Monsoon Diaries: Surajpur in August 2025
Today is my birthday (10th August) and I went to Surajpur Wetland & Natural Forest 2. I left home at 5: 30 am from Delhi Universtiy North campus and reached there in about 1 hour 30 minutes (≈50 km). It’s closed for the monsoon—as most places are—as trails are very muddy and visibility is low with the high-water levels. We thus avoided the core and walked the ~2.5 km long outer trail.
This was my fourth time at Surajpur, but the first with Delhi Earth Walks. It was a “Rainsongs & Earth Walks” walk, and guided by Deepak Kumar and Salil Dutta. We started birding at 7:00 am. It was a very informative walk with their help we saw Plain Prinia, Green Bee-eater, Indian Koel, Black Drongo, Red-wattled Lapwing, Indian Peafowl/Peacock, and a distant pair of Golden Jackals, and also a garden lizard, butterflies, moths, and spiders. The light was overcast, but it provided a soft, even light, and also—mercifully—no rain, after yesterday’s deluge. Mahesh Rajpoot (from Delhi Earth Walks) finalized our checklist in eBird: 55 species and 135 for Surajpur Wetland & Natural Forest 2 (https://ebird.org/checklist/S266244408). One of the group members spotted the golden jackals out through binoculars; it was difficult to see them with the naked eye, but with my Nikon D7000 and AF-S Nikkor 200–500mm I got a few reasonable frames.
In conclusion, the close-up of a Prinia was the other highlight for me. All in all, we were on the trail for about two hours, it was a very peaceful and calming walk. The light was rather marginal, but I also tried a few flight shots. I was home by 10: 30 am, and itching to relive the morning while exploring the images.
Surajpur Monsoon Gallery
Pictures Taken by Others in the group
References:
1. https://www.earthwalks.asianecotours.com/
2. https://www.earthwalks.asianecotours.com/rain-songs-and-bird-calls-surajpur-walk
