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Birding Tour in India

" A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song"

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:: Meet Our Bird Specialist (Richard Mac Donald - Canadian Bird Guide)

Of the 8650 species of birds in the world, India is home to as many as 1200 (roughly 14%), out of which 141 are endemic to this region. What is even more astonishing is that ornithologists have classified birdlife into 27 Orders and 155 Families and India boasts of 20 Orders and 77 Families.

Richard Mac Donald - Canadian Bird Guide : Richard Mac Donald, Canadian bird guide has been organizing and leading bird tours for the last 10 years to Hungary, Eastern England, New Zealand and Australia as well as leading day tours of the Victoria, ¼, Canada region for over 14 years. He is an active naturalist and outdoorsman and as a retired Engineer he has the time to study the various species of birds in the regions thathe tours.

He has recently done extensive research in India and after visiting the country has come out with the ideal TOUR which he is going to lead in February 2007.

'Birding Tour in India' with Richard Mac Donald
Duration: 17 Nights/18 Days.
(Delhi - Corbett - Nainital - Delhi - Agra - Bharatpur - Delhi - Nagpur - Kanha - Nagpur - Delhi )

Day 01: Arrive Delhi
Company representatives will receive you on arrival at the international airport in Delhi late in the night or midnight. Transfer to your hotel. Relax.

Delhi, the capital of kingdoms and empires is now a sprawling metropolis with a fascinating blend of the past and the present. It is a perfect introduction to the composite culture of an ancient land. A window to the kaleidoscope - that is India.

Overnight will be at Delhi.

Day 02: Delhi / Corbett :
By Road 250 km in 6 hr
Breakfast will be at hotel.

Drive to CORBETT National Park.

On the way we will stop at Ramnagar and look for the fabulous IBISBILL amongst the riverside boulders.

JIM CORBETT National Park - One of the greatest National Parks of Asia. Corbett is five hundred and twenty acres of forests, hills and grasslands, fed by a frisky river - A bio-diversity that is rich, rare and precious. This Park is the perfect habitat for the tiger, elephant, hog deer, birds and other wildlife species that is fast vanishing from the earth.

Check in at the resort and relax. Proceed for an afternoon to KOSI riverbanks and look for CRESTED KINGFISHER, PLUMBOUS REDSTART & LITTLE FORKTAIL. The resort you will stay in is surrounded by excellent forest with many birds including the delightful VELVET FRONTED NUTHATCH.

Relax in the evening at the resort restaurant. Overnight will be at resort.

Day 03: Corbett
Enjoy a full day birding along the riverbanks and in the nearby green area. Overnight will be at the resort.

Day 04: Corbett National Park
After breakfast drive inside the forest and full day BIRDING in the park.

Corbett National Park protects a large tract of forest and savanna in the Himalayan foothills, and was India's first National Park. In winter is quite cold in these areas and birds descend from the higher levels of the Himalayas to add to the park's bird riches. The variety of birds in this area is fantastic and moreover the area has its own population of tigers. The lodge inside the park is BASIC but with private facilities and the location is great!!!

Overnight will be inside the forest at rest house in DHIKALA.

Day 05: Corbett National Park
Enjoy full day BIRDING in the park. Overnight will be inside the forest at rest house in DHIKALA.

Day 06: Corbett National Park - Nainital :
By Road 120 km in 6 hr
Breakfast will be at the guest house.

Drive to Nainital. The road is uphill and the scenery spectacular. Nainital lies beside a glacial lake and is backed by a crater like ridge with snowcapped peaks beyond rising to over 2600 m. The area is a mixture of pinewoods, open country and small lakes, and the views from some of the hills behind the town are simply fantastic.

Here LAMMERGEIERS and HIMALAYAN GRIFON VULTURES soar overhead.

Reach by late afternoon and enjoy the evening birding around the resort.

Overnight will be in Nainital.

Day 07: Nainital
Breakfast will be at the resort.

Enjoy full day birding in and around Nainital. Walk among the area's forests and fields in search of resident and migrant mountain birds. Including RED FLANKED BLUETAIL, STREAKED LAUGHING THRUSH, ALTAI ACCENTOR AND GOLDEN BUSH ROBIN for some spectacular birding.

Overnight will be in Nainital.

Day 08 Nainital
Breakfast will be in the resort.

Enjoy birding at the lake and around Nainital. Overnight will be in Nainital.

Day 09 Nainital - Delhi:
By Road 260 km in 7 hr
Early morning birding will be around the resort.

