Day 6 - 21st Feb - Bikaner to Tal Chappar

 21st Sat. Up for 6.30 breakfast with our bags collected ready to leave at 7.00. We were offered Cornflakes, fruit, toast, omelettes and yoghurt with tea or coffee. We took a few pics and then set off for the Jorbeer dump area. As we approached the entrance we could see increasing number of birds in the tree tops, mainly Egyptian vultures and steppe eagles. At the entrance Rambir signed us in and sorted out camera fees etc then we set off around the compound. The place was littered with carcasses and bones with a variety of birds hopping around, including Indian Robin, Hoopoe, Black Drongos and Sparrows. Our first target was Yellow-eyed pigeon which Ranbir picked up fairly quickly, with two walking around under the trees. We managed to get closer before they were flushed by a vulture. In the bush was a Yellow throated sparrow which flew off   We got a bit distracted by a colony of gerbils and spent some time watching and photographing them before setting off again, checking the birds for anything different. Over the hour or so we saw Egyptian, Griffon and, eventually, Cinerous Vultures and Steppe, Imperial and Pallas’ fish eagles. We also had Red-napped Ibis, Red-wattled Lapwing, Hoopoe, Grey-throated Martins, HSp. We left to go back for an ATM but, following a suggestion from Sean, we turned round and went back for another half hour with more of the same.

Leaving the park we headed back into Bikaner, found an ATM, topped up our funds, then went for an abortive attempt to look for a memory card. We wasted an hour driving round the town with no luck before working our way out and heading to Tal Chappar for lunch.

We had a lovely lunch, found our rooms and had a quick sort out before heading back out at 3.30. We spent a bit of time watching a lizard in a tree until Sean joined us then we drove out. A short stop had Yellow-footed Green Pigeons in a fig tree and then we turned off onto a dirt track and had a few short stops before getting out for longer walk and search for the Indian Tree-creeper. 

There were several larks hopping around which turned out to be Rosy Larks along  with noisy parties of Large Grey Babblers. There was a pit full of carcasses with several Cattle Egrets feeding around them, plus a dog. Then we moved a little further and got out and started to walk through the trees checking out the trunks as we went. I went slightly left and scanned about when I saw a bird poking around on a branch which looked very similar to what we were looking for. I called David back to look at it but one of the others called a woodpecker so I thought this might be one so I moved on. A few minutes later the bird flew onto a trunk and we both realised it was the Indian Spotted Creeper. David called the others back and soon we were all watching it.

Walking on we saw Black-rumped Flameback and Yellow-crowned Woodpeckers, Asian Green Bee-eaters, a Steppe Eagle, among other birds, and several Black Buck.  We finished with a lovely Sunset before walking back to the van and heading back for dinner.

Day 5 - 20th Feb - Desert National Park to Bikaner

 7.00 breakfast then paying up our bar bill, taking photos, packing up the car and we were off on our next leg to Bikaner, via Kichan. We had a brief stop for Steppe Eagle and Chinkara, spotting a Shikra in a tree and then our first stop was back at the spot for Syke’s and Plain Leaf Warblers with no luck. 

We saw Black Redstart (eastern race), Common Babbler, Chiffchaff and Peacock. We turned round and had a brief stop for Steppe Eagle. Next brief stop was for Indian Roller, with a Montegue’s Harrier flying through. There was an interesting Wheatear that was a Variable Wheatear , which we moved a little forward to see and the Roller flew along the top of the ridge, gained height and starting displaying. Another stop saw Bay-backed Shrike, Indian Silverbill and Indian Robin. A last try for Sykes warbler wasn't successful but we did see Lesser Whitehroat and Brenda had a Gerbil dash to its burrow. We then headed on towards Bikaner, picking up a good, fast, tar road.

We stopped for lunch at a very smart looking hotel and restaurant, which also had a mini mart in it with a wide range of touristy stuff. I bought a small elephant and camel. They open up for your earrings, nose rings or whatever you need to store. Lunch was a Masala omelet and a cheese omelet with a shared plate of chips, Mango Lassi and a Coca-cola. It was very nice. Then we set off for the Cranes.

A shout from Sean had us turn around and checking the wires for a White-eyed Buzzard. It gave good views then took off and floated around for a bit, landing briefly, before drifting off out of sight.

We eventually reached Keechan and drove down the lane to the reservoir where we were expecting to see thousands of Cranes, there were three!!! It was a big disappointment. As we waited cranes could be heard and slowly groups appeared, circling round high up in the sky. The numbers grew until there were around 1500 in the air. It was quite a spectacle to watch as they wheeled about, some getting quite low, others way up in the sky, but they never landed, and eventually went off into the distance, never to be seen again. 

