Tal Chhapar is a famous birding destination in Rajasthan, specially for raptors. We, Nirmal Solanki, Dr. Durgesh Sharma, Vijendra Prakash Parmar and me, went to Tal Chhapar from Udaipur on 4 Oct 2014. It took long time for us to reach there as we drove down in the afternoon from Udaipur.

How to reach Tal Chappar :

It is easy to reach Tal Chhapar from Delhi by train or by road. But and there are many ways to reach Tal Chhapar from Delhi. Apart from Delhi, it is near to Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan which is well connected by all major cities in India by train as well as flight.  Another nearest train destination which is well connected is Ajmer.

There is a Mega Highway from Kishangarh on NH8 bypass of Kishangarh which goes to Tal Chhapar via Makrana, Kuchaman town, Didwana and Ladnun. This is straight two lane highway and one will reach Sujangarh ( the nearest lodging place for Tal Chhapar Sanctuary) if one follows this Mega Highway.

 

Where to stay for Tal Chaapar Birding ?

There are not many options to stay for birding at Tal Chhapar except some hotels at Sujangarh or Forest Guest House at Tal Chhapar. We stayed at Hotel Rama, near bus stand. It was not a good hotel, but very low cost. For food, one should visit Satyam Restaurant, near Ghanta Ghar, Gandhi Chowk. Another better hotel is Hotel Rich Garden, which is little better than Hotel Rama.

There are two places for birding at Tal Chhapar. One is Tal Chhapar Sanctuary for black bucks. It is grassland which has lot of insects, Mantis on which raptors feed. We saw the following raptors/birds in Tal Chhapar Sanctuary

1. Montagu’s Harrier
2. Lesser Kestrel
3. Common Kestrel
4. White Eyed Buzzard
5. Imperial Eagle
6. Steppe Eagle
7. Laggar Falcon
8. Sparrow Hawk

9. European Hobby
10. Grey Francolin
11. Brown Shrike
12. Black Drongo
13. White Eared bulbul
14. Demoiselle Crane
15. Long legged Buzard
16. Black Winged Kite
17. Tawny Eagle
18. Common Stonechat
19. Desert Wheatear
20. Paddy Field Pipit

Apart from above birds, it has hundreds of black bucks, any neel gai, Indian gazelle.

Another place for birding is Goshala, which is on the left of Mega-higway, approximately 3KM from Tal Chhapar sanctuary. This place has lot of Indian Spiny-Tailed Lizard which come out during the day to feed on grass. And Many raptors visit this area to feed on these spiny tailed lizards. We saw steppe eagle, long legged buzard, black kite, Laggar Falcon, Imperial Eagle, Monitor Lizard, Rednaped Ibis and also many black bucks. We could not find tree creeper which is commonly found here.

The best time to visit Tal Chhapar is during winters, from Nov to Feb in a year. We hope to visit Tal Chhapar again.

3 thoughts on “Birding at Tal Chhapar, Rajasthan”

  1. Wow! Can’t believe you can see so many raptors all at the same place. Beautiful! What is a good season to visit Tal Chappar, can you help please.

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