So if you followed my suggested itinerary for seeing the Taj Mahal at dawn, that leaves you the rest of the day to go touring with your car and driver.  As a bird watcher and nature lover, the lure of one of the world’s leading bird sanctuaries at Bharatpur was irresistible. It’s a 1.5 hour drive away so easily doable as a day trip.  So armed with my long lens and binoculars,  I headed to Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary  aka Keoladeo National Park…

Now, had I planned this even better, I should have stayed the night at one of the lodges here or arrived here early in the morning….but this was not to be so I arrived just before lunchtime. Thankfully, there was shade from the trees…

Now, the way to get around Bharatpur is by rickshaw. At the entrance after buying a ticket, you will be surrounded by these rickshaw wallahs who have been doing their job for years.  This gentleman who took me around was knowledgeable about the birds and it was really not necessary to hire a naturalist. Now to the birds….despite it being lunchtime I saw a number of lifers….

Brahminy starling

eurasian collared dove

grey nightjar

jungle babbler

bee eater with dragon fly lunch

egret

rickshaw

beautiful raptor..a shikra

rufous treepie

painted storks

Indian Darter taking flight

Indian darter drying itself

Christmas tree of painted storks

open billed storks

spotted owl

jungle babbler

brahminy starling

pied crested cuckoo

  So that was 3 hours in Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary….next time…I’d spend a day and a night!