Birds of Mysore!!

When we think of birds first thing tat strikes our mind is The Wings. Yes!! the wings of fly, wings of freedom, the wings of desire to raise higher and higher. We cant imagine of flying frm one place to other ever without the aerodynamics that birds thought us. We find them everywhere around us; every morning the bird-song wake our souls and welcomes to the real world but yet these birds seem to be unnoticed. They have no boundaries, no borders, no restrictions and they fly across miles to love, breed and offspring a new life far away from their home in a strange foreign land. Wonder what makes them to travel over continents at the stake of their life. Probably tatz wat Exploring-the-Unexplored is all about. They have their own world which is not much different from our world but yet they are so different. The way they communicate, enjoy, breed, prey, build their nests, protect their kins. At one place its a Hunter and at the other its the Hunted.

Oflate have become a enthusiast for birding, its a great feeling freezing their emotions n expressions in my shutterbox. And this being my first such birding-trip had great time reading, learning and unlearning. It all begun with SV's call to go out for the weekend away from Bangalore towards Mysore, it was an asynchronous event and went with the flow without any plan-of-action. We hiked arnd different places between Bangalore/Mysore in hunt for haunted. Kanva and karanji lake in mysore were great discoveries. Well.... Birds fly and in a place like this time too fly. Did spot wide variety of birds from kites, parakeets, erons family, egrets family, bee-eaters, cormorants family, pelicans, painted storks to king fishers. All I missed was the efficiency in my tool to capture them as close to eyes.

Here I leave with few Expressions/Emotions tat bought smiles on my face...!!

The King of Good Times-White Breasted KingFisher

Cattle Egret

Looking high-Drongo

In Vigil-Green Bee Eater

Love is in Air- Pelicans

Wings wide open-Lesser cormorant

In flight-Pelican

Serene Swim-Pelican

For the entire album check the below link.

Birds

Window to the Wild!!

Watta way to bring the curtains-down to 2006; it was the much awaited, most memorable and keep-goin-back trip to JLR(BR Hills)!! It has influenced me yet again to such an extent tat m still in the hang-over of the wilderness :D. Also its dedicated to SV n TheGear on his return back to home. He wouldnt have asked for a better welcome than this [;)]!!

When u speak of JLR its 3 F's always Fun, Fanatic and Facination...adding to tat was the Forests of BR Hills!! We were warmly welcomed by shy-sambhar calf and later by friskily moving boars on our way to JLR!! The tents, food and the hospitality of JLR was juss great!!

After reaching the tent gotto unpack TheGear which SV had got!! ohh bouy was juss amazed to hold the Black Beauty, truly it was as WILD'n'BEAUTIFUL as the rest of the members in the jungle [;)]!!
Soon after the lunch v moved to the near by pond where the tusker n his mother was havin fun in the water!! it was juss amazin to watch the calf playin n enjoyin to the core!! followed by this was the Safari on a almost-open-jeep!! we were all pepped up to meet the Wild Cats!! As we moved on the jungle-routes we spotted the sharp wild-dogs, hefty-elephants, lazy-gaurs, shy-deers and long-shaggy-coated sloth-bear!! It was sun-set time and the entire jungle was engulfed with red magical hue!! The canopy of huge trees made the effect even more pleasant!!

Back to the tents, v were more than happy abt the safari!! only thing remained was to spot the wild-cat!! were hopin to catch a glimse of them on the next day's safari!!

Early in the morning v started off with the safari on the dusty n bumpy jungle-tracks, after spotting deers n gaurs v cudnt find any other wildlyfe for almost half an hour!! our exploration of wild-cat continued... v went very deep in the jungle!! but in vain cudnt spot the wild-cat, cud spot herd of wild-dogs yet again!!

On our way back to JLR v cud witness the wilderness at its best!! yes v spotted a fresh deer kill, it was almost eaten up by one of the hungry wild-cats possibly by a leopard!! On our return from safari, we headed towards the otherside of the jungle for bird-watching.... the forest was rich in diff species of birds, could spot many birds but my camera lacked the coverage!!

It was most satisfyin n enjoyable stay @ BR Hills, decided would come-back again-n-again!! Our next destination was Ranganatittu to spot diff breeds of birds!! Did spot Little Cormorants, bats, Painted Storks, Night Herons and the hibernating-crocos!!

On our way back home we could witness a splendid sun-set @ 91th Mile on BMIRC, tat made our day/year... wouldnt have asked for a better ending of the year!!

