This weekend I went to Bharatpur with my friends. It was a fantastic trip marred by only two things:
One, there were very few migratory birds. The heronary was empty. That was truly a bummer. I know there were tourists who suitably gasped at the sight of the peacock, tailor bird, spot-billed duck, oriental magpie robin, rose-ringed parakeet and others. But for us from JNU these were old stuff. We have been spoiled. We see them every day. I have been woken many times by the peacock calling out loud at 3 am in the morning, so much so I have often wished the bird would just shut up. Here is one that was on my backyard yesterday:
That is not to say that there were no migratory birds. There were Northern Shoveller, Northern (Common) Coot,.
and bar-headed goose. My best image is that of the Black-necked Stork which we were able to identify using the guide book.
We had a great guide in Maan Singh (rickshaw number 5) who was both our rickshaw driver and our guide to the birds. He showed us the three owls that are resident to the park.
We also saw jackals, wild boar, spotted deer, and nilgai. So the trip was not a complete washout but complete satisfaction was missing.
Two, I truly moaned the lack of a good camera. All I could take was panoramic shots. None of the birds had any sense to pose for my tiny camera. Never mind. One day I will get a good camera. Meantime, enjoy the panoramic shot.
We stayed at Iora Guest house. The room was good and the food was excellent. This is the guest house many photographers stay in. The guest house owner is also a photographer. And we were lucky that there were photographers staying when we went. The photographers were being guided by Sagar Gosavi and we watched the video he had shot at Namdapha national park as part of exploration. Namdapha is the only national park in India where you can find four big cats. The video was superb and the best part was the night sky he showed us. The sky was filled with stars from horizon to horizon. There was not a single space available. I have seen the night sky only at Estes park where one could easily see the milky way. But the night sky at Namdapha national park far exceeded that. It was just majestic.
On the way back we stopped at Deeg palace. But that story for another day.
One, there were very few migratory birds. The heronary was empty. That was truly a bummer. I know there were tourists who suitably gasped at the sight of the peacock, tailor bird, spot-billed duck, oriental magpie robin, rose-ringed parakeet and others. But for us from JNU these were old stuff. We have been spoiled. We see them every day. I have been woken many times by the peacock calling out loud at 3 am in the morning, so much so I have often wished the bird would just shut up. Here is one that was on my backyard yesterday:
and bar-headed goose. My best image is that of the Black-necked Stork which we were able to identify using the guide book.
We had a great guide in Maan Singh (rickshaw number 5) who was both our rickshaw driver and our guide to the birds. He showed us the three owls that are resident to the park.
We also saw jackals, wild boar, spotted deer, and nilgai. So the trip was not a complete washout but complete satisfaction was missing.
Two, I truly moaned the lack of a good camera. All I could take was panoramic shots. None of the birds had any sense to pose for my tiny camera. Never mind. One day I will get a good camera. Meantime, enjoy the panoramic shot.
We stayed at Iora Guest house. The room was good and the food was excellent. This is the guest house many photographers stay in. The guest house owner is also a photographer. And we were lucky that there were photographers staying when we went. The photographers were being guided by Sagar Gosavi and we watched the video he had shot at Namdapha national park as part of exploration. Namdapha is the only national park in India where you can find four big cats. The video was superb and the best part was the night sky he showed us. The sky was filled with stars from horizon to horizon. There was not a single space available. I have seen the night sky only at Estes park where one could easily see the milky way. But the night sky at Namdapha national park far exceeded that. It was just majestic.
On the way back we stopped at Deeg palace. But that story for another day.
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