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.
Walking around
the Club Mahindra Cherai Beach Resort, I noticed a flash of feathers as a bird
rose out of the water and flew to a tree. Curious, I waited till the bird
returned, and I realized that it wasn’t wading in the water as I had thought,
but stood at the edge of the water, on the boundary wall….
Even as I watched,
it stretched out its neck, and pecked off something from the surface, and flew
back to its perch, to eat in peace!
I was so
fascinated by the sight, that I stood there for quite a while, watching the
Little Green Heron catch its breakfast!
I spotted
it again, later in the evening, this time perched on one of the Chinese Fishing
Nets.
The Little
Green Heron is apparently quite a common bird, seen frequently in these parts. For
me, however, this was a first time sighting, one I thoroughly enjoyed!
Great example of photography. Loved each one pics. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sumit. Glad you liked them
DeleteLovely capture. This is also commonly known as the Pond Heron?
ReplyDeleteThanks Divsi, but nope, this isnt a pond heron.. a close cousin though :D
DeleteBeautiful bird.. also beautiful writing and photography..
ReplyDeleteThank you, Krishna!
DeleteAnd I have also seen this bird for the first time through your photos. Thank you for that.
ReplyDelete