This came hot on the heels of an incredible group of three IBISBILLS that we had just gorged on at the same site. Having had our fill of the most enigmatic wader in Asia, we went after this striking shorebird, that Hein had found a short time earlier. Hein had noticed this giant stone-curlew while he was staking out the Ibisbills for when Tom and I returned from our wider, and fruitless search for the same species, that of course Hein had by then been calmly watching alone!

Walking back to the same stony bank of the Kosi River, initially all we could find were the abundant River Lapwings, before we noticed this bug-eyed bird standing inconspicuously amongst the pale boulders. We were a bit surprised to find it at this site (which was basically a 'one bird wonder site'), and were much more expecting to pick it up later on the tour along the sandy banks of the Chambal River. Right at the end of the trip we did indeed see a further 7 or 8 of these birds by the Chambal as expected, although none gave us the winning views this one did!