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WESTERN INDIA

Birdquest's Western India tour is the alternative indian birdwatching trip we pioneered and which takes in the many speciality birds from the Punjab south through Rajasthan and Gujarat to Maharashtra. Our Western India tour features such great birds as Indian Bustard, Crab-Plover, Forest Owlet, Mottled Wood Owl, Sykes's Nightjar, Sykes's Lark, Stoliczka's Bushchat, White-naped Tit, Green Avadavat, Sind Sparrow and the sought-after Grey Hypocolius, sole member of its family.

Saturday 12th January - Wednesday 30th January 2013
(19 days)

Maharashtra Post-Tour Extension to Saturday 2nd February (3 days)

Leader: Hannu Jännes

Group Size Limit: 11

Tour Category: Easy for the most part, occasionally Moderate

The Great Indian Bustard still stalks across the Thar Desert, but for how much longer? (Mark Beaman)

Of all the bird-rich regions of the vast Indian subcontinent, it is the arid northwest that holds the greatest diversity of endemic species. During this unique itinerary, which is designed to focus on the many speciality birds of the region, we will visit Delhi, the Punjab, situated at the base of the Himalayas, the desert state of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and finally Maharashtra.

Our short stopover in Delhi will concentrate on wintering Brook’s Leaf Warblers from the northwestern Himalayas. The Punjab, the ‘Land of the Five Rivers’, is nowadays divided between India and Pakistan. Here we shall see a rarely visited part of India as we explore the wetland reserve of Harike on the River Sutlej, a place that is still ‘undiscovered’ but which offers some great birding. As well as a superb array of waterbirds, Harike offers wintering Mountain Chiffchaffs from Central Asia and also specialities of the Indo-Gangetic plains such as Rufous-vented Prinia, Striated Babbler, Sind Sparrow and Black-breasted Weaver. We will also pay a short visit to the famous Golden Temple of the Sikhs in Amritsar.

Rajasthan with its turbulent history, warring yet cultured rulers and extraordinary cities and fortresses is surely the region that epitomizes the romantic India of a bygone era. Here the Moghul emperors constantly battled for supremacy with the local rulers, who in turn fought each other whenever they were not having to face an outside threat. The riches they accumulated were used to build awesome strongholds in the hills and some of the most fabulous palaces ever constructed. Their lives and times seem like a fairy tale to we inhabitants of a much more crowded and less simple era, but they live on in the remarkable monuments they built that now emblazon India’s rich architectural heritage.

For most birders who have travelled in India, or who have dreamed of going there, Bharatpur and Ranthambhore sanctuaries are the places they associate with Rajasthan, but this huge state extends far to the west, where other remarkable places await the travelling naturalist. We will start our Rajasthani adventure in Bikaner in the northwestern part of the state, where Yellow-eyed Doves from Central Asia winter. After that we will travel far out into the Thar Desert to experience the extraordinary spectacle of thousands of fearless Demoiselle Cranes right next to us at the village of Khichan, something few birders have so far witnessed. Moving still further into the Thar, we will look for Indian Bustard and Stoliczka’s Bushchat close to the romantic desert citadel of Jaisalmer.

Continuing further south, we will pause to hunt for Rock Bush Quail, Painted Sandgrouse, Sirkeer Malkoha, Indian Eagle-Owl, the rare White-bellied Minivet and even Leopard around the small village of Siana. From here we will travel deep into the rugged Aravalli Hills to Kumbhalgarh, site of a truly amazing Rajput fortress, where we will look for the little-known Green Avadavat as well as Red Spurfowl, Grey Junglefowl and many other birds before ending our journey through Rajasthan in at Mount Abu, another site for Green Avadavat.

