Bird watching on Gandaki River


Tuesday 3rd of April 2018 and I was walking around the hotel area for 30 minutes or so looking for birds before the breakfast. I had bacon, egg and home fried potato for breakfast. Amazing, they serve Cumin potato with the bacon and egg. Who the he**? Seriously, why change the potato now? Why suddenly decide to have Cumin potato to the breakfast today?

The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus),

also known as the gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae, and is native to the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent. The global wild gharial population is estimated at fewer than 235 individuals, which are threatened by loss of riverine habitat, depletion of fish resources, and entanglement in fishing nets. As the population has declined drastically since the 1930s, the gharial is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

The gharial is one of the longest of all living crocodilians, measuring up to 6.25 m, though this is an extreme upper limit, as the average adult gharial is only 3.5 to 4.5 m in length. With 110 sharp, interdigitated teeth in its long, thin snout, it is well adapted to catching fish, its main diet. The male gharial has a distinctive boss at the end of the snout, which resembles an earthenware pot known in Hindi as ghara. The gharial's common name is derived from this similarity.

Gharials once inhabited all the major river systems of the Indian Subcontinent, from the Irrawaddy River in the east to the Indus River in the west. Their distribution is now limited to only 2% of their former range. They inhabit foremost flowing rivers with high sand banks that they use for basking and building nests. They usually mate in the cold season. The young hatch before the onset of the monsoon.

The gharial is one of three crocodilians native to India, the other two being the mugger crocodile and the saltwater crocodile.

The gharial - Long nosed crocodile

Distribution and habitat
The gharial once thrived in all the major river systems of the Indian Subcontinent, spanning the rivers of its northern part from the Indus River in Pakistan across the Gangetic floodplain to the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar. Today, it is extinct in the Indus River, in the Brahmaputra of Bhutan and Bangladesh, and in the Irrawaddy River. Its distribution is now limited to only 2% of its former range.

• In Nepal, small populations are present and slowly recovering in tributaries of the Ganges, such as the Narayani-Rapti river system in Chitwan National Park and the Karnali-Babai river system in Bardia National Park.

• In India, small populations are present and increasing in the rivers of the National Chambal Sanctuary, Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, and Son River Sanctuary. Another small population exists in the rainforest biome of Mahanadi in Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary, Odisha, where they apparently do not breed. In 2008, a population of about 100 individuals was recorded in Corbett Tiger Reserve. In 2010, several individuals were recorded in the Gandaki River downstream the Triveni barrage west of Valmiki Tiger Reserve and adjacent to Sohagi Barwa Wildlife Sanctuary.


Gharial is sympatric with mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) and formerly with saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) in the delta of Irrawaddy River. In 1977, four nests were recorded in the Girwa River of Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, where 909 gharials were released until 2006. Twenty nests were recorded in 2006, so 16 nesting females resulted from 30 years of reintroductions, which is equivalent to 2% of the total pre-2006 releases.

This is seemingly not a great achievement for the money and effort spent, and as several researchers have suggested, perhaps carrying capacity has been reached there. In 1978, twelve nests were recorded in the Chambal River in the National Chambal Sanctuary, where 3,776 gharials were released until 2006. By 2006, nesting had increased by over 500% to 68 nests, but the recruited mature, reproducing females constituted only about 2% of the total number released. The newly hatched young are especially prone to being flushed downstream out of the protected areas during the annual monsoonal flooding.

Conservation status
Gharial, Gavialis gangeticus
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2017-3.
International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 20 March 2018.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I went down to the jeep at 7 and we were soon on our way down to the river. The main reason for me to go on the river is to see the long nosed crocodile, the gharial. If we're lucky we can come up close to the gharial. I will be happy just to see one of the crocodiles.

There is a holy man praying at the river when we come down to the water front. We get in to the boat and for the first time since I came to Chitwan, we spot a gharial just across the river.

Bird watching on Gandaki River
The jeep is waiting for us

Bird watching on Gandaki River
Praying to the river

We want to check out the crocodile and I suggest that we go up river and to cross the river and to float down towards the crocodile. We continue up the river and we pass several of the beautiful Small Pratincole. And we can hear them everywhere. We also saw a Sand Lark doing a breeding dance and this looked very funny.

