An an ex-birder, the visit to this sanctuary kind of re-kindled my spirit. I had dropped birding because of the lack of local high resolution binoculars, cameras/lenses. That and the fact that my own city of Kanpur had reached such high air pollution levels that birds simply vanished. Another reason could also be destruction of habitats in and around Kanpur. The end result was that many varieties of birds like the common Indian sparrow, woodpeckers and vultures had disappeared. This scene is playing around the whole country now.

I was very excited when I started off for the sanctuary from my hotel at Bharatpur on the 5th of Jan, 2019. The initial ride into the park was OK, with a few deer sightings but then you could see so many water fowl on both sides of the single winding road that ends at the Keoladeo temple, after which the national park is named. It’s a sight to behold. As for me I have never seen such numerous birds both Indian and foreign at one location.

At the bird sanctuary canteen

The ride till the canteen is good but then when one enters the innermost sanctuary after this point, the birding paradise simply stuns the visitors.

Pelicans at the sanctuary, a deer can also be seen in the background

Storks staring at visitors from their positions

End of the road at the Keoladeo shrine with my MTB.

This was the final blog for the Grand Tour for me. Thanks for visiting !!!