  River Chambal, a tributary of Yamuna in central India, flows north-northeast through Madhya Pradesh, running for quite a distance through Rajasthan, and then forming the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before turning southeast to join the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh state. The Chambal River remains one of North India’s least polluted rivers, which is also home to a rich diversity of flora and fauna. The National Chambal (Gharial) Wildlife Sanctuary is famous for the rare Ganges river dolphin as well.
 The sanctuary was founded in 1978/79 and is part of a large area co-administered by Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, within an area of 5,400 km². Approximately 400 km of the river is within the reserve. Apart from the Ganges River Dolphin, the other inhabitants of the sanctuary include Mugger (crocodile) and Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus). Migratory birds from Siberia form its rich avian fauna. The area of the Chambal River near Bah, Uttar Pradesh is a birding hotspot and chances of sighting the endangered Indian Skimmers are thick.
 After having feasted on the Muggers in the past and recently on the Saltwater Crocodiles in Bhitarkanika National park in Orissa, Gharials were the only subspecies of crocodiles I was yet to sight and photograph. Gharials are supposed to be the second-longest of all living crocodiles on earth and grow as long as up to six meters in length, it is believed. Young Gharials eat insects, larvae, and small frogs. Mature adults feed almost solely on fish, although some individuals have been known to scavenge dead animals.
  As a kid I knew Chambal only as Phoolan Devi – the Bandit’s territory. Even today some parts of the ravines are supposedly infested with Dacoits and Bandits it is learnt. How ever, over the last few years, Chambal has turned out to be an attractive wild destination for nature lovers far and wide. Apart from the Gharials whose sighting was more than assured, my other target species of the trips were the endangered Indian Skimmers and it was also a good place to sight the Sarus Cranes. After my flight to Delhi, a six hour drive to the town of “Bah” in Uttar Pradesh (60plus kms from Agra) was where I was supposed to camp. “Chambal Safari” is a nice resort near Bah which accommodates just a few tourists and it is probably the only wildlife centric accommodation for tourists around here.
 Shruthi my wife was brainwashed by my father to keep ourselves safe and secure from the dangerous “Dacoits”. But I was sure nothing of that sort could happen – usually. We were happy to see very few guests in the resort and all of them were guests from outside India. Most of these guests had binoculars in their possession and things looked positive at first sight. It would have been a disaster to end up spending time with groups which had no interest in wildlife, but thankfully here, all we found were bird watchers and wildlife enthusiasts. Grey Hornbills, Pied Mynas, Fruit Bats, Jungle Babblers, Rose-ringed Parakeets were all over the place and our little room was nice and beautiful. We hardly had an hour to refresh and get ready for the evening boat safari in the Chambal River. After a twenty minute drive from our resort to the village of Ater, Chambal was sighted and our boatman was waiting for us with other guests. Soon the motorboat took off and we ventured on our first boat safari in the pristine Chambal River.
 Within less than ten minutes of our journey on the boat we started identifying beautiful birds and in no time I sighted my first Gharial basking on the banks of Chambal. As we approached the Gharial I could count at least twelve tiny Gharials basking alongside the elder. They were motionless for most of the time but on a few occasions, they jumped in to river as the boat approached.
 Ruddy Shelducks, Bar-headed Goose, Egyptian Vultures, Lesser-whistling ducks, Mugger crocodiles, Stone Plovers, River Terns were all a sight to watch. We gradually moved down stream and from at least 400 feet distance our guide and the boatman alerted us of the Indian Skimmers. I was overjoyed to have found skimmers so quickly. Almost resembling the River Terns, the Indian Skimmer is a gorgeous bird with a colorful beak that helps it skim through the surface of the water. They are usually found in pairs and at this point at least 12 pairs of skimmers were resting on the ground.
 Occasionally they would fly around our boat making loud calls and get back to their base. I was very eager to try and photograph them while they were skimming. But unfortunately they seem to be skimming only early in the morning and usually after sunset. How ever, I did have a glimpse of one bird skimming very close by my boat. The evening light was magical and the skimmers were the best we had seen that evening. A quick drive up the stream got us back to the jetty and we went to bed with a wonderful first innings at Chambal.
