Tuesday, March 8
BIRD of the DAY: Indian Grey Hornbill
Today, several birds greeted us at our hotel in the early morning as the sun rose. House Crows, Rock Pigeons, Black Kites and Common Myna birds were numerous. Bird song mingled with street noise. Shyam and team were checking them out before breakfast.
We had breakfast and then crossed a very busy street to get some rupees from an ATM (not permitted to bring Indian money into India).
Soon the Asian Adventures manager, Iqbal Ahmad, greeted us with a big smile. We were happy to meet him as we had communicated with him as Rick planned our trip. Iqbal gave each couple a bottle of Indian wine and the leech socks we had ordered.
We soon set out with Shyam and our Asian Adventures drivers in a small bus. It didn't take long to conclude that driving in the huge city of Delhi - the world's third most populous city with 25 million inhabitants - is a very advanced skill. Cars, trucks, small taxis, rickshaws, pedestrians all converge.
Fortunately this very busy city has many extensive parks. We soon discovered it is an excellent place for birding. We had some historic sites and the zoo on our list, all good places to get a start on our bird list.
First stop: Qutub Minar, a minaret constructed in 1192. The soaring conical tower, an exquisite example of Indo-Islamic Afghan architecture, is a World Heritage Site. It is set in a large park setting. A beautiful architectural display in a grassy park. The wildlife and birds seemed right at home, exhibiting their normal activities in a natural way. We mingled with the other visitors. It was a perfect start to our trip.
Next stop: Lodhi Garden, another large park featuring an historic mosque, colourful visitors... and birds.
We got spectacular views of the large Indian Grey Hornbill.
Time to move on - next stop the National Zoological Park. A large pond near the entrance gave us good sightings of several water birds. We found some nesting storks. It seemed that birds were everywhere.
Unlike the birds, the animals were caged. They gave us a good overview of Indian wildlife. We hoped to see some in our travels.
Finally we drove by the India Gate war memorial. Then we entered heavy traffic to drive to a restaurant for a break after a very busy morning. Kingfisher beer was welcome!
After lunch we circled around a fountain where several birds were enjoying the water.
We finished the afternoon with a visit to the Mahatma Ghandi memorial, the Raj Ghat.
Of course, a birding day does not end without listing. We quickly got to work filling out Alan's check-list - 34 species of birds in the city before our birding trip started!
