Ahmedabad is one of the most popular city of country and the largest city of Gujarat. It everything that one can ask for from exceptionally beautiful religious places, ancient monuments, magnificent river front, museums to mouth watering delicious food to die for. Not only the inside but the outside the city also has many places for interest for tourists. If we talk about the nearby excursions then choosing one is difficult and it can be decided by individual interest and choice. Let me take to the natural surroundings of Thor. Thor is famous for its Bird Sanctuary. It is a heaven for bird watchers as one can watch the magnificent species of birds very closely because of the shallow waters of the Thor Lake. The lake is quite large in size but not that deep like other usual lakes. Watching birds from a close distance is an amazing experience for bird lovers.The Thor Bird Sanctuary is situated at the Thor town in Mehsana District at the North side of Ahmedabad city. a century old lake which was created in the year 1912 attracts large number of avian species. This lake was brought into existence during the ruling of Maharajas of Baroda in some parts of this district. There are many channels are there due to the overflow of water from the shallow of lake. You can sight many pretty birds on the sides of these channels in the wet fields. These pools and canals of overflowing water of lake makes the perfect environment for a variety of birds like Sarus, flamingos, White Pelican, Painted Stork, different types of ducks, etc.The beautiful crane or Sarus in Hindi are sighted here. They are grey in colour with a bare head, white crown and long pointed dark beak. They have a long neck which they keep straight while flying. Sarus are the tallest flying birds in the world with an average height of 200 cm. They are usually found in a group of two to five and the most important thing is that the male female cranes are always together and can’t be separated from each other. They eat aquatic plants, fishes, frogs, seeds, grains, plant roots, etc. wet paddy fields are their homes. Flamingos also known as Surkhab in Gujarati are pink coloured birds usually found in groups in wet lands. You need to watch them at least from a distance of 300 meters otherwise they will fly away. The Lesser Flamingos are sighted in Thor Bird Sanctuary. They can fly at a speed of 60 km/h. Painted Storks are another species found here. It is a large bird with red head and down curved long yellow beak. Their legs and tail are usually pink and they are found in groups. The white Pelicans always found in large groups are also called Eastern White Pelican or Great White Pelican. They usually feed on fishes. The Great white Pelicans are seen in large flocks in Thor. If we talk about ducks then you can sight Mallard Ducks here. They are quite noisy birds. They are seen in a large group of 10 to 30 around small divided water tanks in Thor. Another variety of Ducks is Brahminy Duck (Ruddy Shelduck). These migratory birds come to Southern Asia during winters. They can be sighted in a group of 2 to 6 in Thor from a close distance. Another bird seen here is Common Iora or Diwali Ghodo in Gujarati. They are usually found on the upper parts of trees catching insects. They sometimes eat fruits as well. Common Hoopoe is a beautiful bird found here chirping on the trees. It is also called Hood-Hood in Gujarati language. It is never seen in groups or pairs.Apart from these avian species there are some animals that live in Thor like Blue Bull, Black Bucks (Kaliyar), Deers, White Deers, Albino- Black Buck, etc. though the Thor Wild life Bird Sanctuary is smaller than the Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary but it is worth exploring. You must consider proper timings to visit this spectacular Sanctuary. After monsoon when the lake overflows and temperature goes down most of the flying species are seen here. Thus best time to visit this place is November to February. Thor is just thirty minutes away from Ahmedabad by car.The route to reach Thor Wild Life Bird Sanctuary from Ahmedabad is as follows:Ahmedabad –> Thaltej Circles –> Shilaj –> Racharda –> Adhana –> Thor Village –>SanctuaryRuchi Mahajan