My Tour to Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary: A Fantasy of Feathers

The story starts with the dense greens of Bharatpur National Park in Rajasthan, about 56 km from Agra, when I found myself in waist deep water while attempting to file some Siberian Cranes. I put the stand and camera on my shoulders and got a hide out constructed as the birds were frightened. The hide out was like a small thatched hut, two meters high with a few peep holes for the tele-lens. That was the most exciting experience of my life when I was trying to capture some best birds in my camera.

Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

In this bird paradise, I also spotted sambars, bluebulls, wild boars, blackbuck and nilgai waded through Bharatpur Lake. Though a guide told me that lucky tourists can also get to see jungle cat, leopard cat, fishing cat, chital, chinkara and a few reptiles in the forest – but I didn’t get that opportunity. The sun was up and the birds started moving around, and I was happy with the view. My movie camera, an Éclair, also began to whirl. Serving as one of the finest bird parks in the world, Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary (Keoladeo Ghana National Park) is a reserve that offers protection to faunal species as well.

Looking back to its origin, Keoladeo was named after an ancient Hindu temple standing at he centre of the park, devoted to Lord Shiva. On the other side, 'Ghana' means dense, which refers to the thick forest. Wildlife texts and books claim that the park serves as a home to over 400 species of birds including cranes, pelicans, geese, ducks, eagles, hawks, shanks, stints, wagtails, warblers, flycatchers, buntings, larks and pipits, etc. But I visited the park for three consecutive days just to have a glimpse of the world-famous Siberian Cranes.

I was unlucky for that glimpse, but one afternoon, a Kingfisher came near the Bharatpur Lake and starting hunting its prey. Its technique was very interesting. It hovered at a fixed point in the sky keeping a watch over the fish in the water. As soon as a shoal of fish came directly below, it would dive – its aim was unerring. It caught its prey every time. One of the twigs in my hideout was projected. The kingfisher perched itself on it to devour its catch. All this was happening so close to me that the water drops flung away by the bird fell on the tele-lens. I could observe the bird, but it could not spot me! 

I also enjoyed a trip to the forest trails, which I covered on foot. I enjoyed the best experience of bird watching there. A guide assisted me throughout the trail, who told me that the park has a total area of about 2900 hectares (29 sq km), mostly low lying land that gets inundated by rainwater. During monsoon & winter, 500 hectares of land are transformed into a vast natural lake. This 'Ornithologist's Paradise' was declared a National Park on 10^th March 1982, and later a World Heritage Site in December 1985. Flora at Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary consists of 64 families, 181 genera and 227 subspecies – of which I captured almost all the major ones, I think!

The abundance of aquatic vegetation, fish, frogs, insects, mollusk & plankton in shallow and widespread waters provide ideal conditions for nesting. More than 400,000 birds belonging to over 400 species arrive at Bharatpur every year. The Bombay Natural History Society has been studying the migration of the birds that come to Bharatpur for quite some time by putting rings on the legs of nestlings. The entire bird sanctuary becomes a vast breeding sanctuary for birds during the rainy season.

Mussoorie Tourism: Heaven for Holidaymakers

The best part about ‘birthday’ is that it is the first day of another 365 day journey around the sun. ‘I had a blast on my birthday this year with my friends’ doesn’t mark any story to tell, obviously. But I specially planned a Tour to Mussoorie with some of my friends just to celebrate my birthday, is certainly an experience to share. So, the story starts with our arrival in Mussoorie – the Queen of Hills in north India. Marvelous beauty at an altitude of 2000 meters, cool and pleasant climate conditions, vast carpet of greenery, rich variety of flora and fauna, and breathtaking snow capped mountains!

Mussoorie Tourism: Heaven for Holidaymakers

While enjoying our morning breakfast in the hotel, the manager told us that the best thing about Mussoorie is that it serves as a gateway to Gangotri and Yamunotri, two sacred destinations known to be the origin of rivers Ganga and Yamuna respectively. We started our exploration with the perennial Kempty waterfall. We found it actually very crowded, therefore we visited a more secluded place by climbing the steps lined along the flow of the stream, and find ourselves in a rocky enclosure formed naturally by the stream. After spending a couple of hours there, we headed for the Happy Valley that houses the IAS Academy, Tibetan temples and the Municipal Gardens. The municipal garden there proved to be a wonderful location to us for photography. Also known as Company Bagh, the garden attains an impression of old colonial gardens and has a wide green carpet of neat and clean lawns & a fountain in the center.

We stopped for a quick bite at a nearby restaurant and then visited the Gun Hill. A guide there told us that this hill dates back to the pre-independence period when a canon was fired from here every afternoon to help people know the time and adjust their watches. The hill is so significant to the entire town because it accommodates the entire water reservoir. We got back by a ropeway ride which offered awesome views of the entire valley. Later, we visited Jwala Devi Temple (atop the Benog Hills) closer to the Benog Wildlife Sanctuary – after all it was my birthday!! We enjoyed the views of the valley adorned with colorful flowers and gushing streams from the temple.

Next day, our first halt was four kilometer long Camel’s Back Road. This natural layout of rocks actually looks like the camel’s hump back. It served as a perfect spot for our morning walk. We also paid a short visit to the Christ Church, which was built in 1836 as per the Gothic design. The events in the life of Jesus Christ, which are depicted in the glass windows of the church, are also quite admirable. We also wanted to visit Lal Tibba – the highest point in Mussoorie, but access to the hill is restricted because of Indian Military operations. Therefore, we headed towards The Mall, the heart of Mussoorie. The area is dotted with video game parlors, skating rinks and other attractions. We also picked a few skating rinks on rent at Rs. 80 per hour and spent a couple of hours in skating. We did not get the opportunity to visit Cloud’s End, the end of Mussoorie. But we refreshed our senses at the Jharipani Falls, located 6 km downhill from Mussoorie. This way, our trip was full of fun and frill and we had a great time amidst the pure and unpolluted environment of Mussoorie.