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The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
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Purple Rumped Sunbirds and Tailor Bird - Sky Watch Friday

The monsoons having officially begun, the trees near our house have been pruned. I wondered if this would mean that lesser birds would visit our place, but was surprised to see that in fact, I saw more of them, thanks to the lack of leaves which helped them camouflage! The best thing was that I managed at last to photograph the purple rumped sunbirds which flutter amidst the flowers all day long.....




Here is the male.....




and here is the female....




and here is one.. I guess it is a juvenile. Look at the red patch on the head. I wonder, is it a male juvenile? Any ideas you birdwatchers out there?

And finally,here is one which looks just like the female sunbird, but for a red patch on the head. It is a Tailor Bird! Thanks Mridula and Team G Sqaure for the ID




Here are some more pics in the form of a collage....


For more shots from around the world, go to Sky Watch Friday


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Location: Chedda Nagar Rd, Kurla, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

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