Okhla Bird Santuary

Pic Credits:Akshat

After another round of classes on the Customs Act, here it was again, our beloved Weekend. After missing out on the Heritage Walk to the antiques of old Delhi, I was looking forward to this Biking trip that was being planned to Murthal essentially by the foodies who had agreed to drive around 80 Kilometers to and fro to grab a bite of the acclaimed Punjabi food that is served their. But i guess, the "Inflation" took us all down and in light of the indifference, it was decided to scrap it altogether.

The Plan B came alive all of a sudden and Okhla Bird Sanctuary was suddenly the place to be. Now even when people do like bird-watching all the time but going to a Bird Sanctuary is still taxing to many and hence there were only eight who showed interest and turned up. Early morning is usually the best time to see those migratory birds and in this light it was decided that we embark upon our voyage around 0730 hrs. Akshat dude, I would say that was quite ambitious for a Sunday when clearly people are having a hard time getting up at Nine on weekdays. But the God is kind, there was a huge blanket of fog and we delayed it and only started by Nine.

On the way we wondered whether Birds also delay their flight plans on the occasion of a chilly winter morning with overwhelming mist. I guess procrastination is common to all species. We finally reached the place and were welcomed with a debate on whether the driver of the cab is obligated to take a ticket. It was quite amusing that such minuscule things which not even deserve an ephemeral part of your attention become so large. Anyways, here we were, midst the Elephant Grass in this scenic Bird sanctuary with polluted black water witnessing the miracle of so many flying....Crows!

The place was literally full of them as if they were some invasive species who have outgrown all other bird species for whom came so many tourists. But then appeared this guy on a boat from almost nowhere and enlightened us that we were on the wrong side of the sanctuary. God bless him and his mutilated boat. Now along with us was this huge group of foreigners who were completely armed with Binoculars and Cameras with these huge lenses. As compared to them we looked like a bunch of technologically handicapped hippies. Nevertheless, we trekked further towards a watching tower encountering on the way more  litter than birds. Such an irony. We pollute the environment like hell and then sit in it wondering where the damn birds are? Such irony!

But then we agreed upon a brilliant idea that on the future Nature/heritage walks we would carry poly bags and stuff and we could contribute to the Swachcha Bharat Abhiyaan while touring around. After reaching atop on the tower  we missed those foreign tourists dearly. Not really, actually we missed their Binoculars. Although it was a breathtaking panoramic view in front of us but no detail was visible to the naked eye. We could only see them from the awesome pictures taken by Spencer! We decided to go near to the lake so that we could see some of species whose names we had mugged up as a part of Environment Syllabus for UPSC. When we reached there, to our surprise, most of them looked alike, most of them looked black. We blamed the dirty black water!

Pic Credits: Spencer

Overall, it was nice, as it always is when you are in the lap of nature. Just to sit there along side the waters seeing them in large numbers just idling around is definitely refreshing. It energizes you. Especially, for the week ahead full of lectures. Since we had time left on the clock, we decided to raid Hauz Khas Village for some Sea Food. From seeing birds to eating them...time flies so quickly!

Thanks Akshat for this wonderful outing!