India: best spots for car-less solo birding (1 Viewer)

[earlytorise]

I am such a fan of India (despite having only done two long weekends there) that I am learning intermediate Hindi.

The first long weekend was in Bharatpur, the second long weekend I didn't do proper birding.

Please suggest some other places where I can easily go birding alone, without a car. The kind of place where I wake up, walk a few minutes (or do a short taxi trip) from the hotel to the entrance of the park, then start birding right away.

It's understandable why tiger-filled reserves like Corbett/Ranthambore mandate jeeps but I may skip those for that reason.

Add any ideas from all parts of India, though I will point out that I want to use the Hindi I'm learning. It is just a lot harder not speaking the local language, and I can't study 20 languages all at once.

(One example would be Dehradun town. Another example would be Sattal. That's all I have in mind.)

Thanks.

 

[DMW]

You can bird almost anywhere in India outside (some) National Parks without having a car, especially if you are prepared to hire an auto or taxi for short trips. Some places that come to mind where I've just walked from a hotel to decent birding are Naini Tal, Ramnagar, Jaisalmer, Pushkar, Mt Abu, Velavadhar, Masinagudi.
In fact, apart from parts of NE India and Ladakh, I've almost never had a car and have just used public transport.

 

[earlytorise]

You can bird almost anywhere in India outside (some) National Parks without having a car, especially if you are prepared to hire an auto or taxi for short trips. Some places that come to mind where I've just walked from a hotel to decent birding are Naini Tal, Ramnagar, Jaisalmer, Pushkar, Mt Abu, Velavadhar, Masinagudi.
In fact, apart from parts of NE India and Ladakh, I've almost never had a car and have just used public transport.

Can you elaborate on Jaisalmer? Is that a desert? I thought that a desert would be way too big and lacking in shade to be without a car.
Velavadar too, from what I read?

When I read about Ramnagar it said that while they were walking along the river they suddenly heard a tiger's growl. I would be scared not to have a car then.

Thank you for mentioning Mount Abu. I had never heard about it.

 

[DMW]

Jaisalmer is a touristic town in the Thar Desert. The best birding is in the Desert National Park (you would need to arrange transport for this), there's good birding on the edge of town, and also at the Fossil Park (a long but fairly pleasant walk). I should stress that I'm talking about doing this and the other sites mentioned in the winter months - it's excessively hot in the Summer.

Velavadhar isn't especially big and it's easy enough to bird the core area on foot (assuming it's still allowed) from the accommodation. A public road runs through the park, so you should be able to walk along this if need be.

Yes there are tigers in the forest at Ramnagar, I've seen fresh pug marks along the trail. That's half the fun, isn't it!?

Another excellent site that comes to mind is Harike Lake near Moga in the Punjab, which is birdable on foot. Plenty of public buses go right past it, very easy to reach.