The journey started at 5.00 in the morning from the gates of GGDSD College, Chandigarh on 17th October, 2018. The students were excited and full of enthusiasm all the way. We had started early so that we could catch a glimpse of the chirping birds. The distance of 50 Kms was covered in about 1 hour and 30 minutes. As we were approaching the Ropar wetlands, the rising sun could be spotted from the bridge. The glimpse was mesmerizing and the aroma of fragrant flowers was soothing our nerves. The driver parked the bus near the rest house and we got down with the hope of seeing the birds.

We could see large number of trees and clusters of tall bamboos swaying with the morning winds. We started walking along the trail, could hear a little chirping sound of birds, but could not spot them. As we approached deep inside, the jungle became more denser and the vegetation highly moist with the early morning dew. The birds probably had flown away, a few ones that were spotted were the hill crow and the beautiful nightingales. But could not capture good images. However, we could see fallen nests and feathers of the birds proving their presence.

The wetlands had farmlands along the riverbanks on one side and forest on the other side. We could spot a few geese and ducks. The forests besides having bamboos also had Acacias and Gulmohar trees, abundantly growing Adhatoda, and Ipomoea species. Large tall wild grasses were also seen. Ageratum and Boerhavia wildly grew all over the ground. We did not go much deep into the forest as the guard had warned us of snakes. We were told that as the winters are approaching in this region, by the end of next month migratory birds from far off countries could be spotted. It was a calm and serene environment all over. But we being a large group of 50 probably had made the birds uncomfortable and they had gone in hiding. Another reason was that we were a bit late. The birds could be spotted at the early dawn time only.

We spent about an hour or so collecting the samples for foldcopy and then started further towards Science city, Kaputhala for our next halt with a hope of visiting the bird trail again.

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