Proceed for Delhi after breakfast.

This will be a long drive and you will need to relax on reaching Delhi.

Overnight will be in Delhi.

Day 10: Delhi - Agra - Bharatpur:
By Road 250 km in 6 hr
Proceed to Agra in the morning after breakfast.

AGRA: Two great Mughal monarchs, Akbar and Shah Jahan, transformed the little village of Agra into a befitting second capital of the Mughal Empire - giving it the name Dar-ul-Khilafat {seat of the Emperor}. Today a visitor to Agra is caught up in a world of contrasting edifices, of red sandstone and white marble, narrow galleys and quaint buggies, and that irresistible charm that this favorite city of the Mughals still retains. It is not surprising, that modern Agra still reflects its Mughal heritage most conspicuously. A walk down the narrow bustling streets of the city will introduce the visitor to the wafting aroma of Mughlai cuisine. Proceed to Agra in the evening.

Proceed to visit Taj on reaching Agra.

TAJ MAHAL: Little needs to be saidabout this architectural wonder which is always the soul raison-de-etre for every tourist's visit to Agra. Built by Shah Jahan, the Taj is a white marble memorial to his beautiful wife Mumtaz Mahal. This monument took 22 years to be completed and was designed, and planned by Persian architect Ustad Isa. Apart from its stunning design balance and perfect symmetry, the Taj is also noted particularly for its elegant domes, intricately carved screens and some of the best inlay work ever seen.

Continue drive to Bharatpur.

The Keoladeo Ghana National Park is one of the finest water-bird sanctuaries in the world. The Maharaja of Bharatpur artificially created the lake and wetland in the 19th century. By building small dykes and dams and diverting water from an irrigation canal, he converted this low-lying area into a fine wild fowl shooting preserve. In a few years, the new wetland surrounded by marginal forests was able to support thousands of water birds.

Commonly referred to as Bharatpur, the Park is a delight for bird watchers. Over 375 species of birds are found here and raised paths, camouflaged by babul trees and undergrowth make viewing easy. A quiet ride by boat in the early hours of the morning is also unforgettable experience. The cacophony is unbelievable as painted storks, open bills, spoonbills, egrets, cormorants, white ibis and multitudes of others, tend their young. Jacanas with their iridescent colors and elegant tail feathers and purple moorhen can be seen delicately treading over the floating vegetation.

Every year Bharatpur waits with bated breath for the arrival of the Siberian cranes. There are only two wintering places for this rare species one in Iran and the other Bharatpur and these beautiful birds with their distinctive red beaks and facial patches, fly over 6400 km from their summer retreats.

Colorful kingfishers, graceful pelicans rare Siberian cranes and Trans- continental fliers - the migratory water - fowl are amongst the 375 species of birds found in the Keoladeo National Park. The most spectacular nesting is that of the egrets, storks, herons and cormorants, which make over 10,000 nests every year. This makes outstanding bird havens of the world. The park covers an area of 28.73km.

The story of Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary is incomplete without an account of the migratory waterfowl. The most prominent waterfowl coming to this park are bareheaded and greyleg geese. Ducks also create a lot of fluttering in the lakes. The ducks usually found here are pintail, widgeon, common shelduck, shoveler, garganey, teal, etc.

Attracted by the influx of the waterfowl the predatory birds-tawny eagles, spotted eagles short-toed eagles imperial eagles and fishing eagle also arrive. They all form the apex of the biological pyramid of the sanctuary and complete the avian food chain of the ecosystem. There are large herds of the nilgai, chital, wild boar and fear cows in addition to a few herds of sambar.

Reach and check in at the hotel. Overnight will be at Bharatpur.

Day 11: Bharatpur
Breakfast will be at the resort. Proceed on RICKSHAW for viewing the birds.

Return to the lodge in the evening and relax. Overnight will be in Bharatpur.

Day 12: Bharatpur
Enjoy BIRDING in the park. Take a boatride in the park and in the afternoon enjoy the birding from the RICKSHAW again.

Overnight will be in Bharatpur.

Day 13: Bharatpur - Delhi:
By Road 180 km in 4 hr
Breakfast will be at the resort. Enjoy birding in the park and then start for Delhi after lunch. Reach and check in at hotel. Evening dinner will be at the resort.

Overnight will be at the hotel.

Day 14: Delhi - Nagpur:
Nagpur - Kanha:
By Road 255 km in 6 hr
After breakfast drive to Kanha.

