best birds: Winter India Part 4: River, Building, Birding

Before we left the bus depot, I happened to glance out the window and spot an Egyptian Vulture circling above us. The bus journey to Haridwar was on a public bus, (read long and painful), but I did have a window seat, and somehow managed to see Bronze-winged Jacana, Asian Openbill, White-breasted Waterhen and Sarus Crane. Arriving in Haridwar (the most holy place in India), we went to check out the Ganges. A large flock of Pallas’s Gulls wheeled ahead and a pair of Ruddy Shelducks sat on a small rocky island in the middle, along with an Indian Pond Heron. While walking along the Ganges later that night to watch the ceremonies, and Indian Grey Hornbill fed in a fruiting tree, and a Pied Kingfisher flew past.

Another overnight bus to Agra (thankfully not a public bus) saw us arriving earlier than predicted… at 4:30 in the morning. With 3 hours sleep under our belt, a tour bus that we had booked picked us up and whisked us off to Fatehpur Sikri, a world heritage listed ghost town. While it was cool, my hopes were high for the second part of the day. Even though I was only allowed two hours, visiting Bharatpur, Keoladeo National Park, was worth every second. I have seen this listed as the best place to go birding in the whole world, and I could see why, especially since when I was there was a drought. In 2 hours (with a rented bike), I managed to power around and see hundreds of birds, with about 40 species including lifers such as Greylag and Bar-headed Geese, Lesser Whistling Duck, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveller, Common Teal, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Rufous-throated Flycatcher, Grey Heron, Eurasian Spoonbill, Painted Stork (more than 300 nesting birds), Indian Roller, Little Grebe, and many, many more that were unfortunately too far away to identify, particularly waders and ducks.

The following day (our last full day in India) saw us queuing at 6:00 in the morning to get access to the Taj Mahal (no visit to India would be complete without it). We eventually got through, and had an amazing time. I even managed a lifer, going down on the list as seen at the Taj Mahal – a female Asian Koel. Agra Fort was next on the agenda, where I managed to pick out a Booted Eagle from the hundreds of Black Kites. We got picked up that afternoon to be transported to Delhi, but I didn’t go down without a fight, and bagged a final lifer – a White Wagtail feeding on the road at some toll gates we pulled up at!

Wow. It was a fantastic trip. I really cannot put into words how awesome it really was. This report mainly deals with the birds, but India was just so much more. Food, culture, architecture, history, fun and games with my friends, unforgettable experiences. But yes, the birds were very cool too ;)

Overall, 160 species (a few still being confirmed from photos), bringing my life list up to around 770, and memories to last a lifetime :)