Friday, November 11, 2011

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Birding at Marble Rocks

The magical mystical falls Dhuandhar on River Narmada are the beginning of the gorge that Capt Forsyth so vividly described - Marble Rocks. Much remains of the magnificent splendor the he described excpet the surroundings have become devoid of greenery in recent times. 

A concrete pathway and driveway with an overhead rope way has opened new vista of tourism. The river were once surrounded with dense forests on the cliffs - all gone now.  Wherever man steps in destruction is bound to occur.

Anyway while my guests were busy visiting the falls I was busy bird watching on the cliff bang opposite. I could see some house martins flying all around the Egyptian Vultures most of them were juvenile. It was quite late but I did manage to see a blue rock thrush female. These birds visit the rocky surroundings near the hills of Bargi which are nearby. Another good sightings was rufous tailed larks sitting pensively on of the rocks.  White wagtail and large pied wagtails were in plentyful. 

I could not sight the Brown Fish Owl which frequent the boating area and surroundings. But they are certainly visible during the evening time whence they come out of the fissures amidst the marble rocks in the over hanging cliffs.       

Near by there is an old bridge that leads to Marble Rock underneath you can discover a colony of streak throated swallows. This is where you can see Brahminy Ducks and an occasional rare visitor the avocet.

Red wattled lapwing, house sparrows, are ubiquitous in Jabalpur. Humes warbler, brown rock chat and a purple sunbirds male in eclipse was what I could see before we moved on.