Mokarsagar Wetland, Porbandar

Spread across the low, flat coastal plain just south-east of Porbandar, Mokarsagar is a broad, shallow sheet of brackish and freshwater that ranks among Saurashtra's most rewarding wetlands for birdwatchers.

• Together with the small Porbandar Bird Sanctuary in the heart of town, it forms part of a wetland complex long recognised as an Important Bird Area, and in the cool months it becomes a living tapestry of wings.
• The water is rarely more than knee-to-waist deep, spreading over reed beds, mudflats and shallow lagoons that make ideal feeding grounds for waders and waterfowl.
• There are no ticket gates, no manicured paths and little in the way of formal infrastructure — Mokarsagar is a working landscape of embankments, grazing margins and open sky, best appreciated slowly, with patience and a pair of binoculars.
• Winter is the season that gives Mokarsagar its reputation.
• From about November to February, greater and lesser flamingos gather in loose pink rafts, dabbling and stalking through the shallows, while great white and Dalmatian pelicans cruise in stately squadrons.
• Ducks, coots, spoonbills, painted storks, herons, egrets and countless sandpipers and plovers throng the mudflats, and raptors such as marsh harriers quarter the reeds at dawn.
• The soft, low light of early morning and late afternoon is the magic hour here — for both the birds, which are most active then, and for photographers chasing reflections across the still water.
• Come prepared for open, exposed terrain: sun protection, water and sturdy footwear all help, and a local guide or auto-rickshaw driver who knows the embankment tracks can save a lot of aimless wandering.
• For food, Mokarsagar itself has no eateries, so plan to eat back in Porbandar, an easy short drive away, where you will find plenty of pure-vegetarian Gujarati and Kathiyawadi options.
• Look for the town's simple pure-veg thali houses serving unlimited rotli, dal, shaak, kadhi, rice and farsan, and the famous Saurashtra ganthiya-fafda and jalebi counters for a mid-morning snack.
• Several temple-linked bhojanalayas and Swaminarayan-run dining halls near the Kirti Mandir area offer clean, satvik meals, and the local dairies turn out excellent buttermilk and shrikhand — a refreshing reward after a morning among the flamingos.