Indian Wild Ass, Equus hemionus khur, is a species of Wild Ass that are only found in the state of Gujarat as of today. It is estimated that there are only less than 5,000 individuals that are in the wild. They are mainly seen in the Wild Ass Wildlife Santuary in LRK, Gujarat.
Tag: Little Rann of Kutch
Greater Flamingo
Of the six species under Flamingos, Greater Flamingo is the largest.
Lesser Flamingo
Lesser Flaminingo is the smallest species of Flamingos in the world. They are normally found in Sub-sharan Africa and in India. Lesser Flamingos may be the most numerous flamingos in the world. These species sometimes can be see with Greater Flamingos.
Sykes’s Nightjar
Sykes’s Nightjar, Caprimulgus mahrattensis, also known as Sindh Nightjar is a species of nightjar that are found in the northwestern South Asia. Sykes’s Nightjar is very similar to Egyptian Nightjars. As every nightjar, they are very well camouflaged and is hard to spot them.
Sykes Nightjars prefer open country with bushes and normally hides on the base of bushes during day time. They prefer to hunt during the dawn and dusk and normally rest during the rest of the night.
Jungle Cat
Jungle Cat, Felis chaus, also known as Reed Cat or Swamp Cat is a species of cat found through Middle East, Indian Subcontinent Southern China and South East Asia. The species can adapt to different terrains and due to its increased range it is listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Jungle Cat is typically diurnal but can be seen hunting through out the day. Their main diet includes small mammals like birds, gerbils, hares and rodents. These solitary cats only interact with others only during mating season. Like other cats, Jungle Cats marks their territories by spraying urine.
I have seen the Jungle Cats quite a few times during my trips to different areas but never managed to get a photo like the above until I visited Velavader in Dec 2017. On 29th of Dec, 2017, during our GIBT 2017 – NI trip, around 5:45 in the evening, while we were birding at Velavador, Gujarat, a Jungle cat appeared in front us. It almost ignored us and walked steadily towards a near by water hole. We approached the cat very cautiously from our vehicle keeping a pretty good distance from it. As it reached the water hole, we were unable to spot it again for almost 10 minutes. Luck was with us. The cat reappeared and started walking though the track ahead of us for another few minutes. We managed to get some decent photographs of it. We do not want to disturb the cat for a long time and we left him to his business after a few minutes of observation.
Just a couple of days back (27th Dec, 2017) at Little Rann of Kutch we were able to see another Jungle Cat around 8:30 in the night. Though I managed a few clicks of it, the above photo is my personal favorite.
It was a species that we never thought to see during our GIBT 2017 – NI trip. For sure it was a sweet surprise.
GIBT 2017 – NI
[Incomplete Article]
GIBT 2017 – NI was a much awaited tour to see and photograph more birds from India. The trip started on 20th of Dec and ended on 31st Dec. During the trip two states were covered. Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The trip started from Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 20th morning around 10:30. The following route were taken during the trip.
Day 1 : Ahmedabad to Jaisalmar
Day 2 : Jaisalmar
Day 3 : Jaisalmar
Day 4 : Vijaysagar Lake, Khichan
Day 5 : Rann of Kutch
Day 6 : Rann of Kutch
Day 7 : Nalsarovar
Day 8 : Velavader
Day 9 : Nalsarovar
Birds
- Ashy Woodswallow
- Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark
- Asian Desert Warbler
- Bank Myna
- Barn Swallow
- Barred Buttonquail
- Bimaculated Lark
- Black Drongo
- Black Kite
- Black Redstart
- Black Vulture
- Black-crowned Night-Heron
- Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark
- Black-headed Ibis
- Black-winged Kite
- Black-winged Stilt
- Bluethroat
- Blyth’s Reed Warbler
- Booted Eagle
- Brahminy Starling
- Broad-billed Sandpiper
- Bronze-winged Jacana
- Brown Shrike
- Cattle Egret
- Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
- Chestnut-shouldered Petronia
- Citrine Wagtail
- Clamorous Reed Warbler
- Collared Dove
- Comb Duck
- Common Babbler
- Common Chiffchaff
- Common Crane
- Common Greenshank
- Common Kestrel
- Common Kingfisher
- Common Moorhen
- Common Myna
- Common Raven
- Common Ringed Plover
- Common Sandpiper
- Common Snipe
- Common Tailorbird
- Cream-coloured Courser
- Crested Honey-buzzard
- Crested Lark
- Dalmatian Pelican
- Demoiselle Crane
- Desert Lark
- Desert Wheatear
- Desert Whitethroat
- Dusky Crag-Martin
- Eastern Orphean Warbler
- Egyptian Vulture
- Eurasian Coot
- Eurasian Hobby
- Eurasian Hoopoe
- Eurasian Spoonbill
- Eurasian/Green-winged Teal
- Gadwall
- Glossy Ibis
- Graceful Prinia
- Great Cormorant
- Great White Egret
- Greater Coucal
- Greater Flamingo
- Greater Short-toed Lark
- Greater Spotted Eagle
- Green Bee-eater
- Green Sandpiper
- Grey Francolin
- Grey Heron
- Grey-headed Swamphen
- Griffon Vulture
- Gull-billed Tern
- House Crow
- House Sparrow
- Indian Bustard
- Indian Chat
- Indian Nightjar
- Indian Peafowl
- Indian Pond Heron
- Indian Robin
- Indian Roller
- Indian Silverbill
- Indian Spot-billed Duck
- Intermediate Egret
- Isabelline Shrike
- Isabelline Wheatear
- Jungle Babbler
- Laggar Falcon
- Large Grey Babbler
- Large-billed Crow
- Laughing Dove
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Lesser Flamingo
- Lesser Whistling-Duck
- Lesser Whitethroat
- Little Cormorant
- Little Egret
- Little Grebe
- Little Ringed Plover
- Long-billed Pipit
- Long-legged Buzzard
- Long-tailed Shrike
- Marsh Sandpiper
- Montagu’s Harrier
- Northern Pintail
- Northern Shoveler
- Oriental Magpie-Robin
- Painted Stork
- Pallid Harrier
- Peregrine Falcon
- Pheasant-tailed Jacana
- Pied Avocet
- Pied Bushchat
- Pied Kingfisher
- Pied Wagtail/White Wagtail
- Purple Sunbird
- Red Collared Dove
- Red-headed Vulture
- Red-naped Ibis
- Red-tailed/Isabelline Shrike
- Red-vented Bulbul
- Red-wattled Lapwing
- Red-whiskered Bulbul
- Ring-necked Parakeet
- River Tern
- Rock Dove
- Rose-coloured Starling
- Ruddy Shelduck
- Ruff
- Shikra
- Short-eared Owl
- Siberian Stonechat
- Sind Sparrow
- Slender-billed Gull
- Southern Grey Shrike
- Spanish Sparrow
- Spotted Dove
- Spotted Owlet
- Spotted Redshank
- Steppe Eagle
- Sykes’s Nightjar
- Tawny Eagle
- Tawny Pipit
- Temminck’s Stint
- Turkestan Shrike
- Variable Wheatear
- Water Pipit
- Western Marsh Harrier
- Western Reef-Heron
- Western Yellow Wagtail
- Whiskered Tern
- White Stork
- White-browed Wagtail
- White-eared Bulbul
- White-throated Kingfisher
- Wire-tailed Swallow
- Wood Sandpiper
- Woolly-necked Stork
Mammals
- Bengal Fox
- Jungle Cat
- Wild Ass