26th Jan, 2010: Roughly 250 kilometers on bumpy terrain with temperature ranging from 7 degrees Celsius to 34 degree Celsius and lots of dust. Am dead tired, my face it all chapped but it was the best Republic day celebration for me ever 🙂
A large part of the day was spent searching for just 2 species McQueen’s Bustard and the Greater Hoopoe Lark. We did manage to spot 5 McQueen’s Bustards but all of them were very far off to get any decent pictures. Samat Khan our driver told us that the best time to see these birds is November or December when they have not been pursued so much by the tourist. Samat also knew where we are likely to find the Hoopoe Lark and took us to a featureless plain and started searching to the left. I noticed some movement to the right some distance away. A look through the binocs confirmed them as a pair Hoopoe Larks and we drove closer. They were a pleasure to photograph – almost posed for us.
Most people come to Lesser Rann of Kutch – Bajana Sanctuary to see the only existing population of Wlid Asses but somehow I did not feel very enthused with them – I did take a few pictures but nothing spectacular. Swati has got much better pictures of the Wild Asses.
During the afternoon safari we again got lucky and Swati spotted a Desert Fox and once again Samt very expertly positioned the Gypsy so that we could get at least smoe pictures of this beautiful but rarely seen mammal. The Indian Desert Fox, Vulpes vulpes pusilla, is a subspecies of the Red Fox. Next we had an interesting encounter with a Peregrine Falcon. It had a band in its leg but unfortunately none of the photographs show any details on the band.
Due to all this rambling around on the terrain our vehicle fell victim to a huge Acacia thorn. We had a spare tire but the jack wouldn’t jack-up as it was jammed due to accumulated dust and grime. Aasim made a brilliant suggestion “Pour some water on it” and yes that worked. By the time we fixed the spare the light had faded. We came back to the resort to find some local doing the dance and msic routine for some other guest. Swati took the opportunity to take some interesting pictures which she will post soon.
Tomorrow is the last day of our stay. The holiday was very hectic but I have not had so much fun in a long long time…..
