After a straight-forward flight with Virgin, direct to Delhi, and a relatively painless passage through Indian immigration control we got our bus to the Ashok Country Resort – our overnight base. By the time we’d checked-in and had a quick refresh there was a two hour opportunity to enjoy the delights of the local RAMSAR nature reserve at Sultanpur – last visited in November 2022. The combined efforts of the group managed to amass a respectable list of around 75 species, not too shabby – particularly as it included Sind Sparrow, missed on our previous visit. In truth it’s a scaled-down version of House Sparrow, with slightly brighter markings! Mohan takes the credit for finding it moments before it flew off into the adjacent farmland – not to be seen again. Today we’re flying north east to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh for the start of our birding proper.