Link to a subsequent visit in 2013
Three of us went on an early morning exploratory trip to Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary located 60 kms from Delhi (towards Gurgaon). We left around 6 am and crossed Delhi at breakneck speed (courtesy the cab driver) and sped on our way towards Sultanpur. (Note: if you miss the small right turn to Farukkhabad, the road which leads to Sutanpur; the next u-turn is available after around 5 kms which implies 10kms of extra travel).
We reached the place around 7.30 am and went inside. The way
Sultanpur is structured is there is a walking track around the circumference
which would take a couple of hours or so to walk through. There is a big lake
in between where most of the birds camp. In between there are a few paths which
would lead you up to near the water to get a view of various water birds. On
the circumference too, a bunch of birds are seen flying around frequently.
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| Sultanpur lake view |
The walk around the perimeter is a very pleasant one on a
cold wintry morning. There was scant human population there; we just saw around
10-15 people throughout. If one isn’t too interested in birds; just a morning
walk in fresh air close to nearly undisturbed nature is worth the effort of
visiting this place.
We walked through the circumference of the park and took a
couple of hours to do the same. We saw a bunch of beautiful birds; sadly none
of us being ornithologists, we could identify only a few of them.
However most of the birds sadly sat right near the lake at a point which was
still some distance away from the nearest path for humans. Well, personally if
I were a bird, I would do exactly the same.
The following are what we saw (and could identify) in
Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary–
- A few neelgai, cows and buffalos – we came across along the way
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| A male neelgai crossing the path ahead of us |
- Four red-necked Sarus (Indian crane). Probably a family as they were moving together – two adults, and two younger ones.
- A big elegant swan (seen from a distance) – gave a nice feeling when it flew gracefully over the lake.
- Hordes of ducks
- Lots of Egrets – despite their commonality; I still find them fascinating and beautiful.
- A few Kingfishers – gloriously colorful bird
- The Black Drango – I don’t claim to be sure of this nomenclature
- A few Peacocks – even after seen them so many times; still love to see them whenever possible.
- Bright-green parakeets
- Two gangs of Sultanpur woodpeckers (10-15 members each) followed us for a fair distance whilst we were walking.
- A lethal kite (or a vulture – don’t know which – but some predator)
- A few sparrows – which reminded of how we used to see them frequently in cities in our childhood but are no longer visible that easily.
- Crows and pigeons – which while commonly visible in cities still deserve a mention.
- Colorful butterflies – nimble and swift they weaved their paths while flying around us
- Lots of red/black ants – which seemed to converge into ant-hills.
I haven’t been there in the
afternoon or evening; but probably early mornings or evenings are the best time
to visit a bird park. We had a pair of binoculars to be able to spot some of
the distant birds; but our cameras weren’t powerful enough to get too many good
shots.
Still for they are worth, more pictures are placed here.