If you are an Indian you probably have already heard about this place and if you are a birder then this place is definitely on your wishlist (If not, you better add it).When someone says Bharatpur first thing comes to your mind is "Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary" which is now known as "Keoladeo-Ghana National Park" (Keoladeo from Lord shiva temple and Ghana which simply means thick,dense referring to the vegetation inside the park).Even a non-birder will tell you that migratory birds visit this place every year. Being a birder, I was very excited to visit this place as it hosts as many as 366 species of birds, majority of which were lifers* to me.
Finally, the most awaited day arrived.Reached there by 7:30 AM checked into our hotel and after a hearty breakfast of mouth watering Aloo parathas started off for our first day of birding.Exhilarated, as this was my first experience of day long birding.
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Park Entrance
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Birding started as soon as we left our hotel and if you are a birder then you are likely to agree that wherever we go we start spotting birds(happens to me at least).The thing I loved the most (apart from the habitat and birds, of course) was the mode of transport. Bicycles and Cycle Rickshaws are an integral part of the park and the good thing is because the driver's livelihood depends on it, they have become quite good at spotting and identifying birds.
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A typical morning in the park
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Brief history of the park:
The sanctuary was created 250 years ago and is named after a Keoladeo (Shiva) temple within its boundaries. Initially, it was a natural depression and was flooded after the Ajan Bund was constructed by Maharaja Suraj Mal, the then ruler of the princely state of Bharatpur, between 1726–1763. The bund was created at the confluence of two rivers, the Gambhir and Banganga. The park was a hunting ground for the maharajas of Bharatpur, a tradition dating back to 1850, and duck shoots were organised yearly in honor of the British viceroys. In one shoot alone in 1938, over 4,273 birds such as mallards and teals were killed by Lord Linlithgow, the then Governor-General of India.The park was established as a national park on 10 March 1982. Previously the private duck shooting preserve of the Maharaja of Bharatpur since the 1850s, the area was designated as a bird sanctuary on 13 March 1976 and a Ramsar site under the Wetland Convention in October 1981. The last big shoot was held in 1964, but the Maharajah retained shooting rights until 1972. In 1985, the Park was declared a World Heritage Site under the world Heritage Convention. It is a reserve forest under the Rajasthan Forest Act, 1953 and, therefore, is the property of the State of Rajasthan of the Indian Union. In 1982, grazing was banned in the park, leading to violent clashes between local farmers and the government.
SOURCE-Wikipedia.
Some more details:
Situated in Rajasthan, easily accessible by rail/road from Delhi/Agra/Mathura.
- Nearest Railway Station: Bharatpur junction (5 km).
- About 40 km from Agra and 60 km from Mathura by road.
A lot of good stay options available nearby.
Best time to visit: October -March.
Park Timings: Sunrise-Sunset.
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Keoladeo (Lord Shiva) Temple from which the park gets its name
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Scripture in the park which says 4206 birds were hunted on Nov 20th,1917 ..HUGE isn't it?
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I simply loved the place, the atmosphere and everything about it.As we moved further in we saw a family of Spotted Owlets taking a nap.Owls and owlets are mostly nocturnal. They prefer to roost during the day someplace safe where they are well camouflaged.
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Spotted Owlets(Athene Brama) roosting
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On our way to the nursery, where a lot of scrubland birds can be sighted Grey francolins were in plenty and very vocal, though we couldn't see any because these small guys are very shy and secretive. Reaching the nursery, we saw some more spotted owlets followed by Indian grey hornbill, Oriental white-eye, Long-tailed Shrike, rose-ringed parakeet etc. We could also spot Orange-headed Thrush which again is a very shy and secretive bird.Then we had some wonderful views of Black-Rumped Flameback but cherry on the cake was the sighting of Grey-Headed Canary Flycatcher we got amazing views of this little beauty.This cute little bird has yellow underparts, grey head and squarish tail.
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Grey-Headed Canary Flycatcher(Culicicapa ceylonensis)
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After such hearty sightings of forest birds, we proceeded further.Main attractions of the park; water birds, were waiting for us. Before we stopped for lunch we saw a lot of ducks like Little Grebe, Northern Shoveller, Common coot, Common Teal, Spot-billed ducks, Lesser Whistling ducks, Knob-billed duck etc. I was very happy as half of these birds were lifers for me and I am sure birders will understand this lifer feeling.
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Eurasian coot(Fulica Atra)
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Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
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Knob-Billed Duck (Sarkidiornis Melanotos)
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After all these sightings, it was almost 1 PM when we stopped for lunch at the canteen area.During lunch, we were accompanied by squirrels and Jungle babblers, exceptionally bold individuals all of them.Got an interesting (not very good) shot of one such individual showing its Nictitating Membrane. It is a thin membrane present in birds and some mammals you can read more about it here.
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Jungle Babbler (Turdoides Striata) Nictitating Membrane
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Just after finishing our lunch instead of resting I decided to go around the canteen and try seeing some more forest birds and I was rewarded with some good shots of Brahminy Starling and Bank Myna and a grey-headed canary flycatcher again.
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Brahminy Starling(Sturnia Pagodarum)
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| Bank Myna (Acridotheres Ginginianus) |
After lunch, we were all charged up and now it was time for..Guess what? Yes, some more birds.. :D we had very good views of Pied kingfisher, Greylag goose, Bar-headed goose, Rufous Treepie, Painted Stork, Oriental magpie Robin, Greater-Spotted Eagle, Grey heron, Purple Heron, Darter, White-tailed Lapwing etc.
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Rose-Ringed Parakeet (Psittula Krameri)
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Greylag goose (Anser Anser)
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Painted Stork (Mycteria Leucocephala)
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It was 6 PM almost so we had to start our journey back to the main gate on our way back we sighted a shikra quietly sitting on a tree.This small bird of prey belongs to the accipiter family.
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Shikra (Accipiter Baduis)
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Apart from birds we also saw some mammals like nilgai (Blue bull), Jackal and reptiles like Indian monitor lizard.So overall it was a great day, a lot of lifers for me.With a hell lot of memories and with two full memory cards we returned to our hotel tired, happy and with a lot of curiosity and excitement for Day 2.
Some more images :
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Indian Monitor Lizard (Varanus Bengalensis)
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| Nilgai a.k.a Blue Bull (Boselaphus Tragocamelus) |
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Sunset from the park
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*LIFER: A term used by birders. If you see a bird for the first time in your life then it is a LIFER for you. Simple, isn't it? ;-)
So guys, that's it for this week keep watching this space if you want to read about day 2 and 3 I hope you enjoyed reading :D Drop your comments/suggestions. See you next week, till then Happy Birding...Cheers!
