Sultanpur has more than just birds

The Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary (also known as the Sultanpur National Park) is just 15 km away from the millennium city of Gurgaon near Delhi. 

The Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary

The Bird Sanctuary is a habitat for local birds as well as migratory birds that come all the way from far off places like Siberia. 

A Purple Heron in flight

But the place should not be associated with birds only. I was surprised to see that several turtles were nesting there (difference between a turtle and tortoise is that turtle live in water and tortoise on land. Also the shell of turtle is shiny black whereas the tortoise may be dull in colour). 

A turtle at the Sultanpur National Park

Initially I could see only something shining so I thought either it is a reflection of the sun against the water or some bird nesting. It was only when I used my camera zoom that I realised that on the hay mounds in the water the shiny objects are turtles. It goes without saying that there were fish also in the water body as I did see one Pond Heron picking up a fish. 

Nesting turtles at the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary

Also there are several Nilgai (An Asian Antelope or Blue Bull) in the sanctuary. There was one bunch of more than ten female Nilgai (a female Nigai is brown in colour) who were very playful.

Seems I was an attraction for these Nilgais at Sultanpur!

I was able to see the Nilgai racing past me at very close quarters. 

Two racing Nilgai

The two males (males are bluish in colour and hence the name Nilgai) remained aloof and did not mix with the herd or with each other! What was surprising was that these antelopes were very comfortable in crossing the water body. Till now I had never seen them in water.

A male Nilgai. Also see a peacock in the left corner & a Heron behind the Nilgai

The best time to visit the park is in winters as that is when the migratory birds come in big numbers. Also the park is closed in summers for some time to allow the birds a safe nesting period.

Also read:
This is also Gurgaon: The Sultanpur National Park

Aquatic Life - Renuka Lake

Renuka is located in Sirmour district of Himachal and can boast of having the biggest lake in the state. It has a circumference of three kilometers and though part of the lake has ceded to the weeds the lake at least is not polluted and people do not throw garbage in it.

The lake by the same name has a religious significance and therefore the devotees come and feed the fish and the tortoises in the lake. Another adjacent but smaller lake is called the Parshuram lake and it also has lots of fish and turtles.

Some of the turtles are at least two foot long.

Turtle in Renuka Lake

They have to compete with thousands of fishes for the food that the pilgrims drop in the lake and obviously the fish are much faster than the turtles!

Another Turtle

I also saw several catfish which are fish with prominent barbels. These were mainly in the Parshuram Lake.

Catfish

Lots of migratory birds also visit the area due to the presence of the water body.

Fish in Renuka

There are so many fish in parts of the lake that the moment one throws something in the water to eat there is a churning of water as several fish together make a ferocious moment to grab hold of the food.

A Fish Too Many!

Since fishing is not allowed the numbers have grown and I think that the local administration should take steps to control its numbers.