Little Cormorant, Shikra, Black Drongo, White-browed Wagtail, White Wagtail,
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