Syke’s Nightjar is one of the prizes on the tour. Photo: Paul Holt
Gujarat, in extreme northwestern India, is ornithologically one of the Subcontinent’s richest yet least well known areas. Its avifauna is arguably on a par with that of Bharatpur in its prime and it is home as well to Blackbuck, Asian Wild Ass and Asiatic Lion. Huge mixed flocks of flamingoes, pelicans, waterfowl, waders as diverse as Crab Plovers and Sociable Lapwings, gulls and terns will vie for our attention alongside desert specialties such as Macqueen’s Bustard, Gray Hypocolius and Asian Desert Warbler. Regional specialties such as White-bellied Minivet and White-naped Tit will add extra spice to our birding.
Gujarat, even by Indian standards, has a particularly ancient and tumultuous history. It has suffered numerous foreign incursions, hosted frequent battles and been ruled by a variety of groups from Muslims to Moguls. The state was also an early point of contact with the West, and the first British commercial outpost in India was in Gujarat. It boasts some extremely diverse environments: a 1600-kilometer coastline that is inundated every year, first by tremendous monsoon tidal surges and later by the monsoon rains themselves; some superb desert areas inland, where droughts are common; and elsewhere extensive grasslands full of wildlife.
This will be our first tour to Gujarat and its not for the faint-hearted. For one thing this is a dry state in more ways than one as alcohol is banned. In order to cover the region adequately, we stay at some poor-quality accommodations, and some of the roads are not good either, resulting in a few long journeys to cover relatively short distances. But for those with a sense of adventure Gujarat offers a true wildlife experience and one that perfectly complements our other tours to the Indian Subcontinent.
Day 1: The tour begins this evening in Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Night in Mumbai.
Day 2: From the domestic airport we’ll take an early, one-hour flight north to Bhavnagar, a bustling textile and cotton trading city in southeastern Gujarat. Arriving mid-morning we’ll head straight to our hotel and breakfast before driving out of the city. Our destination, a little over one and a half hours north, is the beautiful savannah grassland reserve at Velavadar, better known as Blackbuck National Park. Velavadar, at just 34 square kilometers, is a small sanctuary yet it’s a worthy introduction to Gujarat’s abundant wildlife. The sanctuary holds about 3500 Blackbuck, and the males are particularly gorgeous in their black-and-tan dress and conspicuous white goggles. Velavadar is one of the last remaining refuges of the severely threatened Indian Wolf and also one of the best places on the subcontinent to see Striped Hyena. The national park also boasts the world’s largest harrier roost, where an amazing 3000 birds have been estimated! Montagu’s Harriers dominate but impressive numbers of both ghostly Pallids and Western Marsh Harriers also occur and we’re sure to see an abundance of all three. Among the many other birds we’re likely to encounter at Velavadar are Ashy-crowned, Rufous-tailed and Bimaculated Larks, Isabelline Shrike and Sykes’s and Paddyfield Warblers. We’ll return to Bhavnagar and our hotel, an old Maharaja’s palace, for the night.
Day 3: After an early breakfast we’ll return to Velavadar for another drive and the chance to pick up any species we may have missed the previous afternoon. Then we’ll drive on, heading northwest but pausing at several bird-thronged pools and low-lying wetlands as we travel. Birds here should include our first Great White and Dalmatian Pelicans, Greater Flamingoes, a wealth of waterfowl and waders and possibly even Sarus Crane. Greater Spotted Eagles are a fairly common winter visitor to this part of Saurashtra (the central portion of Gujarat) and we should encounter a few. Our final destination will be a comfortable lodge at Dasada, right on the edge of the Little Rann of Kutch. Night at Dasada.
Days 4-5: Spending two full days here we’ll have plenty of time to explore the Little Rann in open-topped jeeps. At first glance an unforgiving, stark, barren and often blindingly white area famed for its desert mirages, the Little Rann actually has much to offer the keen naturalist willing to pause and enjoy its serenity. Home to India’s last remaining Asiatic Wild Ass, a majestic creature we’re virtually guaranteed to see, the Little Rann also harbors an abundance of birdlife. Tidal surges in advance of the summer monsoon flood the Rann with huge amounts of salt water that the ensuing rains do little to dilute. For the entire summer the area is a vast impenetrable mud bath and swamp, but as the rains cease, the Rann rapidly dries out and the mud bakes, leaving wide expanses of pancake-flat, iron-hard earth punctuated by brackish lagoons that hold impressive numbers of birds. Both Greater and Lesser Flamingoes are common and conspicuous, as are the flotillas of pelicans and millions of wintering waterfowl.
The salt makes the land xerophitic and largely barren but there are scattered islands of coarse grass that support Macqueen’s Bustard, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Hoopoe Lark and Asian Desert Warbler. A few critically endangered Sociable Plovers winter in the fields around the edge of the Little Rann and these can often be found in the company of the gorgeous Indian Courser. Large numbers of Common Cranes and even more larks frequent these same areas. Night near Dasada.
