Sultanpur

We went straight to our hotel upon arrival in Delhi in the early morning and had breakfast before heading out to Sultanpur – a drive of about two hours. As soon as we arrived we headed over to the main area of pools and had cracking views of a pair of Sind Sparrows which were nesting in a hole in a tree right below the track. 

Sind Sparrow

This is such a range restricted and local species so was a great way to start the mornings birding. We also found an Eastern Imperial Eagle perched in a large dead tree and several Ferruginous Ducks, both new species for us. We also got word that a Baikal Teal had been present recently so we sifted through several thousand waterfowl, but to no avail. 

Black-necked Stork

We also found Black-necked Stork, Greater Spotted and Booted Eagles, another Brooks’s Leaf-warbler, a pair of Yellow-fronted Woodpeckers, and a surprise find in a Yellow-browed Warbler. There were loads of birds here and it was a very pleasant few hours watching all the activity with numerous egrets, herons, storks. Then we drove back to our hotel after a picnic lunch and met up with the new members of the group joining us for the second half of the tour.