Cranes at Kichan

Distant Cranes

We hung around for a while checking out the birds on the ponds, with Teal, Little Grebe, Knob-billed Duck, White-browed Wagtail and hirundines with Pale Crag Martin and Dusky Crag Martin then we drove round to the feeding station to see if there was any idea of where they might be. While we were there we had Red Collared Dove among hundreds of Collared Doves. With a 2 and a half hour drive to the hotel, the decision was made to leave. I was bitterly disappointed, but I should have been much clearer that we wanted to see the ‘spectacle’ .

Red Collared Dove

The drive to the hotel was on dual carriageway roads, so we made good time, arriving at the Hotel. We were greeted by a group of flunkies, one put a red tikka on our forehead, one gave us a row of beads and one brought us a lovely glass of rose water. We checked in and went to our rooms which were amazing, with a bed that was twice as wide as it was long! And a room you could have held a conference in. We gathered downstairs for dinner. We chose our food and drinks and the meal that arrived was delicious. We paid and returned to our rooms, then David and I decided to go onto the terrace to see if there were any bats flying around, or anything in the thermal. A scan round didn't show much beyond dogs, a goat and a cat. Then I found a small rodent hopping among the grasses. We decided to go down and check it out. We gathered torches, thermals and camera and went out, checking it was ok with one of the staff. We walked round to where we thought we had seen the shapes and after a while, managed to locate and see one in the light, but no photos. Scanning round, David found 27 + dotted around so we made way across to see if we could get better views and a picture. Suddenly one popped up in a line of small bushes close to where we were standing and we eventually managed some shots, using a very low torch light and flash on the camera. We were then called in by a young man as they wanted to lock up, so we returned. 

Indian Gerbil

By now it was 12.30 and all I did was a quick wash, change and into bed.

Day 4 - 19th Feb - Desert National Park

After a quick cup of tea we were out at 6.30 with a packed breakfast. It was a longish drive to an area where we were looking for Persian Wheatear.  We parked by a small lake and scanned round while eating a packed breakfast, set out on the bonnet of one of the cars. On the bund was the target bird, a Persian Wheatear.

Along the waters edge were lots of wildfowl, kingfisher and waders. There was also a couple of ancestor stones, but these looked quite new, with the carvings still sharp.

Eagles, etc.  Drive round looking for things, stop for Vagrant Wheatear, Black Redstart, back for lunch.

We went out at 3.30 and spent some time looking for Sykes Warbler so we were later getting to the desert area. It was an odd site with trees and a pathway strewn with rubbish. We did see Black red, eastern, etc. before heading back through desert, looking for cats. 

The drive took us along a valley with various plants and bushes. We saw a Fox but no luck with any cars. We got back around 5.45, and were asked if we would like a camel ride. We agreed and had a short drive into the dunes where there were 4 camels waiting. We climbed on our camels and had a short ride across the dunes where we stopped to admire the sunset. We rode back and David chose to ride back to the camp. Sean also agreed to ride back. We drove back for dinner, meeting the boys as they returned on their camels. An experience that I probably won’t repeat. 

T

After dinner we went and checked out the scorpions and then went for a night walk, but saw nothing so we headed back to bed.

Day 3 - 18th Feb - Desert Natioanl Park

Sonar Desert Camp. We had an early rise for 6.15 breakfast, then a drive to the Desert National Park. It was still dark and quite cool, so I was glad of my fleece. The main target today was Indian Desert Bustard. This bird is highly endangered, with about 50 birds in the park, and the main reason for the trip. As we entered the park, Ranbir went and checked us in and then we started driving the trails, some of which were quite rutty in places. As we went we saw Steppe and Imperial Eagle, Egyptian Vultures, lots of larks, with Short-toed, Desert and Black-crowned Finch-lark as well as Great-grey Shrike, House Sparrow and Grey Francolin. 

Black-crowned Finch-lark

Imperial Eagle

Grey Francolin

As we were watching an Imperial Eagle, I called a raptor coming our way which turned out to be a Great Indian Bustard, followed by 8 more! Ranbir watched them and then turned the car round and drove along until he found where they had landed. The views were great, but a bit too distant, and still quite dark, for decent photos. We watched the nine birds interacting for some time, before finally moving off, looking for other species, especially Cream coloured courser. We had more larks,etc. then  the car slowed up and ahead of us was a male bustard in the undergrowth.  The cars approached fairly close then stopped and we waited for the bird to come out which it did before too long. We had prolonged, excellent views as the bird slowly walked about, pecking and then it found a spot and started displaying. It puffed up its throat feathers, cocked his tail, put his head up and gave a low grunt. After a while, another vehicle came along and pulled up beside us, before moving closer and causing the bird to slowly walk away, we called it a day, turned round and started making our way out and back for lunch. 

