The Western India grasslands, deserts, and wetlands provide some of the most spectacular birding sights in the country, with a fine selection of exciting mammals as well – including the only remaining wild population of Asiatic Lion in the world. Add to this the vibrant and colourful culture and heritage, from the traditional village life of Kutch to the 5,000 year-old remnants of Indus Valley civilisation, and it all makes for an unforgettable visit.
Starting from Ahmedabad, our first halt is the extensive grassland of Velavadar National Park. In winter one of the most spectacular sights is the evening harrier roost. The selection of mammals will include large herds of Blackbuck and a reasonable chance of Wolf and Striped Hyena. Birds include Common Crane, Dalmatian Pelican, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Painted Francolin, many larks including Ashy-crowned, Rufous-tailed and huge flocks of Greater Short-toed and Bimaculated, as well as the rare Stoliczka’s Bushchat.
From there we go to Gir National Park, the only site remaining now in India for the endangered Asiatic Lion. The local population is currently doing well with an estimated 600 lions, and we also have a reasonable chance of seeing a Leopard. Birds here include Mottled Wood Owl, Brown Fish Owl, Jungle Nightjar, Painted Sandgrouse, Indian Pitta, Red-naped Ibis, Red-headed Vulture, Short toed Snake Eagle and Barred Buttonquail.
A change of scene and wildlife awaits us at Jamnagar where sites such as Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary and Narara and Pirotan Islands will show us thousands of flamingos and hopefully large flocks of one of our main targets here, Crab Plover. Lakhota Lake in the city attracts large flocks of gulls, with the chance of an Indian rarity.
The vast salt desert of the Greater Rann of Kutch is our next main destination. This unique region is astonishingly rich in bird life, particularly in winter when large numbers of waterfowl, along with desert species, can be seen. Many of the specialities found here are extremely rare in the rest of India, such as Marshall’s Iora, White-naped Tit, Grey Hypocolius, and more.
Despite the name, the Little Rann of Kutch is also a vast arid landscape, transforming from desert to saltmarsh to wetlands depending on the season, and another of India’s prime birdwatching destinations. This is home to the Asiatic Wild Ass, or Khur, and has been declared as the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary. We’ll be looking for MacQueen’s Bustard, Indian Courser, Long-legged Buzzard, and Greater Hoopoe-Lark in the drier areas, with cranes, flamingos, and pelicans amongst the large flocks of wildfowl and waders of the wetlands.
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive Ahmedabad, drive to Velavadar
Arrive in Ahmedabad where you will be met and we will drive to Velavadar National Park, with birding in the vicinity of the park if we have time in the late afternoon. For anyone arriving the previous day we will spend some time at Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, a vast shallow marshland with a super variety of birds including an enviable list of Indian rarities! Accommodation is at the aptly-named Blackbuck Safari Lodge.
Day 2: Velavadar National Park
Whilst Velavadar National Park is famous for conserving the largest population of Blackbuck remaining in India, it is also an excellent location for other mammals, including Indian Wolf, Golden Jackal and Striped Hyena. For birders the extensive grasslands are a fantastic habitat. We will have morning and afternoon safaris to explore for White-eyed Buzzard, White-rumped and Indian Vultures, Grey and Painted Francolins, Laggar and Red-necked Falcons, Indian and Singing Bush Larks. Lesser Florican breeds here in good numbers in the monsoon, but is unfortunately near impossible to find at other times of year. We will catch the amazing spectacle of the evening harrier roost, with many Montagu’s, Pallid and Marsh flying in all around us before dropping down into the grass for the night.
Day 3: Velavadar to Gir
Leaving Velavadar in the morning we drive to Gir National Park in time for a late lunch, and afternoon birding (and hopefully mammal-ing!) outside the park.
Days 4-5: Gir National Park
Sasan Gir, or Gir National Park, is an area of dry deciduous forest famous as the only remaining site in the world for the Asiatic Lion. This subspecies of Lion once ranged from the edge of Europe in Turkey, all across Asia to eastern India, but was driven almost to extinction by hunting. Thankfully numbers have recovered to several hundred now, but with the entire population restricted to an area less than the size of Greater London, they are precariously vulnerable to disease, poaching, and have to share much of this land with an increasing human population and their cattle and crops. Gir also supports a large population of Leopards, as well as Chinkara and Chousingha, the Four-horned Antelope.
Gir also supports a varied birdlife, including Indian Thick-knee, Brown Fish and Mottled Wood Owls, Indian Pitta, Egyptian Vulture, Changeable Hawk Eagle, Laggar Falcon, Black-headed Cuckooshrike, White-bellied Minivet, Indian Paradise Flycatcher, Marshall’s Iora, Tawny-bellied and Yellow-eyed Babblers, and Rufous-fronted Prinia.
We have two full days to explore the forest and surroundings by open jeep and on foot.
Day 6: Gir to Jamnagar
After enjoying a final morning jeep safari and an early lunch, we will drive north to Jamnagar.
