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Published: February 24th 2016
Bar-headed Geese in flight
Species Latin name: Anser indicusWell, here I am back in Jaipur, the Pink City, capital of Rajasthan, at the end of an eventful three weeks in my all-time favourite country. The story of the Prince and Princess was printed on a place-mat in the dining room of my hotel here. I just thought I’d share it with you. Smile and the world smiles with you!
I was last here three weeks ago
, having a whale of a time with friends old and new
(‘Here I go again’ and A good time was had by all…). This time, I again met up for dinner with my dear friend Lajpal, his wife and their lovely but shy daughter and, although he was snowed under with work on his officers’ training course, Lajpal very kindly took me
to the airport the next afternoon. It had been terrific to see him and his family once more - they're lovely, so welcoming and truly good friends.
Meantime, I had a unique opportunity to make two more new friends. Have you ever met up with people who’d previously only been 'Facebook Friends'? It’s an adventure into the unknown and, of course, one has to be a bit cautious about which Friends you choose to meet ’in the flesh’, so to speak.
Regular readers will know that I’m an Indiaphile and that, late in life, I’ve become an aspiring ‘birder’. I’d encountered several online Friends over the past year or two in a Facebook group devoted, somewhat logically, to birding in India. I'd admired their photographs of unfamiliar birds, 'Liked' them frequently and often commented favourably on them too. When they heard I was returning to India and, more specifically, coming to Jaipur, some had invited me to meet up - in their genuinely warm Indian fashion.
In the two previous blogs mentioned above, you’ll have read about my thoroughly enjoyable and very rewarding outings with one of them, Manish; it was great to do some real ‘untouristy’
Green Bee-eater
Merops orientalis things with someone so friendly and knowledgeable. Two other members of that same group, very keen birders Girdhar and his son Yashoraj, hadn't been able to get away when I was first in Jaipur on this trip. Now, on this my last day, here they were in my hotel lobby, larger than life - or certainly much taller than I’d imagined anyway!
After exchanging words of welcome and memorable gifts, I was whisked away in Girdhar’s sparkling white 4x4, first to a place known only to locals and members of the elite rifle shooting fraternity. The OASES
(Organized Archery, Shooting and Equestrian Sports) complex in the suburb of Jagatpura had been started under a previous government some eight or nine years ago with the intention of boosting Rajasthan’s heritage sports and nurturing budding talent. Here, in 18 hectares
(almost 45 acres) of scrub forest with well-made roads, were an archery complex, the skeleton of an indoor polo arena and accommodation towers, all of them unused since that day and now in a rather sad state. An abandoned shooting club facility had been restored and now provided good trap and skeet shotgun ranges, all due to the efforts of Girdhar
Indian Robin (female)
Saxicoloides fulicatus and an influential committee of which he’s a very important member. While he chaired a meeting, Yashoraj took me off on a birding jaunt around the complex.
Despite sounds of shotguns in the background, we found many interesting little birds, a Redstart, a Plum-headed Parakeet
(I'd always wanted to see one of these and Yashoraj found it for me, as if by magic, just from its ‘tooi-tooi’ call), a Green Bee-eater, a Purple Sunbird, and an Indian Robin quite unlike its European cousin. Surprisingly, we found a large troop of Grey Langur monkeys that seemed to have made its home in one of the concrete structures. The highlight though was a sighting of three Chital
(Spotted Deer) that were known to inhabit the complex but had seldom been witnessed by any of the shooting club’s members, yet alone photographed!
Meeting over, Girdhar drove us half an hour south-east - stopping off at McDonald’s to pick up a time-saving bite to eat on our way - towards Shivdaspura and ponds at Barkheda. Disappointingly, the ponds were largely non-existent, devoid of water. Fortunately, there were still some small areas of water remaining in fields beside nearby Chandlai Lake. There we
Chital in the OASES complex
Chital or Spotted Deer (Axis axis).
A mature stag, immature stag and a doe. saw numerous species of waterbird - a Snakebird
(Darter or Anhinga), Avocets, Common Snipe, Pintail Snipe, Little Grebe, Common Teal, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Common Redshank, and a huge flock of Bar-headed Geese grazing on the short grass that remained.
Out on the lake’s expanse of water, tantalisingly distant, were flocks of Spoonbills and other waterbirds, but the day had flown by and it was already time to head back to the hotel to prepare for my departure by the evening Jet Airways’ flights to Mumbai and London.
Reluctantly, I bid farewell to my new-found friends, but not without an invitation to return for more, and longer, birding adventures with them next year. I certainly didn’t need any persuasion. They were so kind and had willingly given up their time for this elderly Englishman, previously only a Facebook acquaintance. It felt as if we'd known each other for a very long time. They were really good company and our common enjoyment of the environment, bird-watching and photography made it one of the most rewarding few hours of my entire three-week stay in Rajasthan. I can’t wait until we meet again!
So, that’s Rajasthan (again!) for another year.
Grey Langur
Also known as Hanuman Langur. Looking back, I’ve made some wonderful new friends, spent quality time with them and with the many close friends I’ve known for years. I’ve visited places I probably wouldn’t have seen as a regular tourist, thanks to all of them - Smriti Van, Jawai, Mount Abu, Chandlai… to name but a few. And, never having travelled around India on my own before, I’ve had adventures that I couldn’t have dreamed of in places that my previous nine visits to this fascinating country hadn't taken me - Bikaner, Gajner, Khichan, Jaisalmer, Jorbeer, Ajmer, Pushkar... each of them different, every one of them photogenic, all of them exciting even.
What a great country this is!
Double click on the photographs to enlarge them and scroll down the page for more of them. The panorama at the top of this page is a slide-show too.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Travel Blog friends
We've met several of the people who blog on Travel blog and the friendship began by reading their blogs and commenting. As a matter of fact our friend Brendan who we are currently traveling with is one of those people. Like minded interest make for great friends. Your photos as always exceptional. Maybe our paths will cross.