The Sarus Crane trail
  I had an option to either go back to the boat safari or try and explore the fields nearby in order to sight and photograph the extremely endangered Sarus Cranes. Last time in Gujarat, I had a disappointing experience with the Sarus Cranes as they were extremely shy and always on the move. They would sense my presence from 200 feet away and fly away. I was crossing my fingers and hoping to get closer to at least one pair this time. We crossed village after village, town after town and little did we realize that we had already traveled 45kms in search of the Sarus Cranes. Hope was almost dead and we reached Sepai, the native of the politician Mulayam Singh Yadav. We decided to check till the end of the abandoned air strip in this village whose inauguration was halted by a court order.
 Hurray! I shouted when I sighted two adult Sarus cranes walk briskly across the field at a distance of 300 feet. But before I ended my celebration they flew away making calls and I was again disappointed. But after a couple of minutes they came back from the other side and landed on a huge dump of hay in the open field. I quickly mounted my camera on the tripod and with binoculars in hand; I set out on foot inside the fields of Sepai. The farmers were eager and keen to know what was happening. But my driver handled them well and none came closer to me and I was not disturbed. Within five minutes I got as close as 200 feet to the cranes and I started stalking them hiding behind a huge bush and some trees. When I peeped out of the bush I realized I didn’t do a great job of stalking. The Cranes already knew of the enormous body hiding behind the bushes.
 But surprisingly, the pair was tolerant and didn’t move a bit. I slowly grabbed some oxygen and started clicking their pictures. Every minute I stepped a foot or two closer and in less than 10 minutes I was as close as 50 feet from them in the open field. I was thrilled that the cranes didn’t perceive me as threat and didn’t fly away. I don’t remember anything other than the movements of the romantic Sarus Cranes in courtship. They sang and danced and after half an hour of pleasing me and making me jealous of their romance, they bid good bye to me and my camera. It would be an understatement to say I was thrilled. I was super-thrilled and excited and I ran back to the car to tell the story of them to my wife and driver. But they were always observing through the binoculars and already knew we had struck gold.
  That evening in the boat was no other guest and I had all the time in the world to spare for the beautiful Skimmers. I spent at least two hours watching them fly and call in turns and during this phase I managed a few action shots of the skimmers. I was again disappointed that I couldn’t see them skimming. How ever in the second innings with Skimmers proved very fruitful. Since I knew more about these birds by then, I could take pictures of them in action and while at flight. At least a dozen River Terns and a few hyper-active Black-bellied Terns also treated my eyes. Eurasian Spoonbills were sighted close by and the day ended with a lot of Skimmer activity. While returning back to the base, a Bonelli’s eagle was sitting on the ground and was being constantly attached by a river lapwing. The eagle had been conspiring over the lapwing’s nest and as usual the lapwings abused the eagle time and again. It was getting dark and I had very less time to witness the argument of these two birds.
 One my last boat safari in Chambal, I decided to focus my efforts on the Gharials. Since it made sense to drive up stream on mornings keeping the sun behind our backs, we decided to visit parts of the river we hadn’t seen till then. Gharials were seen in dozens over the banks of the river and Lesser-whistling ducks, Comb ducks, Ruddy-shelducks accompanied the lazy gharials. I spent nearly two hours trying to produce something different. But I must admit it is quite tough to get different shots of these as they hardly move and simply bask in the open. Loads of them lie around the tiny islets on the river and spend the whole day basking. It was interesting to see the Gharials move on land. They are probably the slowest amongst all crocodiles on land.
The Glimpse of the Dolphins
 After a while, we reached an area where the river widened. The boat was switched off in the middle of the river and we waited for the Ganges river dolphins to show up. After nearly 10 minutes, our boatman sighted Dolphins which we all missed. But after a while we had a glimpse of another dolphin nearby. Over the next 15 minutes, we sighted four more dolphins surfacing up and vanishing in the blues of Chambal. On the way back to the jetty, I decided to get off and look for the tiny sand larks. In the heat of the day, crawling on the soft grounds of Chambal’s banks, I had a tough time finding these tiny shy birds.
