Monday 2 October 2017

Encounters of a close kind at the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary






Today when I visited the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary, Gurgaon, after it opened I had expected to see a lot of migratory birds! Sadly, however, there were fewer birds and there was barely any water in the lake. However what made my day was a spotting of a large number of black dragonflies (Anisoptera) that I had never seen before. My brother Sanjay also had a close encounter with a calf of the Asian Antelope.


I was also able to spot a colorful dragonfly that I have not seen before. The colors are simply mesmerizing. 


Apart from the dragonflies, there were also quite a few butterflies and I was able to get a nice shot of one of them that was trying to hang on to a grass stalk. I guess that was why I was able to get enough time to take a shot!


Of the birds, there were a few that I was able to photograph, that is when I was done with the insects!


Besides egrets and teals and coots, there were also cormorants. The painted storks were, however, few in number, although I did see a few of the painted storks on the Basai Wetlands!



At the rate at which the lake is drying up, it is clear that the bird sanctuary will lose the essence of a Bird Sanctuary as birds turn to other, better wetlands than the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary. A lot needs to be done in order to preserve the habitat of this bird sanctuary. 






No comments:

Post a Comment