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 scenery from the rough digs we had been used to, having spent the best part of the day at a literal rubbish dump! 

Species List:
Tal Chappar: Bar-headed Goose, Northern Shoveler, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Eurasian Teal, Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Little Swift, Common Moorhen, White-breasted Waterhen, Black-winged Stilt, Little Ringed Plover, Red-wattled Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Ruff, Little Grebe, Little Cormorant, Red-naped Ibis, Little Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Egyptian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Asian Green Bee-eater, Yellow-crowned Woodpecker, Black-rumped Flameback, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Small Minivet, Common Woodshrike, Black Drongo, Great Grey Shrike, House Crow, Northern Raven, White-eared Bulbul, Lesser Whitethroat, Large Grey Babbler, Indian Spotted Creeper, Rosy Starling, Brahminy Starling, Indian Robin, Black Redstart, Purple Sunbird, Indian Silverbill, House Sparrow, Yellow-throated Sparrow,
Jorbeer: Grey Francolin, Yellow-eyed Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Red Collared Dove, Red-naped Ibis, Eastern Cattle Egret, Egyptian Vulture, Cinereous Vulture, Himalayan Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Greater Spotted Eagle, Steppe Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Black Kite, Eurasian Hoopoe, Asian Green Bee-eater, Laggar Falcon, Black Drongo, Bay-backed Shrike, House Crow, Greater Short-toed Lark, Rufous-fronted Prinia, White-eared Bulbul, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Babbler, Bank Myna, Black Redstart, Variable Wheatear, Purple Sunbird, Indian Silverbill, House Sparrow,