Nature · Bishazari Tal
Dawn birding at Bishazari Tal
A morning with a bird guide on the trails and watchtowers around the lakes, looking for winter ducks, storks, herons, kingfishers and raptors, with mugger crocodiles on the banks as the sun burns off the mist.
Leave Sauraha or Bharatpur early to reach the lakes as the light comes up. In winter the water is often wrapped in mist, and the first sounds are ducks calling from the reeds and kingfishers rattling over the water. Your guide leads you along forest trails between lakes, stopping at watchtowers. Walks are on flat forest trails, mostly in shade, covering a few kilometres at a slow pace with frequent stops.
Typical winter sightings include lesser whistling ducks, ruddy shelducks, cormorants, purple herons, egrets, black-necked and woolly-necked storks and several kingfishers. Raptors such as Pallas's fish-eagle and crested serpent eagle hunt the margins. The lesser adjutant, a large threatened stork, is sometimes seen. Ask your guide to keep a list; a good winter morning can produce dozens of species, and the forest edge adds woodpeckers, barbets and minivets.
As the mist lifts, mugger crocodiles haul out on the banks and turtles climb onto logs. Deer move through the forest edge, and with luck you may see a rhino or the tracks of a tiger. Bring binoculars, a camera with a long lens, a warm layer and a flask of tea. Return to Sauraha or Bharatpur by late morning for breakfast.
Good for
Questions
What birds can I see at Bishazari Tal?
In winter, expect lesser whistling ducks, ruddy shelducks, cormorants, herons, egrets, several storks and kingfishers, and raptors such as Pallas's fish-eagle. Threatened species recorded here include the lesser adjutant and ferruginous duck. Forest birds such as hornbills and woodpeckers use the surrounding trees.
When is the best time for birding at Bishazari Tal?
November to March, when migrant waterbirds arrive from the north and the lakes are full. Early mornings are best, though fog in December and January can hide the water for the first hour or two. In the monsoon, from June to September, access is harder and birding is poorer.
Do I need a guide at Bishazari Tal?
Yes, we strongly recommend it. The lakes lie in a forest corridor used by tigers, rhinos and sloth bears, and walking alone is not safe. A local bird guide also finds and identifies far more species. Guides can be booked through lodges in Sauraha or Bharatpur.
Also in Bishazari Tal
More ways to spend the day
WildlifeCrocodiles and watchtowers at the lakes
A shorter visit timed for sunny winter mornings, when mugger crocodiles bask on the lake banks, turtles sun themselves on …
AdventureCycle the Barandabhar forest road
A guided bike ride from Bharatpur or Sauraha through farmland and the Barandabhar forest to the lakes, with a stop …
FoodTaas lunch in Bharatpur
After the lakes, stop in Bharatpur or Narayangadh for Chitwan's best-known dish: taas, goat meat marinated in spices and fried, …