I had last visited Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary near Gurgaon
way back in 2007 and that too without having any knowledge about the place and
hence could not get very many pictures of the destination. Having visited Rankhet region in January and
due to pre-occupation in the office, I could not find time to visit any of the
winter birding sites near Delhi during the winters. Therefore, when the weekend offered some
respite from the office work, I immediately made announcement of the
forthcoming trip to Sultanpur on the last Saturday of 2013 and made
preparations likewise. However, on the
ensuing night of travel, I was suddenly jolted out of my slumber by a thunderous
thunder clap, caused by a thunder that had struck nearby, rattling the window
panes et al. It started pouring cats n’
dogs, but the optimist in me reassured that in Delhi such thunder showers are
only passing phase and it would settle down in a hour or so. Slowly, as my ears got used to the repeated
thunder claps, I gradually receded back to sleep. However, as my alarm clock buzzed, I found
that it was still raining outside. By
this time my wife also had got up and started getting the food stuff etc.
organized for the picnic, we were to embark upon. Even the driver rang up on the dot, seeking
advice regarding his reporting time, which I promptly postponed by an hour and
informed him that I would be calling him up, as and when we were ready to leave
or inform him if the trip was off. But I
could not find any signs of the sky relenting and slowly the pessimist in me
took over and I went back to my bed. My
wife, however, refused to take the matter lying down and she started surfing
the internet and searched the weather sites, looking for the exact weather
conditions prevailing in Sultanpur.
Suddenly, she called me out aloud and informed me that the weather would
remain overcast, but the chances of rainfall in Sultanpur were very scarce till
2.30 P.M. in the afternoon. Her argument
was that in any case I would have covered the park by that hour even if we
reached there by 11.00 A.M, I reluctantly got out of the bed, only partly
convinced and thus, the credit for this entire trip goes to her optimism.
Overcast Dwarka
Entering Gurgaon
Sheetala Mata temlple in Gurgaon
We
started almost two hours late than the originally scheduled time of 7.00 A.M.
and started a little after 9.00 A.M. from Dwarka and found that the roads were
empty and conditions heavily overcast as the drizzling continued. We got past Dwarka and headed towards
Gurgaon. On the Old Gurgaon road, after
going past the Bijwasan crossing & then past Kapashera, we finally crossed
over to Gurgaon. Being a Saturday, it
was working day for many a factory workers and the road till the Maruti Company
was awash both with a sea of people alongwith that of the actual kind i.e.
Water logging. The progress was slow,
but as we headed away from Delhi the drizzling stopped and by the time we had
got past Gurgaon, there were patches of blue sky visible. We reached Sultanpur at around 10.30 A.M. and
immediately headed for the ticket counter and luckily we were one of the first
to reach there. The ticket price is
reasonable with an entry fee of Rs.5/- per person, parking fee @ Rs.10/- ,
Still Camera @ Rs.25/- and any Video Camera (professional or otherwise) @
Rs.500/-, since we were carrying all the articles listed, I purchased tickets
worth Rs.560/- for entry to the Sanctuary.
Thereafter, we head our B’fast in the car itself, properly arranged by
my better half and then headed into the Sanctuary. But as we were about to enter, it started
drizzling and I immediately covered my gear with weather cover provided in the
Lowepro Camera Bag and took out my Umbrella, a wee bit skeptical as to whether
we would have smooth or a rough time inside.
My negative thoughts were blown away along with the drizzle by a strong
gust of wind and despite being overcast, we had a fairly comfortable visit to
the Sanctuary.
Countryside on way to Sultanpur
Had rained earlier but blue patches of sky appear in distance
Sultanpur National Park is located 16 kms from Gurgaon, on the Gurgaon-Farrukhnagar stretch, off the Delhi - Jaipur Highway (NH-8). Sultanpur
National Park falls in the Gurgaon
district of Haryana,
surrounded by Kaliwas village in the North, Sadhrana village to the South,
Sultanpur village to the West and Chandu village to its East. Typical of the
area, the geography is semi-arid (it borders Rajasthan), and has been notified as an Eco Sensitive Zone by the
Govt. of India (Ministry of Environment & Forests). The Sultanpur Lake was a seasonal lake and originally
used to fill up in the monsoons only, but is now fed with water from the Yamuna
River. It is surrounded by marshes around it, and lush greenery, especially in
the monsoons. The area surrounding the lake is filled with reeds and grasses,
but no large trees. Although the name of
Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary has been associated with the great Indian
ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali, but the credit of actually identifying the place
goes to Mr.Peter Jackson, a keen bird watcher and the then Honorary Secretary
of the Delhi Bird Watching
Society. Mr.Peter Jackson, along with
his friends, used to frequent the Najafgarh Lake to watch birds in the early
1950s. This lake was created as a result of excessive monsoons and a blocked
drain into the Yamuna. However, by the mid 1960s, the govt. of Delhi had cleared
this blockage in the drain and the Najafgarh lake had disappeared, and so had
the birds. Jackson traveled further north to see where the birds could have
moved on to and discovered another lake created by the monsoons. This was the
Sultanpur Lake. The lake was full of fish and insects and had lush
surroundings, all of which attracted birds from all over the region.
