Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur

Imagine a large area, about 11 sq kms, of land filled with water which is only a few feet deep. Add the shrubs all around and this area extends to about 29 sq. kms. Add plenty of fish to this water and the birds come from far and wide! Close to 400 species of birds have been recorded in this area. There are plenty of roads in between this huge water body on which you can walk or go on bicycles. No wonder this area is a staging ground for some migratory waterfowl, wintering area for others and is perhaps the finest heronry in the world!

The birds are attracted by the fish and other aquatic life and the birds themselves attract several other predators! Jackals are thriving. Plenty of snakes, turtles, mangooses,. Plenty of raptors! There is one tiger too! Overall a thriving eco-system with birds as the stars!!

And off course all this attracts thousands of human beings from all over the world! Mohit (Asian Adventures) took care of all my logistics. I stayed at the Lakshmi Vilas Palace. Krishna Narain and family joined me for a day. We did manage to record a few bird calls. Rathan Singh, the guide provided by Mohit was a true master!. He led me from one bird species to another whihout wasting any time as he is a local who knows his land! check out "http://www.indianwildlife.com/" guys.

“ http://srdis.ciesin.columbia.edu/cases/india-027.html ” This report gives some insights about the human aspect of this great land!

Following are some images I made during my three day (13th to 15th Nov, 2003) wanderings in the park….

Vijay Cavale

November, 2003