Time of nesting and breeding in Bharatpur

Imagine a wild life sanctuary, where one can walk around, or hire a bicycle, rickshaw or even a horse cart to watch some chirpy, small, beautiful, harmless creature, coming from as far as Siberia or Taiwan or far south east Asia, few resident but most of them migratory, then you are right in the middle of Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur.

I heard that besides winter, monsoon too is season for nesting and breeding of resident as well migratory birds, so on last Sunday of July, a trip to bird’s paradise was decided.

Bharatpur is in state of Rajasthan, some 200 km from Delhi. It is easily accessible through NH2 via Faridabad – Palwal – Hodal – Kosi – Mathura then a right turn and another 34 km to Bharatpur. Straight road will go to Agra which is 52 km from Mathura. Three of us started at 6 from Ghaziabad, although not a very wise decision because the perfect time for bird watching is either morning 6-8 or evening 5-6. We reached Mathura by 9, and Bharatpur by 10.30, thanks to last 10 km of the stretch which was in real pathetic condition. and after breakfast entered to Sanctuary around 12 PM.

The respective charges per person are as follows:

Ticket for Indian – 50 Rs
Ticket for student – 15 Rs
Ticket for Foreigners – 200 Rs
Rickshaw for two – 70 Rs/Hour
Horse Cart for 4-5 perosn – 150 Rs/Hour
Guide – 100 Rs/Hour
Parking – 20 Rs
Bicycle – Will available from October onwards…

We took a guide and horse cart for three hours as the heat and humidity was unbearable so we decided to make full use of this time and to save some energy to visit Deeg palace, which is 40 km from Bharatpur and said to be most symmetrical and beautiful structure after Tajmahal.

Now let the pictures speak for them;

Our foremost encounter

Jackal, they are in great number here

Now for what we are here…guide told us all the details, like from where they came, their name and all, but it is very hard to recall…

This is Dragon fly if I remember correctly…

Turtles were also in majority

Now this is special

Birds were nesting

Different mode of transports inside the park

As they say, all are not resident few are migratory too…

Our next destination was Deeg Palace. There is an alternative route from Bharatpur to Jaipur through Alwar which also passes through Deeg. The road is in good condition and the distance of 40 km can be easily covered in an hour. Entry to Deeg palace is free due to lord Hanuman temple inside the complex, but if you want to visit the Jat King Surajmal Palace then a nominal ticket of 5 Rs is charged that includes a guided tour to the palace, King’s Drawing room and separate space for vegetarian and non vegetarian food, his personal assistant’s office, place where he used to play chess, and his bed room with a real king size bed that was 8 by 12 size as king was himself of 6 and a half feet height. Photography was prohibited inside.

The palace is very beautiful with a well maintained garden all around the complex. Fountain show is fixed twice a year, 4th of February and 8th day after Rakhi. Locals are used to sit and relax in this beautiful complex.

We started back by 7. From Deeg there is a route to Govardhan and then Mathura total about 40 km. By 10 we were at home cherishing the memory of the day and another destination to talk about.