Jamnagar, the bird watchers Paradise

An official  survey shows that the most number of birds in India are in Gujarat state and in the Gujarat state, the most number of birds are found in Jamnagar

Several migratory birds make Jamnagar their home during the winter months.

Bird watchers flock to different places like the bird Sanctury, the Marine Sanctury, the Salt pans, the rivers & water resovoirs of Jamnagar.

The checklist shows 300 and its growing.. thanks to Arpit and his spotting scope..

If you are arriving in Jamnagar by train, especially in winter, you are sure to see wonderful birds just before entering the Jamnagar Station.

Jsmnagar is one of the few places where one can get very close to birds without disturbing them..

Crab Plovers in Jamnagar

In India, Jamnagar is the only place where one can find huge flocks of Crab Plovers, the only other place you can find them, is in the Gulf of Munnar, but there, they are in few numbers, while here, they are in numbers beyond comprehension.

Spotting Places:

• Pirotan Island
• Narara Island

Khijadia Bird Sanctuary

Its a unique wet land area with sea water on one side and fresh water on one side.

This area was declared as a Khijadia Bird Sanctury on 6th November 1982.

Before independence, a check dam had been built for storing the waters of the Ruparen River just near the sea, so gradually over the years with  fresh water of the rain and river on one side and salt water of the sea on the other side, a unique area came up where both varieties of vegetation came up, gradualy, birds and animals also started flocking and roosting here. this is also one of the few sanctuaries in peninsularIndia where the Crested Grebe breeds.

The area of this Sanctury is 605 Hectares.

There are 3 Watch Tower for bird watchers, as well as inspection paths leading deep into the foliage

There are also provisions for Paddle boats, in the main as well as the Jamnbuda watch tower area.

One can find both types of  sea and shore birds...

Watching the arrival of the Cranes during sunset for roosting is a fantastic experience.

Location: about 12 KMS from Jamnagar.

Some of the birds found here are :

• Black Necked Stork
• Black Ibis
• Black wing stilt
• Black winged kite
• Brahmini Kite
• Cattle Egret
• Pheasants tailed Jacana
• Green Stone Plover
• Green Shank
• Grey Patridge
• Indian Skimmer
• Imperial Eagle
• Indian Pond Heron
• Indian Robin
• Little Tern
• Purple Moorhen
• Black Tailed Godwit
• Combduck
• Common Crane
• Demoisele Crane
• Common Teal
• Dunlin
• Gargeni
• Grebes
• Marsh Harrier
• Pintail
• Painted Stork
• Shoveler
• Wigeon Duck
• Pallid Harrier
• Sanderlings
• Snake Birds
• Greylag Geese
• Bar-headed Geese

The other wild life found here are :

• Blue Bulls
• Jackal
• Wolf
• Jungle cat
• Mongoose
• Rabbits
• Cobra, etc

Water Reservoirs around Jamnagar

The dams around Jamnagar like Vijarkhi Dam, Ranjit Sagar Dam, Sasoi Dam, Sinhan dam are also wonderful spots for Birding.. 

Early morning as well as evening times are goreat for watching birds, this all places are also very popular picnic spots for the local people.

So taking along a picnic hamper would be a great idea...

Charakhala Salt Pans area

The Charakhala salt pan area on the way to Dwarka is a place where there are a lot flamingos, pelicans, grebs, ducks, terns, etc. This is one of the few places in the Indian peninsula where the Caspian Tern nests.

As there is less human traffic in that area, largers flocks of birds can be found there.

The best times for visiting are the early morning and the evenings where one can see flocks of as big as thousands of birds at one time.

Narara Island

This island is accessible by road. One just has to drive down to it to Narara Edge.

Here one should reach just before the tide starts, when the tide comes in, it brings the birds closer to land, making it easier for the bird watchers to watch from quite close.

The star here is the crab plover.

All types of waders can be found here.

Pirotan Island

One of the islands in the 42 islands of the gulf of kutch which is famous for its corals and beaches and also a popular spot for bird lovers.

The swamp forests of the various islands, featuring about seven species of mangrove, have breeding colonies of near-threatened species like Painted Stork, Darter and Black-necked Ibis, and other birds like egrets and herons. One can see huge flocks of Crab Plovers too. The islands are also breeding areas for terns and other birds.

On the boat crossing to the islands, there are chances of seeing Pallas’ Fish Eagle, Osprey and other raptors.

Overnight stay here can yield a fantastic birding experience.

Lakhota Lake

This lake has about 75 speices

Walking in the early mornings especially in the winter months & sitting under the beautiful domes allows you to experience nature with the birds...

One can watch gulls, ducks, flamingoes, perlicans, etc.

In the winter months, just before sun-set, watching the wonderful acrobatics by thousands of rosy starling is an amazing experience..

Barda hills Sanctuary

This hills are full of woods and excellent grasslands immediately after the rains and during the start of winter.

Walking down the trails after reaching the Kileshwar Temple complex gives you chance to spot nesting of Pond heron, nesting of Cattle Egret, Indian Pitta, Great breasted Warlbler, White eye, Spotted munia, Little egret, Green pigeon, Red vented bulbul, Indian robin, Tickle's blue fly catcher, Paradise fly catcher, Spotted dove, Magpie robin, Black ibis, Nesting of Sand grouse, Common iora, Pied cuckoo, Indian pea fowl, Ashy prinia, Plain prinia, White breasted kingfisher, Little ring dove, Spotted owlet and also experience nature untouched by humans.

The other wild life found here are : Jackal, Wolf, Jungle cat, Mongoose, Rabbits, Porcupine, Hyena, Civet, Cobra, etc.

This wonderfull hilly area is about 90 kms from Jamnagar towards Porbunder.

Yashodhan Bhatia

Most of the photos in this page are from Bhatia Yashodhan popularly know as Bittoo.

He is a very prominent bird watcher & wild life photographer of India.

His bird photographs have been published nationally and internationally in various magazines, Government Department publications & Tourism Publications.

You can contact him at: jamnagarbirds@gmail.com

We have a website dedicated to birding:

This group consists of us 5 friends..

Axat Vyas

Arpit Deomurari

Amit Vyas

Yashodhan Bhatia

Mustak Amin Mepani

Since few years we have been exploring around Jamnagar for discovering new places along with birding areas..