It was with a nagging feeling of doubt of finding any birds that I decided to spend my free Saturday visiting the Sultanpur National Park. It had opened a good fortnight before the usual date in October. While most of the migratory birds were yet to arrive (such as Shovelers, Sheldon Ducks and Ferruginous ducks), the mostly resident birds such as the two pairs of Sarus Cranes were present. The Knob-billed ducks were there, squatting on the grass submerged in water. They had trampled upon the grass making it look as if a larger animal had done it!
The Common Pond Heron seemed least bothered to see me, and the Painted Storks were busy carrying twigs and other stuff to build their nests with. Incidentally, I was able to spot a couple of Sarus Cranes serenading and I got a perfect cross in one of the snaps.
Painted Storks though are quite common enough, and they seem to be clacking with their beaks, flying around with twigs in their beaks, busybodies but great to photograph while flying.
The stork that you see in the photograph above was photographed even as it passed by, a few stalks of grass obscuring part of it.
This is the same stork with a twig in its beak meant to build a nest. Painted Storks can be found in abundant numbers at the Sultanpur National Park, so much so that you might end up taking more snaps of them than the other species!
Bitterns and Common Pond Herons too can be found in large numbers at the Sultanpur National Park. The Heron in the above snap seemed quite comfortable in my presence. It remained on the log even after I'd passed it.
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