Chambal And Bharatpur Birding

Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary is well known all over India and abroad while Chambai is coming into the limelight. It was once in the limelight for many bandits that dwelled in the land proliferated by ravines and dunes an unproductive land that gained notoriety because of the bandits. All that is past and tourism has replaced the crime-ridden past. Chambal is a river sanctuary that encompasses three states namely:

• Uttar Pradesh
• Madhya Pradesh
• Rajasthan

The long stretch of river spans more than 700 km with a substantial area covered by the sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to several avian species, turtles, marsh crocodiles, and the gharial. It supports several mammalian and reptilian species on its banks and all these are major attractions for tourists who primarily come here for bird watching and boating on the river. 

Bharatpur is a 28 sq. km sanctuary and home to over 300 avian species. It is World famous with a majority of visitors arriving from overseas.  Both Bharatpur and Chambal are approachable from Agra roughly at a distance of 70 kilometers. The best season for bird watching at these destinations is winter when the Palearctic migrants arrive.

Boating is organized at Chambal by the lodge owner at Bah in Uttar Pradesh about 70 km from Agra. It is also organized at Dholepur in Madhya Pradesh about 50km from Bharatpur.

Boating organized at Chambal River Sanctuary is for about 2.50 hours and offers sightings of turtles, gharial, and marsh crocodiles. Several avians are seen. The most coveted species to see at Chambal are the Indian Skimmer, Bonelli's Eagle, Indian Eagle Owl, Laggar Falcon, Sand Lark, Booted eagle, Pallas gull, Eurasian Wigeon, Gadwall, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Gargeny, Ferruginous Pochard, Red-crested pochard, Common Shelduck, Comb Duck, Common Quail, Rain Quail, Rock bush quail, Painted Francolin, Greater flamingo, Lesser flamingo, Great crested grebe, Yellow necked green pigeon, painted Sand grouse,  Chestnut-bellied sandgrouse, Savanna nightjar, Pied avocet, Kentish plover, Lesser sand plover, Long-billed plover, River lapwing, Ruff, Terek sandpiper, Common redshank, Brown-headed gull, Lesser black-backed gull, Little tern, Caspian tern, Black-bellied tern,  Booted eagle, Pallid Harrier, Northern goshawk, long-legged buzzard, Eurasian buzzard, Brown boobook, Black-rumped flame back, Red-necked falcon, White-tailed lapwing      

At Bharatpur, it is guided birding. The best birding guides are available in Bharatpur. The birds seen are

mustached warbler, dusky warbler, rubythroat, Lesser Whistling Duck, Sarus Crane, plum-headed parakeet, Bar-headed Goose, Ferruginous pochard, Marbled Teal, Common Crane, Wigeon, Gadwall, Baer's Pochard, Greater Scaup,  Tufted duck, Baikal Teal, Yellow Legged Button Quail, Barred Button Quail, Mallard, Pintail snipe, Common snipe, Common Quail, Indian eagle, Blue Tailed Barbet, Blue Cheeked Barbet, Grey Bellied Hawk Cuckoo, Common Cukoo, Sirkeer Malcoha, Alpine Swift, Short Eared Owl, Oriental Scops Owl, Brown Hawk Owl, Dusky eagle owl, Pale Backed Pigeon, Demoiselle crane, Red collared dove, Water rail, Brown crake,           Greater spotted eagle, Brown Capped Pigmy Woodpecker, Yellow Crowned Pigmy Woodpecker, Bonelli's Eagle, Honey buzzard, Steppe Eagle, Tawny eagle,Marble Teal, Black francolin, Chestnut bellied sandgrouse, Pintail snipe, Jack snipe, Black tailed godwit,  Eurasian Curlew,Pheasant and Bronze winged Jacana, Red necked phalarope,Pacific goled plover, Ballions crake, Water cock, Grey nightjar, Long-tailed nightjar, and Peregrine Falcon.

There are many more interesting species in these destinations. Thus for birders bird watching atBharatpur and Chambal is the best option. Both destinations can be covered in one itinerary.

Birding at Kanha National Park

Kanha is popular for tiger safaris and people enjoy seeing the big cats and other wild animals. Yet the destination with 250 bird species is slowly getting popular for the fantastic opportunity it provides to birders. Tourists miss the fantastic ecosystem in the mad chase for tigers and they miss the amazing avians that flock around. This magnificent tiger reserve and National park is getting popular with bird watchers and every year a large number of enthusiasts arrive here.   

The diverse topography is very much suitable for forest birds and to some extent grass birds. The wetland species are few and some arrive in winter due to small water bodies in the core area of the park. Some water bodies inside the tiger reserve are home to Eurasian wigeon, Northern pintail, common teal, garganey, Graylag geese, and a few more species but winter migrants do not arrive here in large numbers.  

 Other birds that are seen here are Indian pitta, barred button quail, black drongo, racket-tailed drongo Eurasian thicknee, Scops owl, Oriental scops owl, Brown fish owl, jungle owlet, honey buzzard, long-billed vulture, white-eyed buzzard, black-shouldered kite,  Large and median egrets, Greater Cormorant,  Osprey,  Tickell's blue flycatcher, tawny babbler, Asian paradise flycatcher, Palas Fish Eagle, Shama, verditor flycatcher, Gray Headed Fish Eagle, black-naped monarch,  Wooly Necked Stork, open billed stork,  Lesser Adjutant Stork, and the common shore birds.  

The best areas for bird watching at Kanha are: Sravan Taloa, Anicut at Nakti Ghati, Bija, and Bahmni Dadar, the buffer tourism areas, Link No 7,  8, and 9. The mixed forest, water bodies, Lakes, bamboo clumps, wild bushes, and meadows offer sightings of many birds. Marshy grasslands hold interesting species like bush chats, munias, parakeets, pipits, and larks. 

The Indian scimitar babbler, common grey hornbill, Malabar pied hornbill, common snipe, and painted francolin, are also seen in Kanha Tiger Reserve. The common avians are the common iora, yellow-eyed babbler, gray-breasted prinia, brown-cheeked fulvetta, ashy and plain prinia, common tailor bird, red-rumped swallow, white-rumped munia, purple sunbird, red avadavat, green munia, scaly and tricolor munia among the grassy patches and near the banks of ponds and small lakes.

Birding on the outskirts of  Kanha National Park is most rewarding.  Some of the preferred areas for birding outside parks are village fields,  Banjar River, Ganghar Nala Bank, and the village confines.  The enthusiasts visit the core and the outskirts as well.

A lot of birding tour operators organize birding tours at Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Birding in groups is always rewarding. But the most rewarding company is that of the birding guide and naturalist. Enthusiasts should barry a good pair of binocs and bird books while going in for bird watching at Kanha National Park in Central India. Spotting scopes are not required in this destination.