After looking for a change in Ranthambore, the hotel owner had suggested a trip down to Chambal river for a boat ride. This would be at the banks of a village - Palighat which was about 40 km which would take about an hour. The ride took us through the town of Savoi Madhopur and then along the gates for zone 6 and through a number of smaller towns along the road.
The boat ride was a short one in the evening but we were fortunate to spot gharials and crocodiles basking on the shores, a few ruddy shelducks, other ducks and waders. Pied kingfishers and great thick-knees were also present along the shore. The area had a few tents for the overnight tourists, but most of the area seemed largely undisturbed except the occasional farmer. We were hoping for skimmers however they had not come that far downstream yet. A lone osprey flew by as we watched the sunset.
The next trip to Chambal was from Bharatpur to Dholpur with a much longer drive of over 120 kms taking almost three hours. On reaching there, we learned that due to disturbances, skimmers had gone further upstream, requiring us to take a boat ride which took about an hour and a half just to get to the area. Despite a lot of farming and mining on the banks, this area was much richer in bird-life. On the way to the skimmers, we saw quite a few bar-headed geese, gharials, crocs, spot billed ducks, ruddy shelducks, thick-knees and other waders. On reaching the skimmers, we spent some time watching them and also trying to photograph the flying fish. This proved a lot harder than expected even though we knew the area they would leap out as the boat got close. Just before we started back, hyena disturbed the nearby shelducks but got away just as quickly and quietly as it had come.
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