City of Lakes Udaipur is famous for many things but rarely for its birds. Ironically village Menar, 15 kms from Udaipur's Dabok airport is known for many things including its birds. Menar is also called as the bird village. More than couple of lakes in close surroundings of the village are known to host a huge number of migratory birds every year. Menar also has a long history which connects it closely to the Kings of Mewar. Rich in culture, this village also has an honour to produce some of India's finest chefs who have worked in kitchens of many celebrities- home and abroad. Residents of this village have been known as Menarias. But my recent trip to this village, roughly around 45 kms from my hometown Udaipur, was purely to catch some morning light. Capturing birds at sunrise (f...
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Keoladeo Ghana National Park at Bharatpur in Rajasthan has always been the numero uno of India’s bird sanctuaries. One of the oldest and the most acclaimed one. It is also close to hearts of all birders as it was the playground of India’s most known birder, none other than Salim Ali for more than half a century. Visiting this park is always a thrill for serious bird watchers. Watching birds here need some good planning. I will be discussing tips for good experience of bird watching at Keoladeo in few posts. Here is the first one on means to travel inside the park and the charges associated with them. Firstly, it is a bird sanctuary, not a tiger reserve. Hence no safaris are needed here. Since we don’t have normal wildlife, else than deer family, reptiles and predators are v...
Read MoreThey are the true 'love-birds'. Always found in pair and always remain loyal to each other. Hardly we recognise bird species with these qualities but our guide or naturalist- as they liked themselves to be called as, was more than beaming in explaining Sarus Cranes to us in this manner. But it was really so amusing to hear all this, though we had already heard about crane couple 'singing' and dancing together and seen some amazing photographs earlier too. Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur has been one of the favourites to watch this amazing bird, although they can be found in Gangetic plains. There number is decreasing constantly everywhere, including Keoladeo, due to various threats. Hence it was on top of my bucket list while going to this amazing bird sanctuary. Our naturalis...
Read MoreThough flamingos were my primary interest and they were who actually pulled my all the way to Sambhar, but wintering at Sambhar is not all about flamingos. Flamingos might be very high in count and attraction but there are many other birds coming for winter migration. As I said in my last post, there are more than 70 species of birds coming here every year. So while I was busy admiring flamingos at Sambhar lake, I couldn't have failed to notice and try to click few other migratory birds. Pied avocet (pictured above) was the among the first one to come across and was quite attractive because of its distinctive beak and black & white appearance. Though there were some northern pintail and pochards as well, but I could manage to get close view of only these northern shoveler
Read MoreChilika is one of the milestone places in India. It is the largest brackish water lagoon. Now what is brackish water? It is the water which is saline or salty but not as salty as the sea water. It happens when the fresh water mixes with sea water. There are 52 rivers and rivulets that fall in the lake. Secondly, Chilika is also a lagoon, and it is not just largest coastal lagoon in India, it is also second largest lagoon in the world. As if it was not enough, it is the largest wintering ground for migratory water-birds anywhere in the Indian sub-continent. Chilika is spread in three districts of Odisha- Puri, Ganjam and Khurda. Puri side is mainly popular for Dolphin tours from Satpada. Satpada is around 50 kilometres from Puri. It is on northeast of Chilika lake. Tourists can book ...
Read MoreWho likes to be alone! Whether it is a human being or birds, everybody looks for a sweet, cute, like-minded company!! Isn't it.. As is a line of a popular hindi Bollywood song... एक... एक से भले दो. दो... दो से भले तीन (One... two is more better. Two... Three is still better than two), और मैं जोड़ रहा हूं- तीन... तीन से भले चार! (Three... four is far better than three). So here is one little bird, all alone... Looks around for some company... Anybody there? ...or on this side? Here one comes to join the friend! Now they look for the third one... Hello there! Isn't there anybody else? Oh hi! How are you folks! Nice to see you. I am here too. Let's call our fourth friend... So that completes our quartet. Lets now start the chorus! "In the sweetness of friendship let t
Read MoreWith you under watch every time, everywhere; your all actions under scrutiny, questionable; its interesting to see that how these little birds react under constant gaze of the camera. Birds at a neighbourhood lake in east Delhi, a few of them migratory, few rare... ...
Read MoreAlthough they are not classified as migratory birds, because they are native to south of Himalayan region and spread well into south as well as south east Asia, still in my neighbourhood lake painted storks will be visiting only in winters. Most common, still most beautiful of the storks, painted storks have been recently added to near threatened list because of there decreasing population. Their total number is estimated around 25 thousand. This year to my pleasant surprise, the number of painted stork visiting this lake in eastern Delhi has dramatically increased. Earlier there used to be hardly a couple. But this season, when they arrived in mid of October, I spotted five of them (See: We are Back). And then suddenly... few days later I was thrilled to see a flock of almost thirty. H...
Read MoreIt was heartening to see the couple of painted storks back in the lake. It was bit pleasantly surprising also, because winters this year seem to be arriving bit late as its already mid-October and maximum temperature is still hovering around 35o celsius. So sight of migratory birds in the lake (Sanjay Lake, East Delhi), where we have our daily morning walk, was heart warming. Second surprise was the number- a couple of painted storks have been regular visitors to this lake every winter for last many years. But this time I was pleasantly shocked to see five of them— highest number I have seen so far in this lake. But unfortunately, I was not carrying the camera that day. Next day, when I was fully armoured with my lenses, I could find only two. But still it was a satisfying day with the ca
Read MoreIts simple spellbinding. Isn't it! More so when you get to witness such a visual spectacle at some of the most unassuming of places. This is on way back to Rameshwaram from Dhanushkodi in Tamilnadu. A cursory glance towards sea and this was what was to be seen. A huge flock of hundreds of Australian Flamingos, in all their glory. ...
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