Here I leave with few snaps!!

Mr Croco saying I do Close-up!!

Spoon Bill without spoon :D

Lil Cormorant

Indian Open Bill!!

Sambar Deer

Wild-cat's mid day meal!!

Magical Light Pattern

Lazy Gaur!!

Scintillating Sun through the woods!!

Magical Hue!!Croco in hibernation!!

Herd of shyful-deers!! yeah caught them finally!!

Wild Dog lazing arnd!!

Playful Kyatha!!

Playful Kyatha again!!

Monkey business!!

Beautiful Night Heron!!

Perfect Sunset Portrait!!

New Year '007

As biddin BYE to 2006 and INVITE to 2007, its been a gr8 year tat passed with new ventures, few surprises, cognitive thoughts, ecstatic moments, hard lessons, missed treats n get-together's(frm P3, wud redeem them in 2007) last but not least... the awards, rewards n recognition!! Adding to it the Jungle Adventures(more on it in my next post), wouldnt have asked for anything better!! Hope to carry on all those to 2007, with tat note lookin forward to the new beginning!!

Here wishing one and all a very Happy New Year 2007!! Have a wonderful year ahead!!

When the sun goes down...

Prologue: Way back on Aug 14th mez n sv had planned for Manchanbele but ended up travelin to BR Hills n arnd Mysore(had helluva time, planning again religiously :D). Am not complainin though, neways we were at the rite time to SNAP with Manchanbele on last week of october. This time tvp didnt miss the action and sv was in FLOW with his new found comrade :D.

About the destination Manchanbele dam: Bangalore To Manchanbele Dam is a beautiful country side drive. Its surrounded by lush greenery n small hills in all the directions. Best spot for half a day outing.

Famous For: Sunset n Sunrise, Birds(though could find very few) & the (d)ambience(combination of hills, birds, water n all good things associated with dam :D).

Best time to be: Time after the beginning of twilight when the Sun itself sets, and early in the morning juss after the rise.

How to Get There: There are 2 possible routes to reach out, First, on BMRC: Take a deviation after Kengeri towards Right via Big Banayan Tree. Though ppl say the road is bad. Second, on BMRC: Take a right once u reach Ramanagar Bus Station next to KEB. Which is a long route if traveling frm Bangalore towards Mysore, otherwise frm Mysore its a good option.

Close by places: Savandurga, Big Banyan Tree and Kanva Reservoir.

Activities: Being with my pals sv n tvp(yet another day when we missed pakku :D). Was sv's first day out with his Camrade, snapped to glory. And was one of the best Sunsets(next only to Kanyakumari) I have ever seen and CLICKED in my lyfetime. In 25 odd minutes could experience the Rayleigh n Mie Scattering explained by Mr Sun himsself :D. Every minute the sun was goin down there was a drastic change in the ambience.

The red hues in the sky, result of the woes of an ending day.

Seen everyday though comes only once in a day.

It was juss one weekend bfore sv flew to Oregon. Had a great time @ KYN on BMRC, great moments to cherish.

Lost in Paradise - Part III

After contemplating accelerated on the-road-ahead with the gut feeling tat we are on the right track, we reached the CROSS-Road marked on one of the bill-boards "Way to KUVEMPU-University". Tat bought a sigh-of-relief n smile on our faces for obvious reason, JLR is at 14th KM towards Kuvempu University. As we drove ahead the road was narrow, less curvy n more bumpy. There was no sign of any info abt JLR on the route, not even a single bill-board. Finally we reached Lakkavalli, the much awaited destination in our minds!! still JLR wasnt in the vicinity. We were juss 1KM far frm the 14th KM mark. Voila!! "Way to BHADRA RiverTern" was spotted, we invaded the territorial waters by entering the narrow bridge crossing the flowing BHADRA!!

It was untarred muddy road with a 25-degree-gradient towards the River-Tern; towards the right side was the barrier holding on the water!! on the left it was Bhadra Jungle which will join the forests of KGundi. As I parked my voyager, it started to drizzle. There after entire ambience was transformed within minutes. It was arnd 11.45AM, as there were not many ppl at the JLR we cud get cottages with very good views!!

We were priviliged to get a White-Eye n Bee-Eater, well names of the cottages :D!! as soon as entered the cottage was awestruck with the panoramic view!! it was heaven-on-earth, m short of words to describe!!

