Horned Grebe or Slavonian Grebe having fish at Dighal
Horned Grebe or Slavonian Grebe having fish at Dighal

For the last few years Dighal a little village in Haryana State, on the outskirts of Delhi has attracted the attention of Birding community of not only Delhites but has placed this place on the international Map as lot of migratory birds are coming and staying for some time as they are getting lot of wetlands amidst the Green Spaces .

As we know the birders are ready with their cameras and binoculars and wait eagerly for the winters as lot of migratory birds make India a temporary home for a few months. Sometimes they find completely new visitors on to the Indian soil and they are received with open arms as every body like to have glimpses and record in their camera to show it to their loved ones and share it on the social media for others to see.

Horned Grebe group at Dighal

In the evening of 14th December of 2017, a well known young and very energetic naturalist from Dighal village, Sh Rakesh Ahlawat recorded the presence of small group of 6 birds which were later on identified as Horned Grebe or Salovian Grebe. After a few days only 3 were remained and seen . Most likely they would have gone to nearby wetlands.

The first record of this bird is from Harike wetland in Punjab where they were sighted on 10th February 2001by Anand Prasad who were doing work on the different grebes in and seen in India.

After the initial sighting every Saturday and Sunday many birders visited and are visiting regularly Dighal as this is the 3rd recording in India. I too thought of having glimpses of the very rare bird .I am sharing some of the images including the trio which is now left to entertain the birders.

About Vinod Goel

He joined Customs & Central Excise service in 1982. As a civil servant, his job takes him to various parts of India, which gave him an opportunity to capture our wild heritage, through his camera. His passion for wildlife photography started in 2004 when he was posted at Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and this passion continues till today.