Day 6: Leaving the Little Rann we’ll head west, pausing to look for Laggar Falcon as we leave the Kathiawar Peninsula and drive to Bhuj, capital of Kutch and an area that, during the summer monsoon, is a seasonal island. Devastated by a powerful earthquake in 2001, Bhuj is in the process of being gradually rebuilt but still retains much of its Wild West atmosphere. We’re close to the sensitive Pakistan border here and although much of the Great Rann is out of bounds to everyone, we won’t be short of places to visit and birds to search for. Night near Moti Virani, south of Bhuj.
Days 7-8: With two full days in the area south of Bhuj our time will be spent in a quest to see the region’s specialties. Chief among them is the enigmatic Grey Hypocolius. A difficult species elsewhere in the world, Hypocolius winter in small numbers in the area, where they are particularly partial to berries of the “Toothbrush Tree,” and we should be able to find a number of these handsome birds. The globally vulnerable White-naped Tit is also here and this very attractive Indian endemic will be high on our wish list. One day we’ll travel south to another grassland reserve where small numbers of the little-known White-browed (or Stoliczka’s) Bushchat winter. The reserve also holds Spotted Sandgrouse and a few rare Indian Bustards, although we’ll need a great deal of luck to see the latter. Eastern Imperial and impressive numbers of Steppe Eagles spend the winter in this area and we may be able to find a Sykes’s Nightjar roosting on one of the roads near our guest house. Nights near Moti Virani.
Day 9: After a final morning south of Bhuj we’ll retrace our route north and then east, recrossing the mighty Gulf of Kutch as we head to Jamnagar, another of Gujarat’s major cities that is rarely visited by tourists but is overflowing with old buildings and colorful bazaars. Time permitting we’ll stop at the impressive Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary, less than an hour’s drive from the city. This wetland reserve is unique in that about half its water is fresh while the other half is saline and consequently it attracts a staggering variety of wildlife. Huge numbers of flamingoes and cranes (often including impressive numbers of Demoiselle) winter here, as do multitudes of pelicans and shorebirds. Indian Nightjars breed here and we should be able to find a few, while other species we’ll look for include Baillon’s Crake, Small Pratincole, Black-necked Stork and Indian Reed-Warbler. Night in Jamnagar.
Day 10: Spending a full day around Jamnagar we’ll have ample time to explore other areas near the city including the Marine National Park at Narara. If we can time the visit to coincide with a high tide we should be treated to a feast of waders, gulls and terns. Our principal quarry will be the striking Crab Plover and with large numbers present we are assured of some great views. Lots of other waders also occur, including both Lesser and Greater Sand Plovers and Terek, and if we’re lucky, Broad-billed Sandpipers should be mingling with Great Black-headed and Heuglin’s Gulls as well as Lesser Crested Terns and Western Reef-Herons. Time permitting we’ll possibly make a second visit to Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary. Night in Jamnagar.
Day 11: Leaving Jamnagar we’ll drive to the famous Gir Lion Sanctuary and National Park, arriving in time for lunch. In the afternoon we’ll drive through the park in open-topped jeeps. This reserve covers some 1400 square kilometers of rugged hill country and is a wonderful and unspoiled place to visit. Night in a comfortable tented camp just outside the sanctuary.
Day 12: We’ll have a full day to explore the lion sanctuary’s rich forests. Once widespread and ranging from Gir right across northern India to Bihar (almost as far east as Calcutta), Asiatic Lions are less sociable than their African counterparts and differ in appearance by having shorter manes and a prominent fold of skin on the underside. Today Gir is their last refuge as their numbers were decimated by chronic overhunting, reducing them to a mere 12 animals. Thanks to a farsighted Maharaja who established the sanctuary, lion numbers are now actually increasing and many authorities now believe that the reserve is too small for the 311 lions it reputedly supports. With a total of four safaris we stand a good chance of encountering this magnificent predator. Large populations of Spotted Deer, Sambar and Nilgai form the prey base while other mammals in the park include the even more elusive Leopard. We’re sure to see an array of new bird species, perhaps including Indian Black Ibis, Crested Hawk-Eagle, Rock Bush-Quail, Yellow-footed Green Pigeon and possibly even White-bellied Minivet. Night just outside Gir Sanctuary.
Day 13: After a final safari and lunch we’ll leave Gir and drive south back to the coast. We should arrive at the tiny island of Diu in time to do some more birding or to explore one of its many attractive beaches, whitewashed churches or the imposing fort. Most famous as a former Portuguese colony, Diu actually reached prominence in the 14th century as a naval base established by the Ottomans to control shipping routes in the northern Arabian Sea. Night in Diu.
Day 14: After a final morning in Diu we’ll fly back to Mumbai. The tour concludes this evening in Mumbai.
Updated: 07 January 2008
Prices
- 2008 price about $5,900
- Single Occupancy Supplement $580
Notes
Maximum group size eight participants with one leader.
Participants wishing to join group flights from and returning to London should contact the WINGS office.
This tour is organized by our English company, Sunbird.