Little Rann of Kutch

The little Rann of Kutch was established in 1973,the largest sanctuary in India, which is spread over 4,953 sq km covering the five districts of Surendranagar, Banaskantha, Patan, Kutch and Rajkot.

The Rann is a flat, white, cracked and utterly barren land in winter ,vehicles can break the speed limit on it except for sparse vegetation known for different species of birds and mammals.There are 364 hills, called bets, which rise across the Rann, and become islands during the monsoon, providing food and shelter to birds & mammals.

Me & Ameet visited this place in the trip organized by Nature India.We got an opportunity to see more than 100 species of birds (Thanks to Group Leaders Adesh & Mandar).



Flamingoes, pink ones in bleeding plumage





Peacock



  

 Wire tailed swallow who has long fine wires in tail



Black Drongo alone on the barren land





Camouflaged Desert Wheatear





Common Cranes family (Two Adults with a  kid)





Young colorful girls, balancing enormous stack of woods





Ruff in a bleeding plumage sharing the canvas with Red wattled lapwing





Black winged stilt kissing its own reflection





The Ruff





Marsh Sandpiper



Rosy Starling feeding on dried corns





Black headed Ibis and Black Wing Stilt





Painted storks along with Spoonbill and Egret





Common Sandpiper





Cormorant drying its wings





Egret with its reflection





Ashy-Crowned Sparrow-Lark





White throated Kingfisher





Greylag Goose





Greylag Goose in flight





Flock of birds(ID ?)





Greylag Goose.These are the migratory birds who travel thousands of miles all the way from Siberia during winter





Green Bee-Eater





Family of Saras Crane.These are the tallest flying birds in the world.





Bay backed Shrike





Wild Ass , a unique species only found in LRK.The count is about 300.They are very shy & run away if approached in their proximity.





During monsoon the land of Rann is under water and it dries up very quickly and cracks in winter



White wagtail looking for a companion





Squirrels munching on green berries





Peacock running away





Mongoose





Eurasian Vulture in a rehabilitation center





Pallied Scopes Owl highly camouflaged





Feeling high (Peacock with pigeons)





Red Ringed Parakeet





Juvenile painted stork





Juvenile painted stork looking out for their parents





Juvenile painted stork waiting for their parents to bring food





Shikra-Female





Indian Roller



Common Kestral





Pied Kingfisher



The colony of Pied Kingfisher.I was not lucky to capture them.But enjoyed a site of watching them hovering in the air and diving in the water to catch the fish.





Moon over the Rann





Sunset in LRK

 Along with above mentioned birds, we also saw Spotted Dove, Laughing Dove, Red Collared Dove, Short Eared Owl, Bluethroat, Brahminy starlings, White-eared bulbuls, Red vented bulbuls, Common babblers, Barn swallows, Black shouldered kite, Streak Throated Swallows , Red Rumped Swallow, Barn, Desert Warbler, Peregrine Falcon and many more.

Thanks to Adesh & Mandar for educating us to this different world of birds.It was a amazing experience.This has given us nice break from a regular daily schedule and we are looking forward for more such trips in the future.