India Nov 2010 Part 1

Not strictly UAE birding I know but thought I'd share some comments and pictures from my trip to Rajasthan recently.  Although I have lived in the UAE for 6 years it was my first trip to India (I know - pathetic !).  As I wanted to go with my wife we put an itinery together that had a mix of birding and sightseeing.   Our initial port of entry was Delhi from where we quickly left to Bharatpur.  This was once one of the Top Birding sites in the world,  however over recent years the water levels have dramatically reduced and the number of birds recorded there have diminished significantly.   The Keoladeo Ghana National Park was once famous for the Siberian Crane, sadly these have not been reported for several years now.   Adding to this was the issue of reported sightings of a Tiger in the Park,  this had the negative effect of restricting large areas of the park to the Public.   However I had only 3 days there and so left us with plenty of birds to go after.   I hired a guide and a couple of Rickshaws for the 3 days,  the guys were execllent and looked after us well !!    I have included the cycle licence plates of the Rickshaw drivers for your reference, should you ever be out that way.  Soran Singh was my guide and we stayed at the famous Birder's Inn ,  Bharatpur.   Cheap and friendly - enjoyed our stay very much.

Some pics from Keoladeo Ghana National Park :

 Painted Stork
(Mycteria leucocephala)

Darter
(Anhinga melanogaster)

 Painted Stork
(Mycteria leucocephala)

Sarus Crane
(Grus antigone)

 White-Throated Kingfisher
(Halcyon smyrnensis)

 Pied Buschat
(Saxicola caprata)

 Painted Stork

(Mycteria leucocephala)

 Dusky Eagle Owl

(Bubo coromandus)

 Spotted Owlet
(Athene brama)

 Long-Tailed Shrike
(Lanius schach)

 Black-Rumped Flameback
(Dinopium benghalense)

 Eurasian Spoonbill
(Platalea leucorodia)

Asian Openbill
(Anastomus oscitans )

Finally in this Part here is the information on the Rickshaw riders and Guide that I used :