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May 31, 2008

After mulling over it for several months, finally I zeroed in on a day when Kishore was in town and enthusiastic about driving as well as birding; when birding-friend AMS agreed to explore the Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP) with us and Kabir was safely ensconced in Bangalore with his grandparents so didn’t have to be forced into accompanying us at an unearthly hour.

I didn’t find directions to YBP on the Net but knew that delhibirders had been there several times. A quick exchange of messages with delhibirder Anshuman Varma got me the directions reproduced below, after which the only challenge was to wake up early enough to meet AMS and his friends by 6 am!

I sort of knew that 6 am would mean leaving home before 5 am and waking up even before that, and was concerned about the actual execution of that plan. But so keen I was to see this collaborative effort between the Delhi University and DDA that despite the head telling me otherwise, I listened to my heart and somehow got us both going just before 6 am! AMS phoned and said he was already at YBP and entering the park. An hour-long drive that was pleasant for end-May in Delhi showed us many yellow YBP boards after the Wazirabad crossing, and soon we found ourselves in a neat parking lane outside the YBP gate.

There was no entry fee to the park, and a bunch of guys manning the gate looked only too happy to see more human faces. AMS and friends had already been scanning the park for an hour, and said they’d seen the usual birds. We also started with the usual and ended with an unusual Streaked Weaver. The usual ones included Green Bee-eaters, Plain Prinias, Asian Koels, Coppersmith Barbets, Rose-ringed Parakeets, Paddyfield Pipits, Greater Coucal, Black Drongos, Red Whiskered Bulbuls, Eurasian Collared Doves, Common Hoopoes, Peafowl, Large Grey Babblers, Spotbill Ducks, Whistling Teals and one each of Golden Oriole, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Pond Heron, Cormorant, Black Kite and possibly a White-tailed Stonechat. Also, there were hares scampering about and at least two long snakes hurrying into the weeds!

The park was large, nicely conceived with paved pathways all along but devoid of water and unkempt in some places. There were old, knotted and interestingly-shaped trees and there were lots of newer guava and pomegranate trees. There were also lots of saplings under nets giving evidence of a regular supply of trees if those around didn’t do well. The area looked promising and worth several visits in different seasons to check the difference in species.

On the way back, Kishore and I stopped by Tee Dee’s at Majnu ka Tila for a breakfast of Thukpa, Tibetan bread and ginger-honey tea, and declared that it was a morning well-spent.

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PS: AMS tells me that our brown bird is a female Pied Bushchat, and I owe the id of our weaver to him too. He has excellent id’ing skills and I hope some day I’d have the same clarity about the confusing warblers/ pipits/ chats as he does.

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Directions to Yamuna biodiversity park, Delhi

- Go straight down the road from Majnu Ka Tila for a couple of kilometres till you come to the big Wazirabad crossing (for ID - there is short divider here which splits the straight-going lane into two). Carry on straight.
- Take a right from one of the red lights after the Wazirabad crossing.
- The right turn will take you over a bridge on a nalla. Once on the other side, take a left so that you are running parallel to the nalla.
- Just look out for and follow the YBD signboards. You will need to take a right again which will lead you to YBD.

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Photos taken by Kishore: