India July - August 2011, Agra

No visit to India is complete without a visit to the Taj Mahal, or at least that is what many travel guides tell you. We followed this advice and paid this monument that is by many named "the most beautiful building in the world" a visit. The Taj Mahal did not disappoint and I agree with its informal name. However next to the Taj, we enjoyed some views of the more common Indian species in this city. Just within the gardens surrounding the Taj Mahal we found several interesting species like Egyptian Vulture, Little Green Bee-eater, Spotted Owlet, Jacobin Cuckoo, Indian Grey Hornbill, Brown-headed Barbet, Jungle-babbler, Rose-ringed Parakeet and Indian Chat. Behind the Taj Mahal flows the Yamuna River. Here we saw some other interesting birds including River Lapwing, Painted Stork, Eurasian Spoonbill, Red-wattled Lapwing, Large Grey Babbler and Rufous Treepie.

Indian Chat (Cercomela fusca)

Indian Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros birostris)

Spotted Owlet (Athene brama) with a damaged pupil

The endangered Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopteros) can be seen soaring above the Taj Mahal

Male Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

The Taj Mahal, seen from the Backside. Painted Storks (Mycteria leucocephala), River Lapwings (Vanellus duvaucelii), Red-wattled Lapwings (Vanellus indicus) and Indian Jungle Crows (Corvus culminatus) foraging at the Yamuna River.

Most monuments within Agra have large gardens like the ones at the Taj Mahal and all these gardens hold similar species and more. Next to the gardens of Monuments we also paid the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary a visit. This site is easily reached by taxi from Agra city center. This bird sanctuary was quite disappointing as it did not hold many birds next to a single Asian Openbill, a single Asian Woollyneck, some Oriental Darters, Indian and Little Cormorants and some Indian Rollers and Rufous Treepies. We also visited the Bear Rescue facility that is also located within this bird sanctuary. The rescue center is interesting and the people there are very welcoming and keen to teach you about their bears. However next to this rescue center there is very little of interest in the sanctuary, both for "normal" tourists and birders, as most of the bird sanctuary seemed to be military terrain and therefore off limits. I would not recommend the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary as a birding site.

Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster)

Indian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis) and Little Cormorant (Microcarbo niger) in flight