RAJ OWNS DESERT COURSER ECOLODGE and drives like a lunatic but seemed to know where every bird in Little Rann of Kutch could be found—he should since his father started the place 40 years ago! Even before we dropped our bags he lead us to a pair of Spotted Owlets and a Pallid Scop’s Owl then loaded us into open jeeps and roared into the cold darkness searching for nightjars.
Pair of Spotted Owlets, Desert Courser Ecolodge
Pallid Scop's Owl, Desert Courser Ecolodge
The Indian Nightjar and Sykes’s Nightjar are shy birds that sit motionless in the desert grass. When our marauding jeeps flushed them Raj and Bablu would note where they landed then freeze them with a spotlight while we approached for a look—or in my case, photos. And speaking of freezing….
Indian Nightjar
Sykes's Nightjar
It was still cold early Monday morning as we sped back and forth across the dry, cracked salt marsh, chasing reports of Indian Eagle Owl sightings. Easy to see on the wing, the owl was nearly invisible on the ground even through the high-powered spotting scope. The herds of Wild Ass were much easier to find.
A cold, dusty and bumby wake-up
Well-hidden Indian Eagle Owl
Wild Ass of Little Rann of Kutch
The trip was winding down by the time we reached Bhuj and the Great Rann of Kutch. Another freezing jeep ride wrapped in heavy woolen blankets yielded hundreds of common cranes, assorted larks, desert wheatears and pipits but zero McQueen’s Bustards, our target bird. The trip may have been winding down but my Delhi Belly was getting worse. I chose to stay at the lodge and minister myself with tea, toast and Imodium in the rock-hard bed rather than take the 6-hour RT jeep ride to the coast, bequeathing my jeep blanket to Connie. We've seen most of the shore birds and I felt sicker than a dawg!
Flocks of Common Cranes
and Desert Wheatears . . . but Zero McQueen's Bustards
After a long ride to Khuj and a flight to Mumbai, the main trip was over. Being so near the border with Pakistan the security check at Khuj was ridiculously meticulous—even binoculars and headlamps were examined. Pierre and Elisabeth left us in Mumbai for a few days of sightseeing and a luxury hotel while the rest of us soldiered on.
