How often do you find yourself experiencing the magical voice of cuckoo in your living place or in your neighborhood? Apparently, the answer will be, not even once in the past decade or so. We are so highly urbanized that we have lost the taste for the mixture of nature in our lives.
Just imagine yourself waking lazily up from your cushion bed and immediately you see a beautiful bird with its colorful feathers, greeting you with its melodious voice, right at your window by the bedside. It is just mesmerizing, isn’t it?
Have you ever felt that you are just doing a bit too much work? Are you stressed? Do you need to get relaxed and refuel yourself with vigor? Just take a leave from the daily routine and go for bird watching. You will be amazed to see the beautiful birds, their activities, their formations, and their care for their young ones.
Bird watching is accelerating its popularity in our country from the past few years. As we know that our country has a vast variety of landscapes and presents a wide variety of flora and fauna. It also hosts a large diversity of birds. Literally, for amateur bird watchers and beginners in bird watching, this country is a paradise.
Here is the list of the top bird watching places in our country.
1. Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, Rajasthan
Known for its reputation to host a habitat for exotic and endangered species of birds, Bharatpur bird sanctuary, also called Keoladeo Ghana national park, is well and truly one of its kinds. The exotic birds that you see here are the winter guests for the hottest state of India. You can lose yourself in the sublime scenes of the nature, embedded with these glorious birds.
This place is a bird lover’s heaven. The rickshaw pullers here are of dual purpose. They make you travel in the park comfortably as well as they act as a guide for you. They are well-trained; they ensure that you get the best sights captured in your camera as well as you have a nature-loving heart. It is a world heritage site. It is very interesting to know that it is a manmade wetland.
August to November is a nice time to watch the native birds in action whereas October to February is the best time to watch exotic birds.
2. Jim Corbett National Park
Jim Corbett National Park is a pioneer for the national parks in our country. For bird watching, this is the best in the business. The birds that you get to see here are astonishingly beautiful and undoubtedly mind-blowing. Placing itself in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand, this oldest national park in the country offers you to watch more than 500 species of birds.
This place gives something to cheer on for everyone. For natural music loving bird watchers, it presents your endless melodies of the bird songs, for scenery-loving people, it will amaze you with its versatility in its landscape. Dense forests here are blended beautifully with grasslands and mountains.
Mid- March to the end of April is the ideal time to pack your bags for this park.
3. Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary, Haryana
This Sultanpur bird sanctuary is like the ‘Badshah’ (invincible king) of all the bird sanctuaries of our country. It is located in Gurgaon, which is merely a one-hour drive from Delhi. This bird sanctuary boasts itself with over 250 avian breeds living in it. This is a go-to destination for many of the migratory birds, which come from various countries
The lake present at the heart of the park has been the major site of attraction for many of the bird watchers all around the world. At the lake, we can see many birds all together at a single place. It is really a treat to watch.
Winter is the best time to watch these birds in action.
4. Chilka Lake Bird Sanctuary, Odisha
Renowned as the Asia’s largest seawater lagoon – Chilka Lake in Orissa, proudly hosts ‘The Chilka Lake bird sanctuary’, which is perfectly placed on the shores of ‘The Bay of Bengal’. It has a vast area spreading over 1100 square kilometers. It presents itself as the largest guest house for the winter migratory birds. It is something like their second home to those migratory birds. They love to keep coming back to this sanctuary and have fun here.
For birdwatchers, this place will be surely on the top of their list because only in this sanctuary, they can observe unique species of birds like sea eagles and purple moorhen. Chilka throws you into astonishment when you see the abundance of the flamingos present here. Chilka is the largest breeding colony of the flamingos.
This sanctuary has many islands in it. You can take a boat to explore the beauty of the colorful birds. October to March is the best time to capture these beautiful birds.
5. Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, Kerala
Surrounded by the backwaters of the southern state Kerala – Kumarakom bird sanctuary is the home for most unique indigenous birds. The lands of this sanctuary are completely filled with greenery. This sanctuary is a part of Vembanad backwaters of the state. The sceneries that you get to see here are worth treasuring them in your heart for a lifetime.
It is just 80 km away from Kochi. This serves as an amusement park for the migrating birds. Local birds also play a major role in attracting bird watchers all around the world. You can hire a houseboat to experience the pleasure of bird watching in this sanctuary. June to August is the best time to hit this sanctuary.
6. Eaglenest Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh
This Eaglenest bird sanctuary has a peculiarity; this bird sanctuary has attracted the attention of India’s well-known birdwatcher and astronomer, Ramana Athreya. Nearly 454 avian species are found in this sanctuary. Bugun Liocichla, a rare bird species, has first come into the limelight in this sanctuary in 1995; again, in 2006, it was described by the bird watcher Ramana Athreya. Lama Camp is the best base camp that you can have here in this sanctuary.
Visit this place in between November to May and get astonished by the beauty of these birds.
Author Bio:
I am Rohit. I am a travel blogger and an Architect. I like traveling around the country and the world. I find it extremely exciting to explore and know about various places, cultures, customs, traditions, and people. By the way, I own a website called ‘TransIndiaTravels.com’, which enriches you with all information about traveling, new places to watch out and a whole lot of travel treasure in it.
