Soar Excursions

Name: Soar Excursions
Address: 19/222, Parishram Apartments, Satellite Road, Ahmedabad 380015, Ahmedabad, 380052, IN
Telephone: +919879754204
Price range: ££

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Soar Excursions is a destination management enterprise based in Gujarat, India. Soar excursions spec We also provide stock photographs for publication.

SoAR Excursions is a professional organization founded by Naturalists and wildlife photographers Aditya Roy, Niyati Kukadia & Pavan Patel, to provide nature and wildlife excursions. We also provide professional service for cultural and heritage trips, leisure trips, camping & adventure trips and photography assignments. E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.soarexcursions.com

Office: Kanuj, 2, Municipal Staff Housing Society, Behind St. Xaviers
Loyola High School, Memnagar, Ahmedabad- 380052, Gujarat. Mobile: Aditya Roy - +91-9879754204
Niyati Kukadia - +91-7567853891
Pavan Patel - +91-9825323377

23/08/2026

The Indian Spiny-tailed Lizard — a survivor of India’s arid grasslands

The Indian Spiny-tailed Lizard (Saara hardwickii) is one of the most distinctive reptiles of the Thar Desert and the dry grasslands and scrublands of western India. Built for life in some of the harshest landscapes, it is primarily herbivorous, feeding largely on grasses, leaves and other vegetation.

These lizards are ecosystem engineers. Their deep burrows provide shelter not only for themselves but can also be used by other animals, making them an important part of the desert’s ecological community.

Despite their remarkable adaptations, Spiny-tailed Lizards face increasing pressure from habitat loss, agricultural expansion, infrastructure development, overgrazing and disturbance of their burrow colonies. Their grassland and scrub habitats are often overlooked in favour of forests, yet these open ecosystems support an extraordinary diversity of wildlife.

Protecting the Spiny-tailed Lizard means protecting the fragile grasslands and scrublands it calls home — landscapes that also support species such as the Great Indian Bustard, Desert Wheatear, Indian Courser and many other specialised desert wildlife.

Every species has a story. Every habitat matters.

Let us protect India’s forgotten grasslands before they disappear.

12/08/2026

On World Elephant Day, a quiet moment in the waters of Kaziranga — a mother and her young, sharing something as simple and essential as water.

But beyond this beautiful moment lies a much larger story.

Across the world, wild spaces are shrinking under the relentless pressure of expanding human populations, infrastructure and development. The elephant’s struggle is not merely about saving a species; it is about preserving the intricate web of life that sustains us all.

Biodiversity is not a luxury we can afford to lose. It is the foundation of our own survival.

We do not protect nature because it needs us.
We protect it because we need it.

On this World Elephant Day, may we choose coexistence over conquest, restraint over endless expansion, and a future where elephants—and all wild beings—still have room to live free.

Protect their forests. Protect their rivers. Protect their future.
And, ultimately, protect our own.

10/08/2026

A small bird, a vanishing habitat.

A male White-browed Bushchat (Saxicola macrorhynchus), perched on a Capparis decidua shrub during our recent Western India Monsoon Birding Tour.

Restricted to the arid and semi-arid landscapes of northwestern India and neighbouring regions, this globally threatened bushchat is closely associated with open scrub and grassland habitats.

These landscapes are often dismissed as wastelands—yet they support some of India’s most specialised and threatened wildlife.

Protect the scrublands. Protect the birds. Protect the landscape they call home.

09/08/2026

WHERE THE BUSTARDS STILL WALK.

Our Western India Monsoon Birding Tour ends where the Thar stretches beyond the horizon — in the ancient grasslands and scrublands of Desert National Park.

And there they were.

Great Indian Bustards, walking silently through the wilderness — immense, graceful and impossibly rare.

For centuries, these grasslands have been their home. Today, they are among the last places on Earth where these magnificent birds still walk free.

As the evening light faded over the desert, their silhouettes disappeared into the vastness.

A beautiful ending to our journey.

But also a reminder —

when the last bustard walks away, a whole wilderness walks with it.

May these grasslands remain wild.
May the bustards continue to walk them.

Until we meet again, in the Thar.

09/08/2026

This Morning, the King Appeared on the Horizon

This morning, in the vast grasslands of Desert National Park, the monsoon-green landscape gave us a glimpse of one of India’s most endangered birds—the Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps).

At first, only the head of an adult male appeared above the tall grass, silhouetted against the morning horizon. Soon, we were fortunate enough to witness his magnificent display and hear his deep, unmistakable call echoing across the grassland.

For a moment, the landscape belonged entirely to him.

The Great Indian Bustard was once widely distributed across the grasslands and semi-arid plains of India. Today, only a tiny remnant population survives, with Rajasthan holding its most important remaining stronghold.