Listen to the Small Pratincole
Own recording from Gandaki River - 3 April 2018

Bird watching on Gandaki River - gharial
Gharial relaxing having a good time

Bird watching on Gandaki River - gharial
We float by the Gharial

Bird watching on Gandaki River - Small Pratincole, Little Pratincole, Small Indian Pratincole, पानीगौथली, Glareola lactea, นกแอ่นทุ่งเล็ก

Bird watching on Gandaki River - Small Pratincole, Little Pratincole, Small Indian Pratincole, पानीगौथली, Glareola lactea, นกแอ่นทุ่งเล็ก
Small Pratincole - पानीगौथली

Bird watching on Gandaki River - Sand Lark
Sand Lark performing a breeding dance

We had a couple of rapids and our paddlers got out and pulled and pushed the boat up the rapids. We had passed a couple of rapids when we spotted another long nosed crocodile enjoying the sunshine on the beach. We used the same technique as with the first crocodile.

We crossed the river upstream from the crocodile and we floated down towards the crocodile. The crocodile, well, the Gharial didn't mind us coming down towards him with the camera aiming at the Gharial. It is for sure a beautiful animal and I'm still very happy that I agreed to walk across the bridge back in Bardia so I got to see the Critically Endangered Gharial.

And today we had been lucky, this is the second Gharial we see today and the second I have sen up close, they were very far away watching them from the high bridge.

Bird watching on Gandaki River - gharial
Gharial relaxing having a good time

Bird watching on Gandaki River - gharial
Gharial relaxing having a good time

Bird watching on Gandaki River - gharial
We crossed the river and we can see that we will float by very close to the crocodile

Bird watching on Gandaki River - gharial

Bird watching on Gandaki River - gharial

Bird watching on Gandaki River - gharial

Bird watching on Gandaki River - gharial

Bird watching on Gandaki River - gharial

We had been on the way for 2 hours or so and as the guy had been working hard I decided to turn around, no need to paddle or pulling/ pushing any more as we will go down stream. But before we turned around we put the boat on the beach, well, only the forward part and we enjoyed the views for a while.

We observed a Great Cormorant fishing and the bird was coming down stream and just before the bird reached the rapids, or the white water the bird took off. We had spotted a few Intermediate Egrets on the way “UP” river and we will try to get closer trying to get some pictures on the way back to the hotel.

Bird watching on Gandaki River - Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, जलेवा, Great Black Cormorant, Storskarv
Great Cormorant taking off

Bird watching on Gandaki River - Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, जलेवा, Great Black Cormorant, Storskarv
Great Cormorant taking off

Bird watching on Gandaki River - Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, जलेवा, Great Black Cormorant, Storskarv
Great Cormorant taking off

Bird watching on Gandaki River
Our third Gharial

We saw a third Gharial on the way down stream, but this crocodile was scared and jumped in to the river when we approached, so no pictures. We were not lucky with any of the birds either. 2 poor pictures of the Small Pratincole, but we had a lot of fun.

We could see the jeep coming down on the beach as we were approaching the landing, a berth built by sandbags. It had been a very beautiful and fun morning. But it was nice to come ashore again to stretch my legs.

Small Pratincole, Little Pratincole, Small Indian Pratincole, पानीगौथली, Glareola lactea, นกแอ่นทุ่งเล็ก
Small Pratincole - पानीगौथली

Small Pratincole, Little Pratincole, Small Indian Pratincole, पानीगौथली, Glareola lactea, นกแอ่นทุ่งเล็ก
Small Pratincole - पानीगौथली


Bird watching on Gandaki River
Back ashore after our adventure

Bird watching on Gandaki River
We meet an elephant on the way back to the hotel

Lunch back at the Tiger Tops Tharu Lodge and I even had time to walk around to see if I could see any birds on the hotel area. No birds and it was time to leave for the afternoon safari at 2 thirty. Now I only have 2 more safaris, tomorrow will be the last safari, so will we see any tigers? Click HERE to find out if we find any tigers, or leopards in the afternoon.



Sverigedemokraterna



       
                  
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Flag of Skåne / Skånska flaggan Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.



                                       

BirdforumTV

You are visitor no.
To www.aladdin.st since December 2005

Visitors from different countries since 26th of September 2011


Send me an e-mail My web page directory