keoladeo national park in bharatpur, rajasthan is a well-known place to observe birds- for good reason. some not so shabby reflections come as a nice bonus feature. from the entrance of the park it is about 2 km to the actual wetlands. there is lots of interesting birdlife along the way but the real attraction starts when you reach the water.
northern pintails are among the first ducks we saw before the shallow swampy area merged into more open waters.
the swamp was nice but it didn't seem so exceptional in the beginning. however the further we went the better it got
the day was hazy and light conditions were not the best. i believe this is a common moorhen but the near silhouette photo was taken for the nice reflection rather than for bird identification so i may be mistaken.
in some of the more stagnant areas the water surface was totally covered in dense duckweed. this was the first time i had ever seen red duckweed. green was also prevalent but it was mostly so dense there was no chance of seeing any reflections.
the common coot has an unmistakable white patch from forehead to beak. they are less shy than most ducks and this fine feathered friend was kind enough to pose for a photo.
time flies when you are observing birds and the park closes at sunset. as the light faded toward evening it became too difficult to take decent photos of birds. but it was no hindrance for getting evocative reflections on the still water.
as we were leaving the park we stopped for a short while to take in this memorable view
we would have stayed longer but the park was about to close. luckily for us we had already planned a second day in the park and were at the gates as it opened the next morning.