Wed-Thu, Dec 2-3 - Visiting The Desert National Park

We headed out from our hotel in the dark at 6:50 AM; strings of holiday lights have sprung up all over the place and the front of our hotel is a blaze of blinking red and blue lights.  We headed north, through Jaisalmer.  We could see several permanent tent resorts in the town of Sam, across the street from a rolling stretch of pure sand dunes which cater mainly to people wanting to be transported out into the desert by a camel.

   A stone slab fence - wood is more valuable than carved stone in the desert!

   A Variable Wheatear

We stopped several times to bird on the roadside and got to the park headquarters at ten.

There we found only two camel carts instead of four due to a misunderstanding with some other customers.  We piled onto flat, wooden platforms, covered in colorful blankets, on top of two large tires, and drawn by one friendly-looking camel each.

With seven to a cart, it was quite crowded and we had to grab onto each other to avoid being jostled off.  We had hoped to get out to where the rare Indian Bustard could be seen.  It is similar to an ostrich, about 4' high, but none were to be seen.  Another cart caught up with us and Bob left to share a cart with Stephen, but he said it was still very uncomfortable.

I guess I was about the only person who really enjoyed bouncing along a rough trail with the
following camel's face practically in my lap!

We saw some birds but it is really difficult to see anything unless you are facing the bird in question.  We finally returned after a six mile loop to the headquarters and ate our box lunches.

We returned to the bus and drove in a large loop, stopping here and there to check out a bird.

On one occasion, Hil just barely avoided stepping on a small, but venomous snake that lashed around before disappearing into a hole.  We returned to the hotel at 6:30, for dinner and the list, and bed.

    Hil's snake

Thu, Dec 3 - Day two in the Desert National Park

Our bus driver took us on the 1 1/2 hour trip back to the Park where, amazingly there were only two camel carts waiting for us - we had been assured that there would be four there this morning. The Park manager dashed around in embarrassment and sent out some spotters to see if he could locate any Indian Bustards for us.  We were shortly walking very fast about 1/4 mile to a sturdy stone tower which we climbed and from there could easily see, in the telescope, six bustards strutting around in the grass!  The ones we saw represent a significant fraction of the remaining population of this particular species in the world - and were a good sighting considering the fact that, with the ample monsoon this year, the grass is higher making the birds more difficult to see.  In fact, from the camel carts we probably wouldn't have seen them at all.

   The Birding Tower

After that excitement, we descended the tower and set off on three camel carts which were to take us to the nearest water hole to see sandgrouse, but the camel drivers thought we would enjoy taking the long route for more camel entertainment.  Bryan and Harish finally convinced them to go directly there after and hour, so we turned around - not easy on rutted roads with nothing for us to hold onto.  And when we arrived at the small tub of water nothing was to be seen - although we later saw sandgrouse along the road.

We had box lunches again and set off on the bus stopping for some good vulture sightings, plus one vulture on a dead camel.

 

    A Griffon Vulture

 We stopped at the Bada Bagh Royal Cenotaphs, a series of beautiful memorials built to honor some maharajas and their families in the 1800s.

    Cenotaph detail

Then we pulled into the Akal Wood Fossil Park where whole fossilized trees are caged and displayed.  We birded the area until six, before returning to the hotel for dinner.