Birding at Anklav lakes: Jan 22nd 2006
Sorry for the length, but I get carried away when birding!
Anklav is a small shanty town 25 kms from Baroda on the way to Borsad.
While fellow birders in Mumbai were in the bird race, we folks 400 kms away decided to have our own birding bash. So away we (Lajoo Notani, Jignasa & Dilip Mavadia along with little Dhwani and yours truly) went to cover the rather small but picturesque water bodies in this area.
To reach this place, we pass via Sindhrot which is a good birding spot and for which I have so far recorded nearly 90 species. It boasts of a good nature park run by the Gujarat Nature Conservation Society and has the river Mahisagar intersecting its landscape. As expected Sindhrot did not disappoint. We were amply rewarded with the sight of nearly 10 yellow footed Green Pigeons perched atop a tree on the ravines. Oh what a site in the morning sunlight! Further down on the banks of the Mahisagar were a huge flock of nearly 40 Glossy ibis. And below us under the bridge were 2 huge turtles- can any one suggest their name? Also seen were a few Ruddy Shelduck and Little Egrets.
Continuing our journey, we reached the first lake-Meramani. Like my experience of last week again a big disappointment. Last year it was teeming with waders. This year, there were few ducks to be seen. The Lesser Whistling Ducks present in large numbers were conspicuous by their absence. Also missing were the large number of Garganys (only 2 could be seen), comb ducks and Mallards. Nevertheless, this water body though small has a picture post card like beauty with trees dotting the lake and beyond. It is peaceful enough to hear the bird songs and other sounds of nature (though an occasional tractor blast can spoil that). We spent a good amount of time counting the few birds and were greatly entertained by the 3 Common Kingfishers – a pair romancing on the surface of the lake while the bachelor boy (or was it a spinster) looked on forlorn. While leaving a parting bonus was the Black-rumped flameback which suddenly flew out of a Gando baval tree above us. We could hear the calls but were unable to spot him till now.

The next lake at Joshikua was almost devoid of birds except a few Black winged stilts and a lonely Little Cormorant. However, the redeeming feature was the antics of a Pied Kingfisher swooping upon its Prey. It gave us many thrilling moments with its graceful glide and springing. We found there was extensive fishing going on at this lake. The third lake was Kosindra again very poor in Bird-life compared to last year.

This year there seems to be a drastic fall in both the species as well as the number of birds in this area. However, I have not come across any sick birds with suspicion of the dreaded bird flu. Something we need to take note of.

Here is the bird list for the 2 of the 3 lakes.
Meramani:

Little cormorant
Indian cormorant
Intermediate Egret
Little Egret
Pond Heron
Glossy Ibis
Black Ibis
Common Teal
Gargany
Common coot
Common Moorhen
Bronze Winged Jacana
Red wattled Lapwing
Black winged Stilts
Common Sandpiper
Gull Billed Tern
Eurasian collared dove
Rose ringed parakeet
Kingfisher- Pied, common, white breasted
Green Bee-eater
Black rumped Flameback
Red rumped Swallow
Black Drongo
Long tailed Shrike
Common Myna
Rufous Treepie
Long billed Crow
Red vented Bulbul
Large Grey Babbler
Jungle Babbler
Chiff Chaff
Magpie Robin
Indian robin
Yellow wagtail
Purple Sunbird

Kosindra
White Wagtail
Purple Heron
Western Reef Egret
Black Winged Stilt
Small egret
Large Egret
Tree Pipit
Pond Heron
Blue rock Pigeon
Common Myna
House Crow
Long Billed Crow