This is the place that has been described by RUDYARD KIPLING in his great book "The Jungle Book". Located in the Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh, Kanha National Park is a tiger reserve that extends over an area of over 940 square km. A horseshoe shaped valley bounded by the spurs of the Mekal presents an interesting topography. Steep rocky escarpments along the edges offer breathtaking views of the valley. Realizing the danger on the Tiger population in the country, the Government started the "Project Tiger" at Kanha and in 1974 the area was declared a Tiger reserve. The park is also the habitat of the high ground Barasingha.

In 1930s, the Kanha area was divided into two sanctuaries - Hallon and Banjar of 250kms to 300kms each. Though one of these was subsequently disbanded .The arearemained a protected one until 1947. Depletion of the tiger population in the year that followed led to the area being made an absolute sanctuary in 1952.

Patient watching should reward the visitor, with a sight of Indian Fox, Sloth bear, Striped hyena, Jungle cut, Lepord, Mouse Deer, Chausingha or four horned antelope, Nilgai, Ratel and Porcupine Kanha has some 200 species of birds. Watchers should station themselves in the hills, where the mixed and bamboo forests harbour many species and in the grassy forest clearings. Water birds can be seen near the park's many rivulets and at Sarvantal, a pool that is frequented by water birds and the area in front of the museum. The birds comprise of Racket Tailed Drongo, Crested Hawk Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Peacock, Golden Oriole, Treepie, Whitenecked Stork, Shikra, White-eyed Buzzard, Roseringed Parakeet, Shama, Red Munia, Large Green Barbet, Crimson Breasted Barbet, Lesser Golden Backed Woodpecker, Hair Crested Drongo, Common Teal, Pintail Duck, etc.

Enjoy birding on the way. Reach in the afternoon and relax at the resort. In the evening start the birding tour in the forest.

Overnight will be at the resort.

Day 15: Kanha
Enjoy a full day game viewing inside the jungle. (Two safaris) There would be a lot of birding today as we would take roads around the forest to places not frequented by people and in the bushes.

Overnight will be at the resort.

Day 16: Kanha
Enjoy a full day game viewing inside the jungle. (Two safaris) There would be a lot of birding today as we would take roads around the forest to places not frequented by people and in the bushes.

Overnight will be at the resort.

Day 17: Kanha - Nagpur
By Road 255 km in 6 hr

Proceed for the morning safari and birding into forest.

Start for Nagpur after lunch. Reach and check in at hotel. Dinner will be served in the hotel.

Overnight will be in the hotel.

Day 18: Nagpur - Delhi
Breakfast will be at the hotel. Proceed to the airport for flight to Delhi. Reach and check into hotel close to the airport for the day.

Visit to SULTANPUR BIRD SANCTUARY or THE OKHLA BARRAGE for some afternoon birding depending on where the flamingoes have arrived with packed lunch.

Return to Delhi in the evening and after a FAREWELL DINNER proceed to the airport in time for flight home.


TOUR ENDS

Birding Tour in India Departure Dates:

Select the "Birding tour in India" departure date . Click on reserve button to fill up the booking form.... ***Please note that owing to the global popularity of Birding in February & November, it is always advisable to book your space well in advance to avoid any availabilty problem ahead . . .

Departure Dates 6th February 07

The Package Includes:

:: Accommodation at first class hotels and lodges. :: Guided sightseeing tour of agra. :: All transfers in ac coach with driver. :: Expert birding guide on tour at all places in the north. :: Separate birding guide for Kanha. :: Assistance at the airports/stations. :: Daily buffet wholesome meals at all places. :: All applicable taxes and service charges. :: Safaris included at all national parks. :: All monument entrances like taj mahal, etc. :: Bottled water all through the tour. :: All monument charges. :: Economy class air travel for mentioned sectors. :: All meals at all places. :: Battery car ride at Taj Mahal. :: National park permits included and :: Rickshaw rides at bharatpur included.

Hotels Included in "Birding Tour in India":

CITY	FIRST CLASS HOTELS & LODGES	NIGHTS
Delhi	QUTAB HOTEL	01
CORBETT	CORBETT JUNGLE RESORT	02
NATIONAL PARK	DIKALA GUEST HOUSE (BASIC)	02
NAINITAL	VIKRAM VINTAGE	03
Delhi	THE PARK	01
BHARATPUR	LAXMI VILAS PALACE	03
KANHA	TULI TIGER RESORT	03
NAGPUR	TULI INTERNATIONAL	01

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