 Finally, it was time to pack my bags and move out of Chambal. I had to travel to Delhi. After having sighted all the crocodile species of the subcontinent for which I had to travel long distances, I am a satisfied man. In spite of my mind discouraging me from wasting a boat safari on Chambal by going on the Sarus Crane trail, my heart pushed me towards the latter. I cannot express in words the amount of satisfaction that I underwent after this tedious session in the Paddy/potato fields of these villages.
 I do suggest anyone visiting this place to surely spare some time for the Sarus and also do a safari on the fields in order to sight the Black-bucks and Nilgais up close. Mr. Ram Pratap Singh of the Chambal Safari told me that not many Indian tourists visit the place and most of his guests are from outside India. Not many of us realize what a paradise we have been ignoring over here. After the recent Gharial deaths in the river, I was happy not to have sighted even a single carcass and it seems the situation was improving. After all Chambal is known as one of the country’s pristine rivers. Why shouldn’t it remain so?
From here, the road ahead for me leads to the legendary Hunter-turned Conservationist Jim Corbett’s den. I am spending a few nights in the Corbett National Park and then hoping to travel towards Panghot and Nainital to experience some high altitude Himalayan birdlife. Please stay tuned for more excitement in the coming weeks.
All Photographs of Chambal
Birds
1. Grey Hornbill
2. Pied Starling
3. Bank Myna
4. Jungle Babbler
5. Rose-ringed Parakeet
6. White-browed Wagtail
7. Grey wagtail
8. Darter
9. Little Cormorant
10. Great Cormorant
11. Little Grebe
12. Grey Heron
13. Pond Heron
14. Little Egret
15. Cattle Egret
16. Great Egret
17. Woolly-necked Stork
18. Painted Stork
19. Black-necked Stork
20. Sarus Crane
21. Black Ibis
22. Spoonbill
23. Ruddy Shelduck
24. Bar-headed Goose
25. Northern Shoveler
26. Comb Duck
27. Lesser Whistling Duck
28. Gargeny
29. Black-shouldered Kite
30. Black Kite
31. Sparrow Hawk
32. Bonelli’s Eagle
33. Short-toed Snake Eagle
34. Montagu’s Harrier
35. Osprey
36. Egyptian Vulture
37. Common Quail
38. Grey Francolin
39. Peafowl
40. Black-winged Stilt
41. Thick-knee
42. River Lapwing
43. Yellow-wattled
44. Red-wattled Lapwing
45. Small Pratincole
46. Common RedShank
47. Wood Sandpiper
48. Pallas’s Gull
49. Indian Skimmer
50. River Tern
51. Little Tern
52. Black-bellied Tern
53. Yellow-footed Green Pigeon
54. Sand grouse
55. Rufus Treepie
56. Greater Coucal
57. Black Drongo
58. Ashy Drongo
59. Green Bee Eater
60. Coomon Hoopoe
61. Sand Lark
62. Ashy-crowned Sparowlark
63. Brahminy Starling
64. Large Billed Crow
65. Red-vented Bulbul
66. Red-whiskered Bulbul
67. Common Babbler
68. Jungle Babbler
69. White-throated Kingfisher
70. Pied Bushchat
71. Small Blue Kingfisher
72. Pied Kingfisher
73. Black-headed Oriole
74. Great Tit
75. Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
76. House Sparrow
77. Indian Roller
Mammals
78. Fruit Bat
79. Jackal
80. Nilgai
81. Ganges Dolphins
Reptiles
82. Monitor Lizard
83. Gharial
84. Marsh Crocodile
85. Terrapin
86. Tortoise
_________________
Cheers,
Jayanth Sharma
jay@wildlifetimes.com
Last edited by Jayanth Sharma on Wed May 21, 2008 11:11 am; edited 7 times in total
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