Great Indian Bustard

On the way, we had a comfort stop where David found some Crimson Speckled moths and at one stop we had a Spiny Lizard.

Day 3 -pm

We met up at 3.30 and set off for another part of the area, driving around the desert area, stopping for birds and a Desert Fox, which trotted away very purposefully after it saw us.

We had good views of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Egyptian Vultures, Steppe Eagle, Greater Short-toed and Bimaculated Larks among the usual desert birds plus Common Babbler and 2 White-browed Bushchat.

 We drove around until dark, using the thermal to look for mammals, but all we saw were Chinkara, and then came back for dinner at 7.30. We stopped for a scan round and to enjoy the sunset, distracted by a very loud tractor going by with a huge boombox trapped to his seat. 

After dinner DW and I went out with the uv and thermal, looking for Hedgehogs and anything else. We did see something which was probable jirds but not much else.

 

Day 2 - 17th Feb - Flight to Jaiselmer and Desert National Park

We had an early 6.00am start for an 8.00am flight to Jaisalmer. We met our guide for the trip, Ranbir Singh, collected our packed breakfast from the hotel and were taken to the domestic flights airport. The checkin was a very long-drawn out affair, complicated by the fact that my luggage was over the limit. I had to go to another desk, get my luggage weight checked again and then pay for it, which was not rapid. We finally made it through the queues and then waited for the flight to Jaisalmer. Our driver, Ganesh, collected us, loaded up the bus and then we began our drive to Desert National Park first stopping at a couple of places to scan for birds and then driving to Jaisalmer for lunch and a look at the fort from the outside. Our first birds were Purple Sunbird, Asian Green Bee-eater and White-eared Bulbuls as we took photos of the impressive Jaiselmer Fort. A young camel came and checked us out.

We drove into the town for lunch at a place which has a rooftop terrace so we could get a close look, unfortunately it was closed so we had to find somewhere else. They had some interesting bits of masonry with various figures carved on them. There wasn't anyone to ask the meaning of them so we reloaded the bus and drove to another restaurant. 

After lunch, we drove to Gada Sar lake, got out and walked through the street vendors and carts, crushing and selling sugar cane juice, making bracelets and various other trinkets. There was a wall with a heart and two camels either side which was very popular for photo shots, apparently.

The Gadi Sar lake was the original water supply for Jaisalmer, built in 1156, and has many little pagodas and temples with scenic, carved architecture. It now offers some good photo opportunities, birdwatching and boating. We found Red-wattled Lapwing, Eastern Orphan Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Cormorant, White-eared and Red-vented Bulbuls, Egrets and a River Tern. Grey- throated and Dusky Crag Martins flew around and a couple of Griffin Vultures and a Steppe Eagle passed in the distance. On the way out we found a 5-striped Squirrel and a Brown Rock Chat.

Ranbir asked if we’d like to go to a market, which we agreed to, so we drove to a side street, parked and entered a building which was really a textile store with clothes and some bits of jewelry. They showed us a nice selection of things and I eventually chose a mid-sleeved blouse in cotton with an elephant pattern.

Our next stop was outside Jaisalmer at the Akul Petrified Forest. The forest is a 21 hectare As we drove through the gate an emu appeared and a tame deer greeted us. We drove along a track, stopping to scan for birds. We made a couple of stops, with views of Desert Lark and, following the others in the distance I found an odd fly with hairy legs. On one of the mounds there was a stone column, which looked like an ancestor stone, an ancient marker. As we caught up we were told we were looking for? 

As we walked through, Rambir found an Eagle Owl resting in a bush across the valley. 

We walked on to an area that had various simple buildings, which were covers for some petrified tree trunks and logs that were from the Early Jurassic period. They are housed in roofed wired cages which made it difficult to photograph. The largest trunk is 13.4 mts long. A lucky scan saw a wild Boar running along the crest of a hill, disappearing rapidly.

Scanning around we found Common Babbler and Variable Wheatear. Looking around there was a very small piece of what looked like petrified wood and one of our first butterflies settled close enough to attempt identification.

Rambir, Alan and Sean wandered in one direction and David in another, with both finding a White-browed  Fantail, so we walked over and watched it for a while, getting good views and some photos, before heading back towards the log area. 

As we began our walk back another Eagle Owl was found but it headed off over the hill. Our driver was waiting for us so we climbed aboard and drove a bit further into the park, stopping to check out some of the Ancester Stones that were dotted around. 

We saw some Grey Francolin and deer before we headed out of the park. There were a couple of young goats playing on the chairs at the gate which entertained us while we were checked out. 

We then headed to the Sonal Desert Camp where we checked in, found our ‘tents’, headed to the restaurant for dinner and then turned in ready for our visit to the Desert National Park tomorrow.