The cottages were on the foot-hill of Bhadra Wildlyfe, its juss a perfect landscape looked as if painted-by-GOD. Huge area with water n water everywhere, amdist it were many small islands. We heard from the in-house-keepers there tat they make trips to those islands during summer, wonder how it wud be LOST IN AN ISLAND :D. At a far sight u can visualise the clouds kissing mountain ranges of Shringeri n horanaaDu!! The best part of the mountains there was its imploring-cloud-abilities, which makes the sight a blissful. The gusty wind on the other hand was leaping the water causing small waves, from a far sight one could visualise the small white patches as a result. At the same time the contrasting light due to dark clouds abstracting sun rays reflected on water would change colors consistently from blue, green n ofcourse those white patches of small waves. Was indeed a phantasmagoric picturesque!! the next 2 hrs juss admired the nature n SNAPPED to glory :D, basking the soothing effect of water with all this exotic ambience. la-heaven!! With all this we could figure out lots of birds, esp the kites/cranes/ducks. Brahminy Kites were fishing out, guess they were very hungry!! they gulped fishes one after the other in air. While one of them was busy collecting the stack for their nest.

Arnd 2 PM we were out for GOL-GHAR to savour the hot lunch served. No wonder its a small world, i cud catch up shrikz; who was out with his buddies for same reason as we were :)!!. Next thing in our skejule was Safari on open jeep inside the Bhadra Abhayaranya, which was @ 4.30PM!! We were back to our balconies after a short hibernation :D!!

As tvp was hooked to his lappie n official mail chking process, mez n sv decided to stroll down the foot-hill to meet the waters n those flying brahminy kites. There were waves from both the directions clashing n gushing by sprinkling the water, was fun to SNAP them as well :D!! On the other hand the kites were enjoying their Fish-Hunt, juss wonder how sharp their eyes were!! whisking-off with a free fall n was grabbing up a fish nowhere from the water, although on few occassions it missed by fraction of a second!! i was juss thinking lucky fish was that...!! it was great pleasure watching it!!

It was 4.30 n we were ready for the Open-Jeep safari, we were very eager to meet the wild-lyfe!! The guide/local-tribal was giving information abt the wild-lyfe n his experiences. As we entered the restricted-jungle-area we could spot few peacocks, as we entered the heart of the jungle light was abstrused by the tall evergreen forest trees. We could feel the serene ambience with chirping of birds occasionally!! As it had rained the track was very skidy!! We cud spot shy-spotted-deers/lazy-gaurs/jumping-langurs/quick-jackals on our safari!!

After returning from the safari we had a small documentary on human-intervention-with-nature being played!! moral-of-the-story was its juss tat selfish motive of human being today many creatures have endangered n few are on the verge of!! also this intervention has caused imbalance in the eco-system.

The last day @ JLR was too good fun, we went on boating, trekking(to near by foot-hill) n last but not least water-sports!! It was a total fun, everybody enjoyed till the last minute of our stay!! on our way back took the Tarekere--> Birur--> Kadur--> Arsikere--> Tiptur--> Tumkur--> Bangalore route!! The road was juss good with less traffic, was poised for a great drive!! As soon as we entered the vicinity of Tiptur we reminisced of good-old-college-days, place where we played/studied/watched-movie n all the fun we had!! we were struck with nostalgic moments!! The college has got a new face-lift, so as the Hassan circle n Tiptur!!

By 7 PM we were in Bangalore, tolled Tumkur road was juss too good!! as returned back to the city-lyfe was fully refreshed by the trip, 3 days flew lyke 3 minutes!! realized the need of these nature admiring trips :D!! Luckily made it on time to the Airport as my dear friend was flying to Tokyo, felt deep satisfaction of my drive :D!!

Watch on for the next, BR-Hills travelogue!! :D. Here I leave you with the collage of few JLR snaps!!

Hold On To Friendship!!

Dedicated to all my dear friends!!
Watta day it has been, a call from dear friend who is miles away across the seas truly made my day!! Physical distance doesnt really rip friendship apart!! The distance is juss in our minds!!
Happy Friendship Day....!! Have a great week ahead!! Walk the lyfe along...!!

Lost in Paradise - Part II

Tvp was reluctant to stay back after listening to the stories narrated by one of the cab driver abt 'staying-experiences' @ KGundi cottages. After driving 300+ kms on a terrible road to the one of the highest peaks I was almost tired, so was very much hasty to drive back to any of the places which we had on cards. At the same time returning back without spending couple of hours @ KGundi was the least expected by any of us n were against tat at the back of our minds. On the other hand if we even had to leave to a different place we were not sure about the facilities at tat destination as well. I felt it was better to have wats there on ur platter. Finally everybody was convinced that staying back was the good move under those circumstances.

