Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary

Nalsarovar is a wide shallow lake, in places less than a metre deep, scattered with small islands and fringed with reed, and it fills with migratory birds through the winter: flamingos, pelicans, cranes including demoiselle and sarus, ducks, geese and waders in tens of thousands, with well over two hundred species recorded. It became a Ramsar site in 2012. Boats are flat-bottomed and poled or rowed out among the islands by local boatmen, many from communities that lived by fishing and fowling here before protection. In summer the lake shrinks drastically and can nearly dry.

What you actually see

• The winter flocks - flamingos, pelicans, cranes and waterfowl in numbers.
• The flat boats - poled craft crossing the shallow water among islands.
• The reed islands - low banks scattered across the lake.
• The boatmen - local families who worked the lake before it was protected.

When to go

November to February for the migration; birds thin from March and the lake shrinks through summer. Dawn is the best time for both birds and light, and boats leave early.

Honest expectations

Boatmen negotiate hard and rates should be agreed before setting out; some chase flocks to make them fly, which is worth refusing. Water levels vary and in dry years bird numbers fall sharply.

Nearby

Ahmedabad lies northeast; the Little Rann is northwest.