The gate looked a bit more imposing as we left.

A day of bird spotting.

And who should be first ... Nepalese Pinnochio's cousin.

A white throated kingfisher. 

Just right for large herons.

Predominantly acacia trees. Taller near the water and along the edges of the raised tracks. Scrubbier and more sparse away from the water.

We didn't hire a naturalist, we listened as they told others what they were seeing.

A red cormorant.

But the next naturalist called it a great cormorant. .....

Coots.

Other tourists are predominantly Indian.

Maybe a half dozen occidentals.

Maybe another large heron. With very extended neck.

The markings on the head have to be a giveaway, but not sure what to.

A painted stork.

We know from the sign.

And a bit unmistakeable.

We heard the colony before we saw it.

Lots of activity.

We'll settle for 'duck' since we can't see its tail.

Lots of young looking not too far off leaving the nests.

There's a breeding colony accessible by boat trip.

The British preferred it as a duck hunting reserve and inaugurated it as such in 1902.

And a world heritage site.

One of those places, like the lakes in Sweden, that are just the right depth for some of the waders, and just in the right place for migrations.

The locals make use of it too. This pair of parrots are checking out a possible nesting hole.

A complex mixture of nawobs, maharajahs, princes, knights, viceroys, governors, major-generals, and dead ducks. 

The painted stork was collecting nesting material in between bouts of food hunting.

Being very gregarious.

Some of the birds of this park seem to flock together more than we've seen elsewhere.

We think we've also seen partridges and pheasants in the drier areas.

A sambar deer..

Trying to avoid us it went deeper into the water.

But thought better of it and came back our way.

Perhaps it can't swim, or the weed is a bit heavy for it.

Very suspicious of us. So we moved on to let it escape across the track.

Bicycles! Available at the entrance. We parked just inside.

Ali's was smaller so cost more. Mine was bigger but had advertising so cost less.

Mine was an 'all steel bicycle'. No gears. Ali's squeaked more. Maintenance doesn't seem to figure highly in India.

Just as well there were no hills. Though some of the dusty tracks were a bit heavy going.

About 15km round trip.

Surprisingly comfortable with wide tyres and sprung seat.

An extraordinary place.

The hotel inside the park was full and really didn't want to be bothered with us. We are camped outside a nearby hotel. A bit noisy from the road. A vaguely bland, textureless, vegetarian meal.

As we were leaving we spotted the Rajasthan Tourist Development Corp hotel that looked suitable for us on the corner of the main road, a few hundred metres west.

Isn't it always the way ....