On the way - Indian Roller
On the way - Grey hornbill
On the way - Alexdrine Parakeet
On the way in Dwarka - Black Eastern Redstart
On the way - A Kingfisher
Over the next few
years, Jackson took many bird lovers, including Dr. Salim Ali to this lake.
Finally, in 1970 Mr.Jackson approached the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs.
Indira Gandhi, with a request to convert the lake and its surrounding areas
into a bird sanctuary. Ms.Indira Gandhi, who was also the founder of the Delhi
Bird Watching Society, took keen interest in this proposal and instructed the
Govt. of Haryana to
undertake the project. Thus, in 1972, the Sultanpur
Bird Sanctuary was created from
the 359 acres of land surrounding the lake.Twenty years
later, on the 13th of July 1989, Sultanpur was upgraded to the status of a
National Park. The Govt. of
Haryana took many steps to ensure the long term sustainability of the
sanctuary. While the lake was originally a monsoon-fed lake, the Govt. made
arrangements from the Yamuna River to ensure that the lake now functioned
through the year. Additional trees such as Neem and Acacia were planted along
the lake, as these trees are known to attract birds. Few artificial islands
were also created in the lake, to facilitate the roosting of the birds.
In Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary - a bill board
Right at the entrance - White wagtail
A huge bee hive
Water birds galore
Black & white - A cormorant & an Egret
Common Moorhen
Cheetals resting
Close up of a Cormorant
Eurasian Spoonbill landing & a Kingfisher on the branch watching
Spoonbill in flight
Neelgai or Swamp Deer
Norther Pintails
Norther Pintails in flight
A Northern Shoveller in flight
Purple Moorhen
Birds roosting
Today Sultanpur
National Park offers visitors a glimpse to over 250 different bird species,
bulk of which (150+) are the resident avian population and the remaining (100)
are migratory birds, which come in from as far as Siberia, Turkey, Afghanistan
and East European countries. Amongst
the resident Bird Species, a few are - Purple Sunbird, Eurasian Thick Knee,
Common Hoopoe, Black Headed Ibis, Little Egret, Great Egret, Cattle Egret,
Common Hoopoe, Painted Stork, Paddyfield Pipit, White Ibis, Black Headed Ibis,
Crested Lark, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Red Collared Dove, Little
Coromorant, Indian Cormorant, Common Spoonbill, Gray Francolin, Rock Pigeon,
Magpie Robin, Weaver Bird, White throated Kingfisher, Red Wattled Lapwing,
Plover, Indian Roller, Red Vented Bulbul, Rose Ringed Parakeet, Common Mynah,
Bank Mynah, Green Bee Eater, Greater Coucal. Although, the Bird Sanctuary once boasted of
hosting the Siberian Crane, it was last recorded in 2009 and amongst the other Migratory
Bird Species that visit the lake every year are - The Demoiselle Crane, Greater
Flamingo, Common Teal, Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Northern Shoveler, Black
Winged Stilt, Ruff, Common Greenshank, Spot billed Pelican, Rosy Pelican,
Spotted Greenshank, Starling, Bluethroat, Spotted Sandpiper, Eurasian Pigeon. Striped
Snipe and Brahminy Duck are also visible in winters, though not very often. Apart from them, there are other wild life of
four legged variety that can be seen in the National Park, namely - Striped
Hyena, Leopard, Blue Bull, Nilgai, Black Buck, Four Horned Antelope, Wild Dog,
Mongoose, Hedgehog, Caracal, Indian Porcupine, Wild Cat and Rattle Badger. Not
all of these are originally from this habitat; some of them were introduced by
the Govt. to create a better overall balanced ecosystem habitat in the area. However, as far as flora of the region goes,
the area is a dry deciduous forest with primary vegetation is grasses like
Savannah, and trees like Jamun, Khair (Acacia), Ber, Tendu, Banyan and Dhok. However, the forest surroundings are covered
with small grasses and bougainvilleas that have been entirely created by humans
and leave an evident touch of human hands intervening in the pristine natural
vistas. We enjoyed every bit of our
sojourn to this place, till we were brought back to the city environs by a
large group of ladies of all sizes & shapes strutting around the perimeter
talking & conversing loudly. I
thought that I would have the place to myself after they go past, but in came a
cacophony of primary school students, led by their teachers and I realized that
my trip for the day was all but over and as I moved out of the nature zone, it
had started to drizzle, as aptly forewarned by the weathermen for the day.
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