Greylag Geese and Sarus Cranes spotted at the Sultanpur National Park

A visit to the Sultanpur National Park during the weekend yielded amazing results in spite of the bad weather conditions. A welcome spotting of an entire family of Sarus Cranes was perhaps the best reward that I could treat myself to. Sarus Cranes are the largest flying birds in the world and they can fly at a height of ten meters or more above the ground. Yesterday's sighting was of a male, female and a juvenile Sarus Crane. The Juvenile Sarus Crane lacks the red colouring around its head. The white patch on the crown of the head is common to juvenile and adult Sarus Cranes alike.

Based on repeated sightings of these amazing birds, one can see that Sarus Cranes are a closely-knit family. In the photograph posted above, one can see the mother in the foreground and the juvenile in the background. Throughout the time, I saw them, the mother stayed close to the juvenile Crane. The male stayed ahead of the two as if to scout the area ahead (A large number of Golden Jackals in the National Park might pose a problem for these birds).

Speaking of Jackals, my brother, Sanjay, who was following an ex-student and I was surrounded by Jackals some photographs of which he shared with me that I have posted below. It looks like the Covid-19 lockdown has had a favourable impact on the population of wild animals in the national park. While one might argue that the presence of carnivorous animals is important for maintaining a healthy eco-system, an imbalance between these animals and the rest of the animals and birds might lead to some kind of a turf war!

I guess it is a good idea to walk in groups while visiting National Parks. Another good idea is to keep a tripod or a monopod handy in case one has to chase away unwanted animals!

Coming to Greylag Geese, well, I guess they are some of the noisiest migratory birds I have ever seen. You can hear them long before you see them, that is of course when their lake is hidden from you by the underbrush. Greylag Geese incidentally happen to be migratory birds flying in all the way from Mongolia and Central Asia. Greylag Geese are quite large in size and they seem to be similar to Bar-headed Geese which should be arriving soon at the wetlands in Northern India.