Day 7: Jamnagar
Jamnagar on the southern shore of the Gulf of Kutch is a Marine National Park, protecting large numbers of passage and wintering gulls, terns and waders, and is the best site in India for the unique Crab Plover. We will visit the Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary on the Ruparen River, one of the prime sites here, with a combination of saline and freshwater lagoons supporting many thousands of wintering birds, including Common Cranes, Black-necked Stork, Greater and Lesser Flamingos, Great White and Dalmatian Pelicans, waders including Great Thick-knee, White-tailed Lapwing, Broad-billed and Terek Sandpipers, and Indian Skimmer.
Our full day in the Jamnagar area will allow us to explore a few sites in the area. Narara Bet and Pirotan Islands support huge numbers of birds, although permits are not always available for these protected areas inside the National Park, particularly the latter which is only accessible by boat. Regardless, there is plenty to be seen in more accessible areas. Even Lakhota Lake in the heart of the city attracts large numbers of gulls with the chance of something unusual. We will see many species overall, potentially including Great Crested Grebe, Western Reef Egret, Pallas’s Gull, Caspian Tern, Greater Spotted Eagle, Rufous-tailed Shrike, Sand Lark and Rosy Starlings.
Day 8: Jamnagar to Bhuj
After an early breakfast we drive to Bhuj and check in to the fabulous CEDO (Centre for Desert and Ocean) Homestay. This camp has great in-house naturalists, and is directly involved in major social and conservation-related initiatives in the Kutch (or “Kachchh”) area. We will have the afternoon for birding.
Days 9-10: Greater Rann of Kutch
We will spend two full days exploring different areas of the Greater Rann of Kutch. The Great Rann is one of the largest salt deserts in the world, at the southern edge of the Thar Desert which is mostly in Rajasthan. At first glance an inhospitable sun-parched habitat, it is also a landscape rich in bird and animal life. The monsoon leaves natural depressions, or chands, some of which remain filled with water through the winter and attract huge numbers of wildfowl and waters, with raptors and larks in the dry surrounding grassland.
One key target is the unusual Grey Hypocolius, the only member of its family and only known from one regular wintering site in India, around the Fulay village in the Banni grasslands. Sadly the Great Indian Bustard seems doomed in this traditional area of its range, with the population at Naliya, Lala Bustard Sanctuary, now only including one male. Instead we will concentrate on other key birds in the different habitats in and around the Rann. White-naped Tit, Stoliczka’s Bushchat, Marshall’s Iora and Rock Bush-Quail are targets in the Phot Mahadev thorn forest, with Indian and Cream-coloured Coursers, Sandgrouse potentially including Spotted and Black-bellied, Red-tailed Wheatear and Grey-necked and Striolated Buntings other good birds of Kutch.
A visit to the coast near Pingleshwar should produce large flocks of gulls and waders, including Crab Plover.
Day 11: Bhuj to Little Rann of Kutch
A long drive east today, as we move from Bhuj to the Little Rann of Kutch.
Day 12: Little Rann of Kutch
A full day in and around the Little Rann will also include visits to wetland areas, such as the Bajana Creek and Nawa Talao lake. Here both Demoiselle and Common Cranes can be found in large numbers, with both Greater and Lesser Flamingos, and Great White and Dalmatian Pelicans. Other birds could include the mighty Black-necked Stork, large flocks of wildfowl and waders including Knob-billed Duck and White-tailed Lapwing, Graceful Prinia, Desert and Variable Wheatears, Rufous-tailed and Bay-backed Shrikes, and Grey-necked Bunting.
As well as the herds of Asiatic Wild Ass we should also see Nilgai and Chinkara and maybe Desert Fox, Jungle Cat and, at night, Pale and Long-eared Hedgehogs.
Day 13: Little Rann of Kutch to Ahmedabad
After morning birding in the Little Rann we drive back to Ahmedabad by evening where we stay overnight before departures home the following morning.
Day 14: Departure
After breakfast, check out and transfer to Ahmedabad airport for onward flights home. Or maybe a change of scene and a chance to find another incredible big cat, and lots more birds, on another of our India tours…?!
Important information
As with all Bubo Birding tours, your booking is handled by Asian Adventures.
All our tours are guided by experienced local birding guides, with the support of Mike Prince in the planning, plus post-trip if you are struggling to identify some species from your photos! Mike also leads a few of these trips himself, and this will be made clear to you in the initial planning.
- Prices quoted are per person, assuming a group of 4 or more people.
- International flights are excluded.
- All travellers will require valid visas. Please apply via https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/. Most travellers will be able to apply for an eVisa, and we recommend doing this 6-8 weeks in advance of your trip, although they are usually issued in a few days.
- We may change the itinerary described due to various reasons such as latest birding information, availability of accommodation, state of the roads, and other unexpected factors that, this being India, do pop up from time to time!
- The price includes most meals, except typically where there are options at different prices and it makes sense for guests to decide for themselves at the time. See Asian Adventures for details.
- The final price and itinerary will be confirmed before booking and depending on your expected arrival and departure plans.
See Asian Adventures for full tour details, including accommodation, meal plans, what's included, other exclusions, prices for different group sizes, single room supplements, cancellation policy, and booking process.
Interested in Gujarat Birds and Wildlife?
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