Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary

On 30th October 2022, I visited Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary. This was my second visit. Its about 70 kms from Rajkot. One of my favorite things is to be in forests and jungles. Khijadiya has great diversity of native and migratory birds. Since October is just the onset of winter, I didn’t get to see more migratory birds. My camera does not have a long zoom range (230mm on crop sensor) so I am unable to give justice to these majestic birds.

Landscape

The landscape is composed of marshy areas, wetlands and dry patches. The most abundant tree is Babool, Acacia nilotica. In the image below one can see the ridge of Bawal. Another tree that can be found in some patches is the Piu tree, Salvadora persica, which is a short stubby tree resembling lemon tree to me.

Bee Eater

This time I saw 10s of Bee Eaters, mostly perched on the metal fence at the edge of the protected area.

White-Eared Bulbul

This was my first sighting of White-Eared Bulbul.

Purple Swamphen

Pied Kingfisher

This lovely pair of Pied Kingfishers was a great sight.

Indian Pond Heron

Painted Stork

There was a large roosting of Painted Stork, much too far for my humble lens to capture.

Great White Pelican

I was lucky to see one solitary Great White Pelican, also known as Rosy Pelican. One can see the pink bare skin around eye that extends towards the bill. And the bill itself can be a foot long. During the winter these birds would migrate from southeastern Europe to the swamps and shallow lakes of western India and particularly to Khijadiya.

Eurasian Spoonbill

I had no idea that I had seen a Eurasian Spoonbill till I open the photos on the laptop! Clearly its a great photo. It was in flight, it was much too far and I was slow.