Our last day with Iristu (Jamnagar, Tuesday 16th December 2003)

We said goodbye to Iristu and his winter grounds this morning. Lubos was again in a hide-out since morning to watch the events that take place where Iristu together with other storks flies to feed himself. It's only a very small pool coming out of a small cave. There were more species than black storks coming to this area. White throated kingfisher appeared there early in the morning, then Indian pond heron and great egret started to hunt together with the painted and black storks. A little later, the Maldhari people came with their herds and the wild animals had to clear the place. In a few days, this pool will probably become a mud puddle because it is quickly running dry. (This reminds me of how we came to Chad years ago to a place supposedly with a lot of water. After we arrived to the slush which had in it not more than 2 big barrels of water, our guide Mustafa shrug his shoulders and said: "The cows drank it all up.")