Blog 097 - A flight of fancy - Birding at Ranganathittu

Painted Stork in flight

A flight of fancy on a windswept field

Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction holding me fast, how
Can I escape this irresistible grasp?
…
There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, A state of bliss

Ranganathittu Island

Birding at Ranganathittu

One fine day bored of cubicle life, Rama (a photography enthusiast friend of mine) and I decided to go for a Birding trip. Ranganathittu was the obvious choice.

Painted Stork

We took an early morning 5:30 ksrtc bus from Majestic till Srirangapatna and then a bumpy auto ride till Ranganathittu and reached there around 8:30. Though the official timings are from 9:00 the park official allowed us inside for a regular fee and without tickets :)

Little Egret

Being an early morning on a lazy Saturday, the park was almost empty. The well maintained park, the twitter of birds and the pleasant sunshine made the experience more memorable and the photography a lot easier!

Pair of Spoonbills

Ranganathittu is a series of six islets on bank of Kaveri River and there are guided-boat rides available to watch the birds.

Painted Stork

We took a guided boat trip. (A guided-boat ride costs around 250 bucks and lasts for around half an hour) Murgesh, our guide and boat driver was well versed with the birds in the sanctuary and answered most of our questions patiently. And assured us from time to time that we were visiting the park at the right time of the year.

Marsh Crocodile

Sighting a marsh crocodile is common in the river and we got a few glimpses of crocodiles.

Grey Heron

There is an informative signboard in the park that speaks about bird watching as a hobby, the lack of money and the incomparable happiness in bird watching. This was my first birding trip and it has been such a wonderful experience and memories still linger on mind!

Spoonbill

Some Useful Links:
About Ranganathittu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranganathittu_Bird_Sanctuary

Birding places near Ranganathittu:
Karanji Lake: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanji_Lake
Kokkare Bellur: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokrebellur

Birding in Bangalore - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bngbirds/

Spoonbill

PS:
Pictures were clicked using Canon S3IS – TV Mode.
The, ‘Learning to Fly’ lyrics in this post does not necessarily relate to this birding trip. It’s just that I have been listening and re-listening to Floyd while writing this post but then that is the magic of Floyd lyrics it helps you relate to many wonderful things!