gryllosblog   Gryllo's (aka Ian Lewis') blog. All things to do with travel, wildlife especially birds, history, architecture and anything else that interests me.

After a final morning at Mt Abu we descended to the plain and continued south-westwards towards Gujarat. We met many cattle-jams on the road ….

…. passed through many traditional Indian villages ….

…. and makeshift camps of migrant workers.

Rubbish tips beside the road were a frequent sight ….

…. although it was quite surprising to find Peacocks foraging amongst the trash.

Among the many birds we saw on route were these Bhraminy Starlings …

…. and under a bridge we found a large colony of Streak-headed Swallows ….

…. although it was a job to get decent flight photos of them over the water.

Even before we had checked into the lodge we were shown this very obliging Pallid (or Bruce’s or Striated) Scops Owl in the grounds. The bird looked down at me at such a strange angle that I had to rotate the photo through 90 degrees for it to appear normal.

Like at Siana, transport was in these open-sided vehicles ….

which was fine in the afternoon sun, but in the early morning was very cold indeed ….

…. and extremely dusty as well.

Even so, I think it would be fair to say that some tour members rather overdid the protective clothing!

Most of the Little Rann of Kutch consists of barren mud flats. During the monsoon season storms force sea water over the area adding to the flooding caused by the heavy rain. As the water evaporates salt deposits build up over the millennia.

Temporary shelters spring up in the dry season as migrant workers harvest the salt deposits.

Salt pans can be seen in many places ….

…. and the product of their labour is piled up on the edge of the flats.

Much of the acacia woodland that surrounds the flats has been cut for firewood.

To cater for the need for firewood the Mexican mesquite bush was introduced a few decades ago and has spread explosively throughout western India. However acacia is still prefered as firewood, so the native wildlife-friendly acacia has been replaced by a wildlife-adverse alien. Shame they didn’t plant acacia saplings instead! Wintering Common Cranes are quite numerous in the area and can be seen feeding along the edge of the flats or in long Vs across the sky.

The Little Rann of Kutch is one of the last strongholds of the Asiatic Wild Ass or Onager.

The Onager is not the ancestor of the domestic donkey, that honour falls to the African Wild Ass of the Danakil area of Ethiopia and Somalia.

Once ranging from Israel to Siberia the range has contracted greatly and now only occurs in Iran, Pakistan and India plus parts of Central Asia.

As darkness fell we stayed to spotlight the restricted range Syke’s Nightjar.

After a morning of bustard searching on the flats we visited a nearby lake and in the surrounding fields found the endearing Indian Courser.

This group of Indian photographers were clearly watching what we were doing as within minutes of us finding the coursers they drove right  into the field for closer views.

The lake held good numbers of Lesser Flamingos. The Little Rann of Kutch is the only area outside of Africa where Lesser Flamingos breed.

As well as Lesser Flamingos there were numerous other water birds, ducks, waders, Spoonbills and these Common Cranes.

A few Nilgai were seen along the lakeside ….

…. as well as a number of Onagers.

This stallion was getting hassled by feral dogs ….

…. but he soon gave them the boot (or should that be soon gave them the hoof?)

We were just about to leave the Little Rann of Kutch when we found this Rufous-tailed Lark close to the road.

But one of the top bird on most people’s agenda was the increasingly rare Macqueen’s Bustard  which is now a scarce winter visitor from Central Asia. Formerly lumped with Houbara Bustard of North Africa and the eastern Canaries, this bird is the traditional target of Arab falconers and its numbers are dropping rapidly as a result. This bird was seen twice on the Little Rann of Kutch, both times briefly in flight and I missed it on the first occasion. Of course I didn’t get any photos so I have included one I took on the breeding grounds in Kazakhstan in 2005. This species is much smaller than the Great Indian Bustard, but just as hard to see and I only saw it on the final morning just before we headed off to our next stop at Moti Virani further north-east in Gujarat.

Let’s be corny and end with another glorious desert sunset.