Gujarat Diaries - Important Information

Gujarat Diaries so far...

Phew! Finally after a year has passed by, I’ve reached a stage to culminate the Gujarat Diaries that was a splendid two week outing in the dry/wet lands of Gujarat.

It would not have been possible to do this trip of mine without the help that Falguna Shah extended, she gave some critical inputs and importantly patched me up with some good contacts so that I had the best of people with me.

Chirag at Jamnagar and Jugal bhai at Great Rann were excellent hosts and I enjoyed immensely in their company and also got to see a whole lot of new things and was also treated to some delicious mouth-watering Gujarathi food all through my stay.

I traveled by rail, bus, cabs, and auto and on every journey met interesting people and was witness to sheer diversity of life and the way people go about it, got to learn quite a lot of things interacting with many different people.

Velavadar National Park (Blackbuck National Park)
Accommodation: Forest Rest House situated right inside the park.
Contact: 0278 2880342 / 0278 2920222 / 0278 2426425 (ACF, Bhavnagar)

Reach: about 140kms from Ahmadabad, about 50kms from Bhavnagar (nearest railhead)
Alternate: http://theblackbucklodge.com

Note: Need to have only vehicle to move around in the park.
Referred Guide: Ramzan +91 8140810087

(the FRH at Velavadar Blackbuck National Park)

Little Rann of Kutch (LRK)
Accommodation: Bhava Resort & Farm (http://bhavnafarm.com)
Contact: Prashanth (owner) +91 9427216059, +91 9427216069

Reach: about 90kms from Ahmadabad, Viramgam about 35kms is the nearest railhead
Refereed Guide: Pratap bhai +91 9714190990

Alternate: www.littlerann.com at Dhrangadhra, +91 9825548090
www.rannriders.com at Dasada, +91 9925236014
www.theroyalsafaricamp.com at Bajana, +91 2757 293222
www.desertcoursers.net at Zainabad, +91 9426372113, +919427066070

(the interior of a 'Kooba' I stayed at Bhavna Farms)

Jamnagar (birding around Dichda, Marine National Park, Lakhota lake, Narara, Balachadi)
Accommodation: Hotel President (www.hotelpresident.in/)
Referred Birding guide and Planner: Chirag Joshi +91 9274909880


Great Rann of Kutch (GRK)
Accommodation: CEDO (www.cedobirding.com), Moti Virani
Jugal Tiwari +91 9825248135, +91 2835 221284, cedoindia@yahoo.com

Reach: 50kms from Bhuj
Alternate: www.kutchsafaribhuj.com

(Jugal's CEDO camp at Moti Virani)

Please note this information is mainly for those who are interested in wildlife and or bird watching and or wildlife photography in Gujarat.

Kutch memories...

Gujarat Diaries so far...

The series from Gujarat is seeming to never end, so much to share, so much to say, but as all good things should come to an end, I'll end this series with this post and probably another having information with all contacts and other necessary information.

To summarize in short, I had a jolly good time enjoying the food, the hospitality, the Rann, the mind boggling variety of birds / animals I saw and pretty much it was an wonderful solo trip for me.

Do make a visit to experience yourself... Gujarat calling eh? :)

 A fearless mighty hunter, the Bonelli's Eagle

White-naped Tit, a rarity and highly endangered

I'll putting up a dedicated album for this and updating the link soon... Stay tuned :)

Kutch special - Black Francolin

Gujarat Diaries so far...

As I mentioned in the last post, one of the birds that made me exclaim 'wow' was the Black Francolin, a medium sized ground bird belonging to the partridge family. It's stunning pitch black coat with petals of gold, white and a beautiful red collar made me gaze at it for a long time. To start off with, it was reluctant to show itself hiding behind the bushes and only giving me glimpses of its beautiful self.

Patience pays, and soon it was out in the open in the early morning sunlight glowing in all its might. The fine detailed patterns on its body, the various colours it wore took my breath away.

Indeed 'Black is Beautiful!'

Have a look at it yourself and enjoy the beauty on offer :)

(the above individuals seen is a male and in most of the avians, the male is prettier of the two)

hold on... more to be unleashed...!

Gujarat Diaries - Kutch magic continues...

Gujarat Diaries so far...

My modus operandi was very simple during my stay at CEDO, be on the field. We used to wander out with packed breakfast, indulge in some hectic birding activity either at Naliya grasslands or at Banni grasslands or at the thorn scrub lands or other birding places and then head back home for lunch prepared by a local household and then after a gap of an hour back to the field with some packed tea/snacks to return only after the sun goes down. Post that, some chatting in the cold, hot dinner and then much needed 'sleep'.

All through, it was pretty cold much more than LRK and being at the fag end of my tour, all the fatigue was slightly showing up and I had difficulty in waking up early and more felt like being asleep under the comfortable cushions. Yet, braving all odds, I was busy when in the field looking all around for birds and would generally end up seeing many.

The Sandgrouses, and the Francolins took my breath away with their brilliant colours and patterns that may lead any non-interested person to give a second look at them while the Wheatears and the larks had me in a toss in identifying them correctly.