We paid the advance amnt to the care taker n hired a cottage for that bizarre night. We were priviliged with a electicity-less cottage possessing 3 beds, unsecured windows and 2 candles to spend the entire night. The cottage was very lousy and to our wonder its roof was juss a wooden plank which had a crack already due to hit of dry branches being shred by the canopy of tall trees. It grew darker and along with the gusty wind, rain gained its momentum. Juss the sound makes u so scary at the night. Luckily there was a canteen near by which serves the food, we booked dinner for the night.

Since there were only 3 cots, we had to join them so 4 of us could comfortably dive in :D. Since we had skipped our lunch in the afternoon, hunger daemons had attacked our poor tummies. Thanks to aunty(sv's mom) for those chappathis, we gulped in one after the other :D. We started to chat on the processes followed by our respective companies. We discussed from the RCA to Audits to CM(Configuration Management) n all other problems, by then one of the small candles went down. Around 7.30 PM someone banged the door hardly. It wasnt any stranger but the care taker who had come to inform us abt the availability of the eletricity n we cud use it. Informed tat it would be there till 9.00 PM. Our discussion continued, it was arnd 8.30 when we went down to canteen for dinner. It was pitch dark outside and nothing was visible to normal eyes, rain still continued. The torches which we had carried was utilized to its fullest. Thanks to our mitigation-plan, we had carried a mini-home with us to takle the RISKS.

We took extra cautions while walking down, to escape from Leech attacks. Had our dinner and marched towards the cottages, as soon as we entered the power went off. We lit the candle n started to prepare the bed for sleep. Tvp unpacked his laptop n was trying to hook on to Internet. Somehow he got the signal from TataIndicom, he started to surf. Although it was bit slow but was more than happy to get the coverage. As I was damn tired, went into dreamland as soon as i hit the bed.

Suddenly heard a boisterous sound, i felt lyke a huge Dolby DTS system being played next to my ear drums. Choked off from my sleep, it was none other than sv's deep-profound-sound-sleep. Adding to it was the sound made by rain n trees. It was arnd 12.30 in the midnight, it took me sometime to go back to sleep again. Early in the morning sv started to wake everyone up, by 6.00 AM or so things had returned to normal. But the mist n fog was so dense tat was not permitting us to go out for sight seeing. So had to cut short our visit-list. Around 7.30 we got the hot water supply, everyone were thru with there early morning activities after initial hiccups as tvp occupied bit too long which caused problems to sv, who was in the queue :D.

Due to bad weather we cut short Z point, RajBhavan gardens n Hebbe Falls visit. Was a boon in the disguise for tvp was he was scared of overflooded leeches at RajBhavan. We planned to visit the KallathiGiri Falls which happend to be on the way to LingadaHalli. Last night rain had made the place very beautiful, greenary at its best and the combination of red soil n water was making the look even more exuberant. KallathiGiri falls was juss too good, on the banks of the flowing water we can find the abode of Lord VeeraBhadra. To reach the temple one has to cross the flowing water. After spending some quality time there left for the BHADRA-RiverTern, yes JLR(Jungle Lodges and Resorts). The soul reason for this trip being organized. We started to descend slowly the KGundi range of hills, on our way back we could spot the Hebbe falls. It was gorgeous, felt bad for missing it. Surely gonna cover it in the next visit.

After some enquiries and the route map we had to JLR we decided to take the route LingadaHalli--> TariKere and then to Lakkavalli. Maneuvered my voyager towards Lingadalli, on the way enquired with many villagers abt the route which we were heading was right. The journey started to become lengthy n we had not reached our actual destination. Finally we reached Tarikere, but still there were no traces for Lakkavalli. We started to doubt our track, no person whom we contacted could give us the proper detail. Tvp was in more doubt saying we have surpassed the diversion n travelled much ahead. Also we had some confusion with the map, finally we had no choice left than to call up BHADRA JLR's contact person. Unfortunately his mobile was switched off, then we tried ringing JLR Bangalore Head Office but there was nobody to pick up n answer the call. We were in a dilemma whether to go ahead on the same road or to go back. Watch out for next on what happend to our JLR trip.