I had heard a lot about Bharatpur and its multitude of photo ops with its sprawling water bodies and large flocks of migratory and local birds. So, I headed for what I thought would be my first wildlife sojourn with SWMBO. Enthusiastically we trudged our way across the park and slowly but surely reality hit us hard. Much to my surprise we came across a multitude of cattle inside the bird sanctuary despite the ban on grazing which came into effect circa 1982. I was left wondering whether we were in a cattle ranch or a bird sanctuary.
Cattle graze the now dry wetlands freely
Oops, I was er just passing through
The water bodies were scarce, and where there were some; the water was hardly knee deep and choked with animal waste.
To top it up big troops of Rhesus Macaques assured me that the birds brave enough to put up here were truly having a hard time. The forest guide accompanying us acknowledged the fact that these monkeys were a menace during breeding season and took out a sizeable number of eggs and young. The monkeys do get relocated from time to time, but as we all know so well, Macaques don’t understand the designs of Babudom. With the odds so heavily stacked against the avian’s , its no surprise that save for a few hard nuts not many birds turn up at Bharatpur these days. The dilapidated Swarovksi/WWF boards and jackets issued to the guides are but a remnant of some international help which had trickled this way during years gone by.
A kingfisher resting in the shade.
A cute pair of owlets laze in their "sleepy hollow"
What we could see in terms of Govt. help were some diesel water pumps chugging away at low RPMS; pumping water from underground wells to the dried out wetlands. There weren’t any Pelicans, Siberian Cranes, Lesser Adjutant storks etc, to be seen which were hitherto considered commonplace. This due to the fact the wetlands had now shrunken away. The Ajan bund (dam) was the main water supply source for the park but that and another source which was being solicited didn’t work out, and a dry spell this year put the final nail in the coffin. The only saving grace were the Antelope, Cheetal, Sambar and Nilgai we came across.
We tracked one for a while and managed to click these pics as this nervous Nilgai bounded away on sensing our presence.
Sambar basking in the afternoon sun.
I guess this is a sambar's idea of a cold one.
Seems like a sizeable population has come up despite the pressures levied by the hordes of cattle that throng the park. One can only fathom the havoc an outbreak of a disease like Foot and Mouth disease or BVD among the cattle would wreak on the deer/antelope population. Almost all the dedicated bird enthusiasts and photographers I met and spoke with were utterly disappointed at the state of affairs. Another park down the drain
. A small squirrel lightened up what was an otherwise drab day by sunning itself all sprawled out on a low slung branch, completely oblivious to us as we stood there laughing and clicking away at it.
regards
OUP
some nice pic there. welcome to the mens world 
I guess. Dont know if they really care.