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.

Species List:
Desert National Park: Indian Peafowl, Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Great Indian Bustard, Grey Heron, Black-winged Kite, Egyptian Vulture, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Steppe Eagle, Montagu's Harrier, Common Buzzard, Eurasian Hoopoe, Asian Green Bee-eater, Common Kestrel, Laggar Falcon, Black Drongo, Isabelline Shrike, Great Grey Shrike, House Crow, Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark, Greater Short-toed Lark, Delicate Prinia, Barn Swallow, Red-vented Bulbul, White-eared Bulbul, Lesser Whitethroat, Asian Desert Warbler, Common Babbler, White-browed Bush Chat, Siberian Stonechat, Desert Wheatear, Variable Wheatear, Purple Sunbird, Indian Silverbill, House Sparrow, Long-billed Pipit, Tawny Pipit,