Below are some more from the land of Kutch, have a look and enjoy the show!

Globally Threatened species... one of the highlight species from Kutch

Globally Threatened species and very skittish... another highlight from Kutch

widespread winter visitor, but again a Globally Threatened species

more to follow...

Gujarat Diaries: Kutch magic

Gujarat Diaries so far...

Okay, I'm skipping the introductory post for the Kutch part of my last year's Gujarat sojourn and let me take it forward with an exciting post. Read on!

After fruitful days of birding in Jamnagar in the able company of Chirag, I headed next towards Kutch or the bada Rann or to say, Greater Rann of Kutch (GRK). My bookings were already done with Jugal bhai who runs the CEDO (Centre for Desert and Ocean) cedobirding.com for the next 3-4 days.

From Jamnagar, I had booked a ticket for self in the Patel travels sleeper bus to Bhuj with the help of Chirag and he happily dropped me to the bus in the night and bid me goodbye. Patel travels is the most recommended operator in Gujarat and is known widely and is supposed to be good is what I thought! Mid way through my journey I realized half of the window would not close properly and it was freezing cold outside the wind gods were more than happy in raiding my berth time and again sending shivers down my spine. Braving the cold without a blanket and after some juggling around in the dark, found a way to keep that darn window closed or rather away from me.

Early morning as I reached Bhuj,  a vehicle sent by Jugal Tiwari was waiting for me and then we proceeded towards Moti virani, about 50kms away, an hour's drive. Soon, we reached and were welcomed by Jugal and Vaibhav. Jugal would be accompanying me for all the days I stayed at CEDO and I had an vehicle exclusively for my sojourn into the Kutch.

From Kutch or GRK, I added about 20 species of birds that I had not seen before to my list and a total of 30 odd species in addition to the many repetitions I had seen earlier in my trip, so to say it was a fantastic experience and I'm pretty sure I've head back there soon as still there are quite a few to be seen including the elusive Caracal that Jugal bhai has to show me.

Ok, back to the post... let me showcase one of the colorful bird species that I came across that are slow flyers and ground birds and their art of camouflage is their best weapon of defense. An untrained eye can hardly see them on the ground and its only when they take off in a phurrr right next to you, you realized you missed seeing something!

Here they come, the Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouses, the patterns are beautiful on them and you just cant stop admiring them :) Have a look! Enjoy!

Hold on... more to follow...!

Rann'ed...

The state of Gujarat is one among the few emerging states of India and is famous for its investment friendly government and the infrastructure as well as the plain lands of the Kachch and the vast coastline. For those unaware, the state of Gujarat has been one of the main centers of the Indus valley civilization and its per capita GDP is higher than the national average. In short, its an emerging state.

Coming to where I’m interested, Gujarat has about 7.4% of its total geographical area under forest cover. It has four national parks and 21 sanctuaries. It’s the only home of the endangered Asiatic lions outside Africa. Detailed discoveries and researches have shown that Gujarat is home to one of the largest clutch of dinosaur hatcheries in the world. From the tourism perspective, Gujarat is one of the most popular states in the country for tourism with the attractions being the Gir lions to the Marine National park to the plains of Kutch and being home to personnel like Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

I’m currently on a wildlife and birding tour of Gujarat covering the below places. Yes, I’m skipping Gir this time that has a plan to be covered separately with my friends.


Blackbuck Natioanl Park, Velavadar
It’s situated in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat and spreading over a area of 34sqkm, the grassland is home to the Blackbuck Antelopes, the Wolf and the endangered Lessar Florican among others. During the winters, large number of migrant birds like the Harriers, Falcons, Kestrels roost in the grasslands that also signifies its importance as a biodiversity hub supporting vast forms of life.


Jamnagar
Lying in the Jamnagar district and just south of the Gulf of Kutch and is also known as the Oil city of India. Khijadia bird sanctuary located just 10kms from the city is considered one of the important sites for ecological research and education. It’s a combination of freshwater lakes, saltpans, saline land and mangrove scrub habitats supporting vast varieties of birdlife, both resident and migratory. India’s first marine sanctuary, the Marine National Park is located here in the Arabian sea and is famous for its coral reefs and mangroves.


Little Rann of Kutch
Its primarily a salt marsh and is famous as the world’s last refuge of the Indian Wild Ass conservation and is also know as the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary. Its an ecologically important area for wildlife and many local and migrant bird species that refuge here. The traditional salt panning activity is one concern that is threatening to destroy the entire ecology of the region.


Greater Rann of Kutch
The GRK is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar desert in the Kutch district of Gujarat and is reputed to be the largest salt desert in the world. This is one of the hottest areas of India with summer temperatures peaking up to 50degC and winter temperatures often going below 0degC. In winters, GRK is a breeding ground for flamingoes and pelicans and is the only place in India where flamingoes come to breed. The marshes are also a resting place for migratory birds and are home to over 200 species of birds.

Ciao soon :)