KEOLADEO (BHARATPUR) BIRD SANCTUARY- DAY 2 (LXXXII)

Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary famously known as Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary is paradise for birds and eye candy for humans. Seeing the birds all around, birds of all colours, shapes and sizes - I felt I was in a different world.

PC: ASHISH SOHAL

There were three options to go inside sanctuary- by cycle rickshaw, your own cycle or on foot. I couldn't control my love for cycling and we hired two bicycles and a guide Mr Prakash who had his own bicycle and a spotting scope.

ME ON CYCLE
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ASHISH POSING WITH HIS CYCLE

I was mesmerized by story of Mr Prakash. Prakash was very knowledgeable and very passionate about birds. I could see the happiness in his eyes when he spotted some rare birds. He told us that the spotting scope which costs around Rs 4 lacs was gifted to him by a foreigner who got very impressed from his knowledge and his jovial nature. 

PRAKASH'S SPOTTING SCOPE

We kept on following Prakash on our cycles and halting quietly wherever he stopped. Prakash is featured on BBC website also by one of their reporters. To spot a rare bird Prakash used to make sounds and told us to play certain bird calls on our mobiles through YouTube. With help of YouTube we were able to spot Siberian Ruby Throat from Siberia, rare and beautiful bird.

SPOT THE RED COLOUR IN THE PICTURE AND THAT'S THE THROAT OF BIRD SIBERIAN RUBY THROAT
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I was talking to Prakash trying to learn more about his life and in between the talks he mention about one of his friends- Dr Ahmad, the environmentalist. I had met Dr Ahmad before in Delhi. I had attended one of his sessions in Delhi in Sanjay Van, near Qutub Minar (Story of my visit to Sanjay Van- http://nancyagarwal.blogspot.in/2015/06/a-walk-in-forest-sanjay-van.html) and I thought indeed it is a small world.

MR PRAKASH

Birds- I developed a special love for birds after visiting this sanctuary. They are so artistic and every bird has some unique quality. Prakash told us that mostly the birds have arrived their names from famous bird watcher Mr Salim Ali, sometimes referred to as the "Birdman of India". Mr Ali used to sit for hours waiting for birds. He adopted a method where he used to tie a ring in birds' leg and leave them. It was found that the bird which left from India with the ring, that ring was found somewhere in Siberia. That was how the study of migratory birds was conducted. Later on that ring was replaced with transmitter to keep a track of their movements and directions. 

Here sharing pictures of some of the unique birds we spotted in Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary:

EGYPTIAN VULTURE
PHOTO TAKEN THROUGH SPOTTING SCOPE

FOUR DIFFERENT KIND OF BIRDS COULD BE SPOTTED IN THE PICTURE

PURPLE HERON

WOOLLY-NECKED STORK
PRAKASH JOKED "MADAM SEE, HE IS OF YOUR PROFESSION- BLACK COAT AND WHITE COLLAR, EXACTLY LIKE A LAWYER" 

GREY HERON
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PAINTED STORK

INDIAN CRANE SARAS- IN BHARATPUR ONLY SEVEN PAIRS OF INDIAN SARAS ARE LEFT. INDIAN SARAS ARE FOUND IN PAIRS ONLY- MALE AND FEMALE AND IF ONE OF THEM DIES THE OTHER DIES AUTOMATICALLY. INDIAN SARAS IS PERFECT EXAMPLE OF TRUE LOVE. WE WERE ABLE TO SOPT 3 OUT OF SEVEN PAIRS. THE LOGO OF BHARATPUR BIRD SANCTUARY IS A BEAUTIFUL DANCING PAIR OF INDIAN SARAS. 

INDIAN SARAS

BLACK DRONGO

GREATER EGRET

Story of Day 1 was shared in previous post link for the same is

http://nancyagarwal.blogspot.in/2016/03/bharatpur-rajasthan-day-1-lxxvii.html