KEY POINTS:
It must have been a terrible day to be a game bird back in November 1935 if one happened to be a duck living in the Maharaja of Bharatpur's hunting reserve in Rajasthan, India.
The maharajah and several chums, which included the then Viceroy of India, Lord Lithgow,
went shooting that day and managed to slaughter 4273 ducks. It seems a tad excessive - after all what could one do with so much duck? Were the vice regal freezers bulging and did everyone get duck pate for Christmas?
The reserve had been created by an earlier maharajah in the 1850s. Hunting continued there until the 1970s - even though by that time it had been officially transformed into a wildlife park.
Viceroys and Indian rulers weren't the only ones to go slaughtering the ample bird life at Bharatpur. Other royalty to wield guns in the park included the Shah of Iran and the kings of Afghanistan, Nepal and Malaya.
Today however you are unlikely to encounter weapon-toting nobility in the park, although you'll see photographers with lenses almost as long as a rifle.
As we glided past one of these recently I couldn't help wondering if ornithological photographers suffered from lens envy.
Since 1985, the Keoladeo National Park, as it is now known, has been a World Heritage site and access deep into the park is by foot, cycle or cycle rickshaw only.
The rickshaw drivers do not merely provide the transport - many have worked here for years and are expert amateur ornithologists.
My driver knew just where to find a little owl who was roosting at the top of a palm tree- I'd never have found it without help.
There were plenty of birds easier to spot. Post monsoon, as long as the rains have been reasonable, the park is flooded with water and attracts, on both a permanent and temporary basis, more than 350 species. There are thousands and thousands of birds.
We stopped in the chilly post-dawn light close to an island on which the trees seemed to be almost collapsing under the weight of a breeding colony of enormous painted storks.
Stork chicks, sometimes three to a nest, were screeching for food, which their parents were flying in over our heads.
On an even tinier island nearby white spoonbills and ibis with black heads were behaving in a much more tranquil manner - dipping their delicate long beaks soundlessly into the water. Indian darters with their sinuous necks sat on branches drip-drying their wings between fishing expeditions.
Although birds are the main attraction in the park there are animals too - a mongoose darted across our path, and grazing in the tall grassland were sambar deer and blackbuck.
This profusion of wildlife was put perilously at risk a few years ago when, after a series of poor monsoons, local farmers lobbied the government to stop water being diverted from a nearby dam to prevent the park's vitally important wetlands from drying up. As one conservationist put it, farmers had votes, birds did not.
However, just when it seemed all was lost a compromise was found, the park was at least partially flooded again and most of the bird species have returned, although alas not the rare Siberian cranes which once made annual appearances.
But there are still birds of every hue and size to see, and if you like reptiles, apparently it's an excellent place to spot pythons in warm weather (it's a particularly happy hunting ground for snakes).
As our rickshaw driver pedalled us towards the park exit gate I watched an iridescent turquoise kingfisher plummet into the water in search of breakfast.
Long may it and the thousands of other birds be able to make their home at Keoladeo.
- Jill Worrall
For photos click here.
Pictured above: Painted storks jostle for position atop a tree in Rajasthan's Keoladeo National Park. Photo / Jill Worrall
