RANGANATHITTU ROUNDS

Welcome viewers! I wish everyone belated Easter wishes. Easter is celebrated as the day of the resurrection of Christ. The easter reminds us of rabbits, baskets and colourful eggs.  Colourful eggs symbolise the new life and each colour has its own meaning. Well, what fascinates me is not the colourful eggs but the colourful birds which symbolise the beauty of this earth. "Sound of chirping birds is the best morning meditation music in the world"- says Nandini Gautam.  And watching birds is the best hobby any nature lover could practice. 

Recently I had visited Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Mandya, Karnataka, India. It is the largest bird sanctuary in the state, about 170 species of birds have been recorded so far. It also provides a home for migrating birds from Siberia and northern parts of India. I could just get to see a few of them during my visit, so let me show you some of the colourful winged creatures I met. 

A spotted dove (Streptopelia chinensis) and a lovely little green bee-eater male (Nyctyornis athertoni), perching on the cable wire welcoming the guests on the entrance. 

The sanctuary is mostly occupied by the most colourful bird- Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) it is rightly named so, as it has five colours in its body. It the most beautiful bird to watch in the place. 

Spot-billed Pelicans (Pelecanus philippensis) the largest among all the winged beauties of the place is not actually beautiful with its grey feathers but very mesmerising to watch them fluttering from their gulars.

The gular fluttering is done with its beak wide opened to regulate the heat loss.

These little birds are known to be just three months old and attracted the visitors with their adorable looks. 

Asian open billed stork (Anastomus oscitans) has a brilliant adaptation to deshell the snail shells from its opened beaks. 

The red wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus) is one among the ground birds and not so good in perching, usually flies and calls during the night time.

Egrets are the most common birds found; there are three species of them, little egret, great egret and cattle egret. 

Cormorant/ Indian shag (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis) are found in good number too and must watch them when they have their wings open wide. 

Oriental magpie robin

Wagtails (Motacilla) are common in south India. 

Tickell's blue flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) this cute little blue bird tricked me and could capture only its half portion. 

White ibis, spoon bill, river turn, darter and other birds was spotted that day but could not capture them. Apart from the birds, bats, squirrels, bonnet macaque, otters, palm civet and mongoose are known to be found. The sanctuary is home for over hundreds of mugger crocodiles. 

Thats all from my Ranganathittu rounds, if you find this article interesting then donot forget to share with your friends. Hope I will find more species next time when I visit the place. Till then keep reading what's around us. See you next week.