World Trip Reports
Northern India Trip Oct-Nov 2007
Trip report for trip to India from 27th October until 18th November with some birding.
Our total visit to Kolkata lasted 31/2 weeks. I escaped alone for a train trip around Northern India, and included trips to Harike Wetlands, Yamuna barrage in New Delhi and Bharatpur. I managed to hire a boat at Harike but no English speaking guide. As I am new to India and India birds in particular, and still not at home where I can research, I have not yet identified the bird photographs from Kolkata, New Delhi or Harike, for fear of making simple mistakes.
For my trip to the Keoladeo Park at Bharatpur, I stayed at Hotel Sunbird and was guided by Brijendra Singh, Naturalist, Keoladeo N.P., He turned out to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the birds, animals, plants and insects of India, turning what could have been a frustrating few hours into an absolute delight. There was only pumped water again this year, and although the pumping appears to be very organised, the lack of river water and fish again severely limited the water birds at the park. It was still however the highlight of my trip.
A point of note was the atmospheric conditions, sometime pollution, often water vapour which severely restricted photography, and would have rendered my large telescope almost worthless for long periods of time, getting worse it appeared, the further North West I travelled. As I decided not to take it for weight reasons, it was strange to find the decision vindicated for other reasons. I had no filters for my camera, so I will need to research if anything will cut through the haze before my next trip. A small lightweight scope and tripod may well do, as light was seldom a problem. My wife and I will return to India, and hopefully spend more time birding.
My species list for Bharatpur is almost the same as the photographs so I will not make a list until I finish identification.
Further details and photographs can be found at:
http://www.amilne.co.uk/indiabirdreport2007/index.html
Thanks kittykatuk23,
I certainly was not able to ID some of those which you have indicated. I don't have photoshop with me as I'm still away from home using a portable, but I will try to improve the photographs when I return.
I didn't even spot the collared scops owl in the photograph for a long time - it was just that I had put in my notes that I had seen and photographed it that I knew it had to be in a photograph somewhere, and as I was taking hundreds per day, often of birds that were no longer there, it was no small task!
Thanks again
Alex,