Its decline is a stark reminder of what happens when grasslands are treated as wastelands rather than as vital ecosystems.

These open landscapes support an extraordinary diversity of life—and the Great Indian Bustard stands proudly at their centre, the true king of India’s grasslands.

This morning’s sighting was more than a memorable moment on our ongoing Monsoon Birding Tour of Western India.

It was a reminder.

Protect the grasslands, and we protect the bustard.
Protect the bustard, and we preserve a whole ecosystem.

May that distant silhouette continue to rise above the grasslands for generations to come.

08/08/2026

Where the Desert Meets the Storm

A red-headed vulture stands sentinel atop a thorny acacia, looking out across the immense grasslands and dunes of Desert National Park.

The monsoon has reached the Thar, transforming its usually austere landscape into a fleeting mosaic of green. But this evening, the desert wears another face — dark storm clouds gather overhead, while gusts of sand sweep across the horizon.

For a moment, the vulture becomes part of the landscape itself: a solitary guardian above a wilderness shaped by wind, water and time.

The Red-headed Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) is one of India’s most distinctive and threatened scavengers. Once widespread across the subcontinent, its populations have suffered catastrophic declines, largely due to the veterinary drug diclofenac and other threats. Today, every sighting carries a quiet reminder of how fragile the balance of India’s ecosystems can be.

And here, in the vastness of the Desert National Park, the desert still belongs to those who have learned to survive its extremes.

One storm. One tree. One vulture. An entire wilderness stretching beyond the horizon.

Another unforgettable moment from our ongoing Monsoon Birding Tour across western India — following the landscapes, birds and stories that make this region extraordinary.

07/08/2026

The arrival of the monsoon transforms India’s forgotten grasslands into a stage for one of the world’s most extraordinary wildlife spectacles—the breathtaking display of the Lesser Florican (Sypheotides indicus).

Every year, males leap over two metres into the air, twisting and fluttering above the tall grasses in a spectacular courtship display that lasts only for a few weeks. For birders, witnessing this performance is nothing short of magical, making the Lesser Florican one of the most sought-after species of the Indian monsoon.

But behind this spectacle lies a sobering reality.

Once widespread across the grasslands of western and central India, the Lesser Florican has suffered a dramatic decline due to the rapid loss and degradation of native grasslands. These ecosystems are too often dismissed as “wastelands” and converted for agriculture, plantations, infrastructure, or fragmented by development. Ground-nesting birds like the Lesser Florican are especially vulnerable to habitat loss, mechanised farming, pesticides, invasive plants, and increasing human disturbance. Today, it survives in only a handful of breeding landscapes, and its future hangs in the balance.

Protecting the Lesser Florican is about much more than saving a single species. It means safeguarding India’s grasslands—among our most threatened yet least appreciated ecosystems—which support wolves, foxes, blackbuck, harriers, coursers, larks, and countless other specialised wildlife.

On our ongoing Monsoon Birding Tour, the Lesser Florican remains one of our prime target species. Every sighting is not just a birding achievement—it is a reminder of why these magnificent grasslands deserve recognition, protection, and a future.

May these incredible leaps continue to grace India’s monsoon skies for generations to come.

07/08/2026

The monsoon journey continues as we move deeper into the landscapes of western Rajasthan.

From the endemic Sind Sparrow, to the first signs of seasonal change with passage migrants like the European Roller and Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, every stop has revealed a new chapter in the story of migration and adaptation.

The skies have been equally rewarding, with magnificent raptors including the Bonelli’s Eagle, Tawny Eagle, and several more making for unforgettable moments in the field.

As the tour progresses, we look forward to discovering what the changing season has in store next.

03/08/2026

There are birds you expect to see, and then there are birds you have to earn.

This morning at Tal Chhapar, one of the highlights of our ongoing Monsoon Birding Tour of Western India was watching a pair of Indian Spotted Creepers (Salpornis spilonota) quietly foraging along the deeply fissured bark of old acacia trees.

Perfectly camouflaged against the bark, these remarkable birds move methodically over trunks and branches, probing every crack for insects with their slender, decurved bills. Their marbled plumage makes them almost invisible until they suddenly come to life and begin climbing.

Endemic to the Indian subcontinent’s dry woodlands and scrub forests, the Indian Spotted Creeper is one of those species that reminds us that birding isn’t always about colourful feathers—sometimes it’s about patience, careful observation, and appreciating nature’s finest camouflage. Recent taxonomic work has even placed the spotted creepers in their own family, Salpornithidae, making this species especially interesting for birders and taxonomic enthusiasts alike.

Every morning in the field has the potential to surprise, and today it certainly did.

Address

19/222, Parishram Apartments, Satellite Road, Ahmedabad 380015
Ahmedabad
380052

Telephone

+919879754204

Website

http://www.soarexcursions.com/

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