Blog

Times Passion Trail - 1 I had the honor and good fortune to participate in a “Wildlife and Bird Photography Expedition”, known as Times Passion Trail in February 2018.  This was organized by the popular English daily newspaper, The Times of India.  This was from February 18th to February 24th, 2018.  The expedition was across five dream destinations for wildlife and birding enthusiasts; Thol Lake Bird Sanctuary Little Rann of Kutch Nalsarovar Velavadar...

Times Passion Trail, Day - 2 Day 2: The Little Rann of Kutch (LRK)   The second day began very early.  We left Ahmedabad downtown, around 5.30 am in our cavalcade of Innovas.  We had our packed breakfast on our way so that we could reach as early as possible.  We reached our resort at Bajana at about 8 am, grabbed a quick cup of tea,...

Pelicans……..in India and elsewhere Pelicanus spp. It was in high school or the first year of undergraduate studies, that I first came across ‘Pelicans ‘in my Biology class. They are large water birds which are characterized by a very long beak, the lower mandible of which is modified into a large throat pouch. This is used for catching prey and draining the water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing....

Aditi’s Bird Registry Please click the hyperlinks to access each bird. Accenters Alpine Accenter Black-throated Accenter Rufous-breasted Accenter Ashy Prinia Ashy Woodswallow Asian Koel Babblers Common Babbler Barbets Brown-headed Barbet Coppersmith Barbet Great Barbet Bee-eaters Chestnut-headed Bee-eater Green Bee-eater Rufous-headed Bee-eater Black-winged Stilt Bulbul Eastern Yellow-vented Bulbul Himalayan Bulbul Red-vented Bulbul Red-whiskered Bulbul...

Times Passion Trail - Day 3: Nal Sarovar   I had already been to Nal Sarovar about three years ago.  The earlier trip, spread over two sessions at Nal Sarovar and Vadla dam, fetched me wonderful pictures of several dozens of birds, almost 80% of which were lifers!  However, I was equally excited to visit the place once again. Nal Sarovar bird sanctuary consists of a beautiful lake and ambient...

Times Passion Trail Day 5 & 6: Sasan Gir.     We left in the morning around 7.30 am after a buffet-breakfast.  We took a break on the outskirts of Amreli and munched on the famous Bhavnagari Ganthia (Light crisp fries made of chick-pea flour with local condiments), with three different types of chutneys and piping hot tea. We arrived at the resort around lunch.  Our stay was...

MY FIRST DATE WITH BANDIPUR   Bandipur National Park of Karnataka is famous among the birders, wildlife photographers, as well as wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers; especially for Tigers and Leopards. It has been on my "must visit" list for a very long time. Finally the opportunity to visit it came around in Dec 2022. My husband and I visited the place for three nights and stayed in...

Even the Scientists call them "Cute"!   We are talking about the Honduran White Bats (Ectophylla alba).  Bats are generally considered scary and unwelcome by the layman.  As they are nocturnal and start their activities only after twilight, they are generally not seen, only felt, if they fly close to you (zoom past, before you 'bat" an eyelid!).   Attributed to Charlie Jackson - Honduran...