Chambal Natinal Park, Uttar Pradesh, India 13-14 December 2003
By: Bill Harvey

Eight delhibirders ( Nikhil, Sheila, Sunita, Bikram, Rattan Singh,Mohit,Kavita and myself) spent the weekend at the Chambal Safari Camp run by Ram Pratap Singh and his wife, Anu. A very relaxing experience with excellent food and general comforts. It is about half an hour from the river itself where the birds, mammals and reptiles were fantastic.

We recorded 113 bird species in our short stay and even added 11 to the draft checklist which will shortly join the burgeoning collection put on our website by Bikram.

The first species was one of the best; a very supercilious Brown Hawk Owl in the Camp itself. Also there of interest were Spotted Owlets, Oriental Honey-buzzards, Large Cuckoo-shrike, Hume's Warblers, White-bellied Drongo, both Red-throated (albicilla =Taiga; what an awful choice of name, but now formally accepted by the august British Ornithologists Union!) and Red-breasted (parva) Flycatchers and Black Redstarts.

At the river almost the first birds we saw were Indian Skimmers. There must have been 40 odd present there and we had excellent close views, pariticularly from the boat. Also several River and Black-bellied Terns but of gulls only a few Pallas's and a Brown-headed. Waders were predictable but with Great Thick-knees, River Lapwings and Kentish Plovers showing especially well.

To the duck list we added numerous Gadwall and several Wigeon but the stars were the beautiful Red-crested Pochards. At least 500 Bar-headed Geese were a great sight (1% of the world's population), marred by our finding at least 12 dead and dying from deliberate poisoning on the Sunday. RP has already taken the issue up with the Forest Dept and charges against the farmer concerned (who we identified) will be filed. Only 2 Greylags but lots of garrulous pairs of Ruddy Shelducks.

What else? A very confiding Osprey, a classicaly pale Long-legged Buzzard, a drinking Booted Eagle, about 20 Black Ibis and several Woolly-necked Storks, a stunning male Desert Wheatear, lots of Sand Larks and an arenarius Rufous-tailed Shrike. One of the more special sightings was of a couple of Lesser Coucals disporting in the open.

We had incredible views of many Gharials (up to 4m long but,encouragingly, many small young ones), Muggars and turtles, fleeting but frequent views of Gangetic Dolphins and several Golden Jackals.

But the star creature was the ghu-ghu; variously described as a minny dinosaur, a reptile, an amphibian, an insect and a crustacean. We found it was sort of Sand Cricket which lives in holes in the sand near the water's edge. It is weirdly patterned pale with stripes and with strangely spiky back legs. The most remarkable thing is that these tiny insects actually attack you if disturbed. I had two trying to bite at my shoe. And the bite hurts if it enters your flesh apparently!

FATBIRDER/Birders Travel - Disabled Birders Group - 11TH MARCH 2003
www.fatbirder.com

Next morning, we drove to the National Chambal Sanctuary, a wide river with equally wide sandy areas to each side. We soon had Indian Skimmer, Steve's first lifer for the trip! Then Black-bellied and River Tern, Comb Duck, Greater Flamingo and 4 species of cormorant. Negotiating the sand was no mean feat for those using wheelchairs but with lots of manpower we were all able to get aboard the boats and no one missed out on the fascinating site. The boat trip with views of the highly endangered Gangetic Dolphins was most enjoyable, except for one of our number who was overcome by heat, spending the return journey under a collapsing umbrella, and the next couple of hours recovering in the air-conditioned coach. On the river were a number of small islands with cormorants and, in one case, several hundred Small Pratincoles. After a picnic lunch under canvas and further birding we went on to Agra, where we were booked into the luxurious Sheraton Hotel.

Northern India Andy & Isabel Senior - Feb 12th - 25th 2002
February 19th

........The landscape south of Bah changed markedly, and quite abruptly. The agricultural land was replaced by huge sand dunes largely vegetated with scrub. We met a constant stream of camels carrying firewood - this is apparently cut in Madhya Pradesh and is bought across the border for trade. The change in landscape, and the sudden appearance of many camels gave the area a feeling of otherworldliness - completely different from what we'd grown accustomed to. This feeling was reinforced as we drove out of the dunes. We were confronted by a huge expanse of flat sand, obviously the dry bed of a massive river. In the far distance was the further bank of the river, and in the middle distance was what looked for all the world like a Bedouin camp - a small group of tents set in the sand, surrounded by nothing! This camp however, was set on the steep bank of what was still a pretty substantial river flow, and turned out to be the starting point for our river safari.

The first thing we saw as we dismounted from the Landrover was a flock of some 60 - 70 Indian Skimmers sitting on the beach about 100 metres away. Andreas immediately set up his gear, and began a slow, cautious approach in order to take photographs. Meanwhile, having had great views of these remarkable birds, we continued scanning the area, finding a variety of waders and egrets. Black-winged Stilts and Little Stints both gave good views.

On the small grassy areas between the cliffs and the river, small flocks of Bar-headed Geese grazed, and the shallow waters near the bank held large flocks of Pochard, Red-crested Pochard, Whistling Ducks and Ruddy Shelduck, along with smaller numbers of Pintail and Spot-billed duck. We also found a single male Goosander, our only sighting of this species. In addition to the wildfowl, we had excellent views of a pair of Pied Kingfishers, and again the skill of the boatman allowed Andreas to get some really close shots.

We made close approach to crocodiles laying up on reefs and sandbanks in midstream, and were able to easily distinguish between the more widespread fresh water crocodiles, which we'd seen elsewhere, and the slimmer nosed fish-eating crocodiles that basked with them.

As good a way as any of wrapping up the trip, was a brief sighting of river dolphins.

Trip Report: Northern India - 27 January - 12 February 2001
S.J. Dark, D. M. Hanford & R. A. Herbert
www.camacdonald.com/birding/asiaindia(Darktripreport).html

Saturday 3rd January, 2001
.....here we transfered to our river transport for the trip up river. It was an amazing experience, the river was like a mill pond and the birds didnt disappoint.

.....A wonderful trip and one more of my ‘wanted list’ namely Indian Skimmer ticked off. I think this is the only place left where you can quarantee Skimmers and it ought to be on everyone itinerery.

Trip Report: CHAMBAL RIVER (Uttar Pradesh, India), March 4, 2000
Tom & Margot Southerland
www.crosswinds.net/~birdtrips/chambal00.html

.....The Chambal is one of the few places remaining in India with enough unpolluted water that it can support Ganges River Dolphins. We saw several. And we were surprised at how clear the water looked affording views of the river bottom even in water as deep as five or six feet. ........

......to see the Ater Fort ruin. This was well worth the time: a large complex of thick walls and heavily fortified gates on the outside, and lovely courtyards and towers inside. All in ruins, of course, but with most of the ornaments still visible. From the top of the tower one probably has a fantastic view of the Chambal River floodplain if there is no fog.

......embarked in a small motor boat and followed the Chambal River upstream for a total of about 16km, and then turned back. The going was slow because there were so many birds, turtles, crocodiles, and even two river dolphins to watch. The fog had disappeared by now, and we had some perfect photo opportunities. In about three hours we saw a total of some 40 species of birds, among them flamingos, Indian Skimmers resting on a sand bank, an Asian Openbill, Wooly-necked Stork, Eurasian Spoonbill, Whiskered and Black-bellied Tern,.............