Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

I tried to write this post last night, but had to stop because my computer was equipped with an epilepsy-inducing flashing-strobe-light mouse that made it impossible to think.

When we got to Bharatpur it was early afternoon, so we checked into the Hotel Pratap Palace and headed down the road to the bird sanctuary. Along the way we hired a cycle rickshaw driver to take us through the park who turned out to be a good bird spotter and guide. Prices for official park rickshaws are set at 50 Rs per hour and they're identifiable by a painted yellow placard with a number for each rickshaw.

The main road through the sanctuary is a paved, level avenue lined with trees. The first section of the drive is through dry forest and this is where we saw two jackals cross the road in front of us. This is also where we first saw the benefit of hiring the driver, rather than renting bikes, when he stopped the rickshaw and led us off the road to point out a sleeping collared owl nestled in a tiny hole in a tree trunk.

The dry forest soon gave way to marshes and then the lake area. Thanks to heavy rainfall earlier in the year, the lake is very full and stretches as far as the eye can see. The water is dotted with small islands and clumps of trees and a low mist gave the scene a sense of unreality. There are almost no motorized vehicles in the park so the only sounds you hear are the cries of birds and the occasional howl of a jackal. The largest of the cranes, while too far away to see clearly, have a cry like a trumpeting elephant that carries very clearly.

It seemed that every time we turned our heads we spotted a different bird. Indian Darters competed with egrets for space to spread their wings. Herons stalked the shallows and parrots screeched through the treetops. Some of my favorites were the little herons poised nearly vertical on branches, staring intently into the water, waiting for unsuspecting fish to swim by. Another scene that sticks in my mind is of two large deer standing belly-deep in the lake, grazing on weeds while the sun set behind them.

We stayed to see the sunset, after which the batteries in the camera died, making it a good time to head back to the hotel. We seriously considered staying another day or two and renting bicycles to explore the park, but that would take a talent for simultaneously driving a bike and looking in all directions that I just don't have.

Bharatpur has easily been one of the highlights of our trip so far and no one traveling in Northern India should miss it.