Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out! Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, though we
A flock of birds pecking
at something on the ground caught my attention. They looked like sparrows, so I
turned my attention instead to a Little Green Bee Eater plucking out insects
from the air. It was only when the tiny sparrow landed nearer me that I realised
it wasn’t a sparrow – or at least, it wasn’t the common House Sparrow I see
everywhere.
Out came the camera and I
clicked furiously as the flock went about having their lunch.
It was Karthik who
enlightened me about the identity of these birds – these are Yellow
Throated Sparrows, also called Chestnut Shouldered Petronias. They
are a species of sparrow found in Asia, from Turkey to Afghanistan, Pakistan,
India and Bangladesh. There are vagrants found in Sri Lanka and also Myanmar.
Apparently, it’s quite a common bird, found in gardens, fields, and forests,
and it made me wonder why I haven’t noticed any before.
Can you see the dark brownish or chestnut patch on the shoulder? That, and the pale yellow patch on its throat (which you can see if you look really close, unfortunately, I need a better camera to show you) give the bird its name.
Interestingly, this is
the bird which is said to have introduced the legendary Salim Ali to
Ornithology. As a young boy, he shot a sparrow that looked different, and the
then secretary of the BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) identified it for
him, and also introduced him to the subject. His interest was sparked, and he
went on to become probably the most well-known ornithologist of the country. Isn’t
it interesting to see how simple things like these change the course of a
person’s life?
I guess I have never seen it before! Looks pretty.
ReplyDeletenext time you see a sparrow, take a closer look, Mridula! you never know!
DeleteNice one
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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