I have just returned from a 7-day birding tour of the Great Rann of Kutch.
Seven days, in truth, are hardly enough to explore this vast and varied landscape. The Rann, a salt marsh that is inundated for a few months every year during the monsoon, dries up completely around November and turns into an expanse of shimmering salt pans that run into kilometres and kilometres.
The Luni, a desert river that is born in Rajasthan, loses itself in the Great Rann. There are seasonal rivers that gush in full flow during the monsoon but are completely devoid of water for the rest of the year. Their elaborately eroded banks and beds make for stunning landscapes.
There are seasonal grasslands, home to the Great Indian Bustard and its smaller cousin, the McQueen’s Bustard. Just after the monsoon, when the grass is lush and high, the male Lesser Florican is seen leaping high into the air to court his mate. We came across huge flocks of Common Cranes and a variety of raptors, including Eurasian Griffons, Cinerous Vultures, Common and Long-legged Buzzards, Pallid and Montagu’s Harriers, Steppe Eagles and Imperial Eagles and Common Kestrels.
We made trips back in time as we collected fossils beside an extinct volcano and visited Dholavira, an archaeological site of the Harappan period that dates back more than 5,000 years. And to imagine that this sentient civilization flourished three thousand years before Christ would be born. And then to imagine that the ammonite fossils of the Jurassic era we collected were already fossils at that time. All that imagination can leave you feeling small and insignificant.
A detailed report with pictures and videos will follow.
Until then, apologies for the hiatus and thanks for your patience.
Species list
- Grey Francolin Francolinus pondicerianus
- Black Francolin Francolinus francolinus
- Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus
- Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna
- Gadwall Anas strepera
- Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha
- Common Teal Anas crecca
- Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
- Common Pochard Aythya ferina
- Common Hoopoe Upupa epops
- Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis
- Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
- White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis
- Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis
- Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis
- Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopacea
- Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis
- Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri
- House Swift Apus affinis
- Spotted Owlet Athene brama
- Rock pigeon Columba livia
- Laughing Dove Streptopelia senegalensis
- Red Collared Dove Streptopelia tranquebarica
- Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto
- Common Crane Grus grus
- Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
- Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles exustus
- Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica
- Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
- Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata
- Common Redshank Tringa totanus
- Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis
- Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
- Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus
- Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola
- Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus
- Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
- Little Stint Calidris minuta
- Temminck’s Stint Calidris temminckii
- Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea
- Broad-billed Sandpiper Limicola falcinellus
- Ruff Philomachus pugnax
- Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
- Crab-plover Dromas ardeola
- Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus
- Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus
- Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola
- Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
- Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus
- Lesser Sand Plover Charadrius mongolus
- Yellow-wattled Lapwing Vanellus malabaricus
- Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus
- Heuglin’s Gull Larus heuglini
- Pallas’s Gull Larus ichthyaetus
- Brown-headed Gull Larus brunnicephalus
- Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus
- Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica
- Lesser Crested Tern Sterna bengalensis
- Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus
- Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus
- Black Kite Milvus migrans migrans
- Eurasian Griffon Gyps fulvus
- Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus
- Short-toed Snake Eagle Circaetus gallicus
- Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus
- Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus
- Shikra Accipiter badius
- Oriental Honey-buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus
- Common Buzzard Buteo buteo
- Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus
- Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax
- Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis
- Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca
- Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
- Red-necked Falcon Falco chicquera
- Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
- Little Cormorant Phalacrocorax niger
- Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
- Little Egret Egretta garzetta
- Western Reef Egret Egretta gularis
- Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
- Great Egret Casmerodius albus
- Intermediate Egret Mesophoyx intermedia
- Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
- Indian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii
- Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
- Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber
- Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
- Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus
- Black Ibis Pseudibis papillosa
- Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
- Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus
- Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala
- Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus
- Rufous-tailed Shrike Lanius isabellinus
- Bay-backed Shrike Lanius vittatus
- Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach
- Southern Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis
- House Crow Corvus splendens
- Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos
- Small Minivet Pericrocotus cinnamomeus
- Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus
- White-bellied Drongo Dicrurus caerulescens
- Marshall’s Iora Aegithina nigrolutea
- Common Woodshrike Tephrodornis pondicerianus
- Oriental Magpie Robin Copsychus saularis
- Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata
- Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros
- Common Stonechat Saxicola torquata
- Pied Bushchat Saxicola caprata
- Brown Rock-chat Cercomela fusca
- Variable Wheatear Oenanthe picata
- Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti
- Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina
- Red-tailed Wheatear Oenanthe chrysopygia
- Brahminy Starling Sturnus pagodarum
- Rosy Starling Sturnus roseus
- Common Myna Acridotheres tristis
- Bank Myna Acridotheres ginginianus
- White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis
- Sand Martin Riparia riparia
- Dusky Crag Martin Hirundo concolor
- Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
- Wire-tailed Swallow Hirundo smithii
- Red-rumped Swallow Hirundo daurica
- White-eared Bulbul Pycnonotus leucotis
- Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer
- Grey Hypocolius Hypocolius ampelinus
- Rufous-fronted Prinia Prinia buchanani
- Grey-breasted Prinia Prinia hodgsonii
- Plain Prinia Prinia inornata
- Graceful Prinia Prinia gracilis
- Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis
- Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius
- Common Babbler Turdoides caudatus
- Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca
- Desert Warbler Sylvia nana
- Orphean Warbler Sylvia hortensis
- Indian Bushlark Mirafra erythroptera
- Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark Eremopterix grisea
- Rufous-tailed Lark Ammomanes phoenicurus
- Greater Hoopoe Lark Alaemon alaudipes
- Greater Short-toed Lark Calandrella brachydactyla
- Sand Lark Calandrella raytal
- Crested Lark Galerida cristata
- Sykes’s Lark Galerida deva
- Purple Sunbird Nectarinia asiatica
- House Sparrow Passer domesticus
- Chestnut-shouldered Petronia Petronia xanthocollis
- White Wagtail Motacilla alba
- Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava
- Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris
- Long-billed Pipit Anthus similis
- Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus
- Indian Silverbill Lonchura malabarica
- Grey-necked Bunting Emberiza buchanani
- House Bunting Emberiza striolata
- Indian Nightjar, Sweet Child O’Mine - February 21, 2024
- TL;DR – What colour are a Black-winged Kite’s eyes? - February 13, 2024
- TL;DR – White-naped Woodpecker Double Bill - November 16, 2023
sounsd like a really interesting trip, I look forward to the fuller report…