Birding in Rajasthan

cheshta

I am an experienced birder touring Rajasthan for the first time, by bike. I am looking for recommendations for places to visit during the month of October. My traveling companions are not birders but will come along if there is a variety of wildlife to view, or the setting is very attractive.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated, including links to birding sites within India.
Cheshta

WeaKnee

wonderwomanusa

I've been to Keoladeo around the end of October and can't say enough nice things about it! By that time, it's full of both migratory birds (storks, egrets...) and the local eagles, kingfishers, painted storks and many whose names I've forgotten.

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The map is not the territory. --Alfred Korzybski

Fiber Tiger

I'm also wondering about birding. My husband and I will be staying at The Birders Inn in Bharatpur by the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary in mid October. I'm trying to find out how much water has arrived in Keoladeo. Is it enough to attract and hold the water birds that usually come to breed? Or will be just be seeing dry land birds? Or any birds?

I realize that the monsoon rains have been weak in the last few years, and that they started out weak this year. But I have the impression from the few news article references I've been able to find that maybe the rains have finally settled in in earnest in northern India. Does anyone know if this is true?

Also, what other parks with birds are accessable from Bharatpur?

Fiber Tiger

Wonder Woman, What year were you in Keoladeo in October?

wonderwomanusa

2003; there was plenty of water that year and I got some super photos.

wonderwomanusa

2003; there was plenty of water that year and I got some super photos.

wonderwomanusa

2003; there was plenty of water that year and I got some super photos.

wonderwomanusa

2003; there was plenty of water that year and I got some super photos.

wonderwomanusa

I was there in 2003; there was plenty of water that year.

In the week or two prior to heading for Keoladoe, I spent early mornings in Delhi watching the cranes migrate...

Fiber Tiger

I'm back from from trip to the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary. I had a wonderful time there, even with very little water. All the water in the park consisted of what they could pump out of the ground to keep some of the local species alive. [However, the news is that 2 new canals are being built to bring in water, and that it will arrive next monsoon, 2010!]

In the meantime, there were plenty of woodland birds to see, and some water birds. It was heartening to me to learn that the water birds come every year and build nests in anticipation of the water coming. When it doesn't come, they move on to other possible breeding grounds. In the meantime, the flocks are keeping the knowledge of this potential breeding ground alive in the younger generations who have been hatched and raised in other areas. So when the water does return, they will still have the memory of where Bharatpur breeding ground is located. This is important because some of the species have life-spans shorter than the number of years that Bharatpur has been without water.

But let me stress that there was plenty to see. And it was wonderful learning about the killer mud-backed [flat backed] turtles, that can even bring down the HUGE Nilgai ungulates that live in the park. The Nilgai are bigger than any horned animal I've ever seen!

Our guide Arvind Raj Chaudhary was excellent, and took us to out of the way places to see birds whose habitat niches were not right at the edge of the paved road running though the park. He helped us record all the birds we'd seen in our Indian birders book.

Our stay at the Birders' Inn was wonderful, too. It's an old Maharaja's hunting lodge, so it has all the ambiance of a palace, without the high prices or fuss. The food was very good, and the service sincerely helpful and pleasant. Nothing over ingratiating, as occurs on some of the more well-trodden tourist group trails.

I'm looking forward to going back when the water returns to see all the water birds I missed. {I did see blacknecked and wooly necked storks and several species of ducks, sand pipers, and kingfishers.} It was all just great.
Fiber Tiger