Initially we wanted to do a safari in Sariska today but during the preparations we find out that it is closed every Wednesday. And today is Wednesday. So we asked the resort via email and then the day prior about doing a birdwatching tour in the morning. The answer is yes but given that the English is limited we are not sure what everyone agreed to. It seems they are saying that the tour will start at 8 and breakfast will be served at 7 even though officially it starts only at 8. We believe them and wake at sunrise and followed by a dog start exploring the compound, we have about an hour till 7.
The birds are just waking up and we see some of them as we explore right and left warming up after the cold night, similarly to the birds. Most of them are quite common for India but still fun to see.
It is close to 7 so we walk to the restaurant area. And it is locked and closed and no one around, it seems we were lied to at least regarding the breakfast hour. We wait for a while while looking at the birds exploring the kitchen and try to guess how sanitary our food will be…
The kitchen area with its abundant food supply seems to attract also some special birds. We see here our first Coucal, a beautiful bird, and our only Sirkeer Malhoka. Both are quite special and really worth the additional time we spend to wait for someone, anyone to ask about our breakfast.
We also spend some time looking at the surrounding fields and scanning for birds. There are some babblers but nothing else really. At least here the people start their farming activity not like at our hotel where no one is around anywhere. But then around 8 someone appears, we make our order and then the guide comes. There is no hint that we were supposed to start at 8 now he agrees at 9 with their own car and hopefully this time it will really happen.
The breakfast is served soon enough, and this is the first and only time we eat in the actual restaurant. Even though supposedly there is no in room service and we should always eat in the restaurant. The food is good enough and then it is time for our birdwatching tour as a jeep has arrived that will take us deep into the wilderness.
We leave but not before our driver is dissatisfied that we don’t use him for the trip. Not sure why as the road is quite bad and it really makes no sense to destroy his car. And he can relax the whole morning. Anyway on we go and soon we find our first Shikra a widespread bird of prey in the area.
The road in the beginning is reasonably good even though one lane only. We pass lots of schoolchildren along the way as we find out from our guide that school starts at 10 during this season. All of them take an interest in us with lots of “Bye Bye” instead of “Hello” for some reason.
We soon pass through the first in a string of villages on the way. There are a few interesting birds here and the usual protected cows and of course lots of curious villagers.
Next it is time to climb a mountain on a narrow windy one lane road passing goats and other cars. As usual honking is the way to go, honk before going in a switchback, in the middle, at the end and at any time you feel like it to ensure no one is coming at fast speed from the other direction. We stop a bit to enjoy the views and also get some additional descriptions of the trees and plants along the way and how they are used for medicinal purposes.
Soon we are at the top where a line of medieval fortifications lies that protected the interior from invaders or at least that is what we assume. We can see the walls following the ridge and the road itself passes through an impressive gate backed by a seemingly modern temple.
There are also some additional fortifications to see and sentinels to avoid, even though the sentinels are mostly langurs in this case.
After descending on the other side we pass near Neelkanth Temple, that we will visit upon our return, and start crossing multiple villages. Our guide tells us that most do not have electricity, except via solar, to protect the Sariska Tiger Preserve.
In this area we notice for the first time that all women that we pass are covering their faces as we pass. Hopefully it is more general and not just for us. At least not all of them take it that seriously some just cover for one second and then drop it while smiling or being curious about us.
Not all houses are built up, many are quite rustic looking, besides electricity many of them do not have running water and for certain no sewer. But at least they have water buffalos :).
Some of the water buffalos even have their own pets, quite funny to watch the treepies riding on the buffalos and trying to find insects as they amble about. They are also quite usefull for their dung it seems which we see collected throughout our travels and set to dry. It might be used as fuel for fires or at least that is our first guess.
There are sunbirds along the way and also a few other interesting birds including our only fantail for the trip. From the trees the most impressive are the flame of the forest trees that our guide say are beautiful when they are flowering. But now their leaves seem to be quite popular with the villagers who cut and collect them regularly.
We then pass through another village, we lost count at this point through how many we passed, but we are perking up when the guide tells us that our goal is near.
But before we do that we pass through the center of the village which great us with a spotted owlet, cute. And then we go on a side road, which really is off road and make our way to a small lake, or large pond depending on your point of view, our goal for this one hour plus trip.
The lake is a large pond with lots of brids with our jeep now parked right at the edge overlooking it. Our attention is on the egret that is trying really hard to catch and eat a fish just a few feet away from us.
There are quite a few interesting birds, for us, here. We like the Black-Headed Ibis who is patrolling the shore and the Indian Pond-Heron who is following it at a distance. Both are quite serious in their search while we are following them hoping for their success.
There are of course also lots of other birds including mynas and beautiful spot-billed ducks and other birds both on the shore who are here for a drink and bath and in the water enjoying the rare water in the desert landscape.
In due time the black-headed ibis was also successful however our eye is drawn to a grey wagtail, our first one, jumping along the shore.
Next we observe a wood sandpiper before the cows and the buffalos are coming for water scaring all the shorebirds next to us. The ones further away really do not care though as very likely it is a common occurence here.
And then there are cormorants in the trees and in the water, lots of them. Most of them are great cormorants but there are also a few other species among them as far as we can tell.
Our guide then decides to relocate towards the other side of the pond via some seriously shaky tracks. However soon we observe some beautiful birds like spotted doves and grey francolins right on the track in front of us.
Next is a beautiful woodpecker, the Black-rumped Flameback, relatively common but still cool to see, especially as it is a lifer for us.
On this side we notice also our first Painted Stork, a beautiful, colorful stork and also another hoopoe, which seem to be quite common here.
The most special bird we observe at the pond is a Wooly-necked stork, something that we will not be able to see anywhere else during our trip.
We explore a bit more around the jeep which our guide has driven it as far as it could go and notice another painted stork, this time on top of a tree, really cool.
Next our guide takes us to his home which is next to the pond where we drink some tea and meet his family. We are just a bit uncomfortable as we are not sure if he is expecting something in return but it seems genuine and they are interested in meeting us. And then it is time to return past ranger stations and cows towards our accomodation. But first we stop at the Neelkanth Temple complex which is right next to road, a beautiful but mostly destroyed temple complex that is described in a separate post.
Afterwards we pass again the fortress and the watchers, this time besides the langurs we also have human watchers and then it is time to descend on the narrow but well maintained road.
We find a Long-taile Shrike along the way but the most interesting find is the Indian Grey Mongoose right next to the accomodation who is feeding on a dead cow. Gruesome but an interesting find. And then it is time to prepare for our next trip to the haunted castle, Bhangarh.