To the south of Rajasthan lies the state of Gujarat, bordering India’s Arabian Sea coast. Here we first explore the vast saline flats of the Little Rann of Kutch, famous for its herds of Indian Wild Ass (or Onager), and also home to some great birds including Lesser Flamingo, Macqueen’s Bustard, Indian Courser, Yellow-wattled Lapwing and the little-known Sykes’s Nightjar. After that we will head westwards to Kutch, the most westerly region of India. Our visit to Kutch will be one of the highlights of our journey through western India, for this once-remote region harbours some very special birds, including the striking Crab-Plover, Sykes’s Lark, Marshall’s Iora, the strange Grey Hypocolius (a must-see bird for all family collectors) and the rare and endangered White-naped Tit, all of which we can expect to see well during our explorations!

By the time we return home we will have seen a superb series of Indian subcontinent specialities as well as a rich variety of more widespread birds, not to mention some of the greatest architectural monuments in all India.

During the optional post-tour extension we shall go in search of the little-known Forest Owlet at Melghat Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra state in west-central India. Only recently rediscovered after a gap of over 100 years, Melghat has been found to hold the largest known concentration of this enigmatic species. This rarely visited sanctuary is also a great place for seeing the sought-after Mottled Wood Owl.

Birdquest has operated tours to western India since 1985.

(Note: The above is a summary of the tour. For more information please download the detailed, day-by-day itinerary. The button is at the top right of the page.)

Accommodation & Road Transport: The hotels are mostly of normal Birdquest standard. The lodges/hotels at Siana, Zainabad, and Melghat, are comfortable but simple (Zainabad in particular is rustic). All rooms have private bathrooms. Road transport is mainly by small coach or car, but we use jeeps or open-sided trucks in some sanctuaries and other areas. Roads are very variable, but average mediocre.

Walking: The walking effort is mostly easy, but there are a few long walks in flat terrain in Punjab and Rajasthan.

Climate: Typically it will be cool to warm, dry and sunny (although early mornings are sometimes cold). Although overcast weather is not infrequent, rain is uncommon at this season.

Bird/Mammal Photography: Opportunities are good.

Tour Price: (provisional): $5700 Delhi/Mumbai. Post-Tour Extension: $1220. Price includes all transportation (including all flights inside India), all accommodations, all meals, bottled water, some drinks, all excursions, all entrance fees, all tips for local drivers/guides and for accommodations/restaurants, leader services.

Single Room Supplement: (provisional): $787. Post-Tour Extension: $131.

Deposit: 10% of the tour price (excluding any single supplement).

Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency can arrange your air travel in connection with the tour from a departure point anywhere in the world, or you may arrange your own air travel if you prefer. We can tailor-make your itinerary to your personal requirements, so if you would like to travel in advance of the tour (and spend a night in an hotel so you will feel fresh when the tour starts), or return later than the end of the tour, or make a side trip to some other destination, or travel business class rather than economy, we will be happy to assist. Please contact us about your air travel requirements.

The enigmatic Forest Owlet, rediscovered in the 1990s after a century during which it was feared extinct, is clinging on in the fast-disappearing forests of west-central India (Mark Beaman)

View Map Report From January 2011/February 2011 Report From January 2008/February 2008 Report From January 2007/February 2007 5 photos View Gallery Photos From WESTERN INDIA

At sunrise the Demoiselle Cranes of Khichan gather on the nearby dunes... (Mark Beaman)

Before flighting in to the compound at the village where grain is put out for them, creating an extraordinary spectacle of both vision and sound (Mark Beaman)

Deeper into the Thar Desert, small numbers of Stolizcka's Bushchats survive where the grass is not overgrazed (Mark Beaman)

The Thar Desert was an important trade route for several thousand years, reflected in the power and wealth of its still-magical cities like Jaisalmer (Mark Beaman)

The Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat is famous as the last stronghold of the Indian Wild Ass (Mark Beaman)

The handsome Indian Courser also frequents the dry plains of Gujarat (Mark Beaman)

And the little-known Sykes's Nightjar winters here from its breeding areas in Pakistan (Mark Beaman)

Sykes's Larks inhabit grassy areas in Gujarat (Mark Beaman)

Although they are rather overshadowed by the elegant Blackbuck (Mark Beaman)

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