SULTANPUR BIRD Sanctuary

About 15 km from my house in Gurgaon lays the famous Sultanpur bird sanctuary. Before it attained the status of National Wildlife Sanctuary it was known as Sultanpur Jheel. Peter Jackson, a famous ornithologist stumbled upon it in the seventies and decided to pursue the Indian government to convert it into an exclusive reserve for birds. Finally in the eighties the jheel attained the national status of bird sanctuary. The sanctuary is situated on the way to Farruknagar in Haryana. From Gurgaon it is the road which runs almost parallel to the road leading to Pataudi, the princely estate of late Mansoor Ali Khan -- ‘Tiger Pat’ to cricket lovers all over the world. The sanctuary used to be a favorite haunt for late Dr Salim Ali, the greatest ornithologist of all times. Haryana is a state where one gets the chance to see the rarest of birds,compared to all other states in India . Haryana Tourist Lodges are all named after birds , like ‘Jungle Babbler’ in Dharuhera, ‘Shama’ in Gurgaon, ‘Sand Piper’ in Rewari, ‘Magpie’ in Faridabad and so on so forth. Haryana Tourism has set up a Tourist lodge in Sultanpur,Rosy Pelican within the premises of the wild life sanctuary for those who like to enjoy their nights in the wild.Winter is the best season ie. between October to March when one could spot the migratory birds who fly in from as far as Siberia and Europe. There are watchtowers all around, including the areas around the lake There are about 100 species ( both local and migratory ) identified in this sanctuary which include birds like Kingfishers, Sandpipers, Demoiselle cranes, Siberian cranes, Teals, migratory Geese. Other wildlife found here are Black Bucks, Nilgai, Hog deer, Sambar, Wild Dogs, Striped Hyena, Leopard and Wild pig. Whenever I visited Sultanpur I loved watching the Cranes flying. When they take off from the trees they occupy during their stay here they tuck their legs inside. When they get down on the tree or land on water, the legs come out and are almost vertical pointing downwards. The whole operation of taking off and landing back is similar to an aircraft take off and landing

One more relevant point I would like to add. I consider myself privileged to view birds sitting at my Gurgaon house because of its proximity to Sultanpur.