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.
The Greater Coucal, called a Crow Pheasant, is neither a crow nor a pheasant, but belongs to the cuckoo family. They are commonly called 'Bharadvaj', and sighting them is believed to be a good omen.
We see them quite often in my area, and this one perched on a tree in our compound for a while, drying its feathers after the rains.
They are bigger than the crows, and look a lot stronger too, but at least where I live, the crows rule the roost. This one had a hard time getting dry, pestered as it was, constantly, by the crows, until it finally gave up and flew away.
We see them quite often in my area, and this one perched on a tree in our compound for a while, drying its feathers after the rains.
They are bigger than the crows, and look a lot stronger too, but at least where I live, the crows rule the roost. This one had a hard time getting dry, pestered as it was, constantly, by the crows, until it finally gave up and flew away.
I live in Mumbai, in a colony lucky enough to still have plenty of trees and open spaces. The best part of living here are the birds I see from my window, every single day. "Birds from my Window" is a series, where I regularly feature photos of birds I see from my home. To see all the posts in this series, click here.
nice blog and photography
ReplyDeleteI have to read what is good omen. And this is the first time I saw this bird. Thanks for sharing.
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