Skip to main content

Featured Post

Odisha Part 7: The Rajarani Temple, Bhubaneshwar

The Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneshwar gets its name from the stone used to build it - the red and yellow sandstone used here is locally called Rajarani. This temple was once known as the Indreshwara temple, which is mentioned in the Ekamra Purana, which tells us about the temples of Bhubaneshwar, which was then known as Ekamra Kshetra. Today, the temple stands in a well-maintained lawn, and is the only ticketed monument within the city. The temple is built in the typical Kalinga style, with the tall curvilinear shikara over the garbagruha , and a jagamohana connected to it. The temple is believed to date back to the 11 th century, and is most well known for its sculptures. The entrance to the temple has two pillars with a Naga couple protecting the sanctum, holding garlands in their hands. The base of the pillar shows 3 lions standing over 3 elephants, a typical motif in temples of this region during this period. On the other side of the pillar is a horse and rider, and the two mo...
Post a Comment

Birds of Tadoba - A Photo Post

Criss-crossing the jungle in search of the tiger, it was birds that we most often came across. I have already written about some of the birds we saw, but there were so many more, that I decided that a photo-post was in order, to show you just how many there are! And these are just the few I managed to capture on camera... there were many, many more, that I didn't. 





Our first sightings were water birds, just outside the core zone of the sanctuary....

Spot Billed Duck

Purple Swamphen... a pair. 

Purple Swamphen


Little Cormorant 

Open Billed Storks

Open Billed Stork - a closer look

Purple Heron, with an Open Billed Stork

Black Headed Ibis


Black Headed Ibis, Egret and Black Ibis

Black Ibis
There were other birds too, though we hardly stopped for any.... our driver and guide were always in a rush to show us the tiger! Here are those we did stop for... or saw while we waited for the tiger!! 


Male Asian Paradise Flycatcher. 
There were so many of these around, it was fascinating to see the long white tail as it flew amidst the trees...

Juvenile Male Asian Paradise Flycatcher

Golden Oriole. 
These were also plentiful, teasing us with a golden glimpse every now and then. Their cousins, the Black Hooded Orioles were also around, but I didn't manage to get a capture. 

I know this isnt a sparrow, but I can't identify it. Can you help? 

Some kind of Duck.. Any help with the identification? 

Pied Kingfisher

Indian Roller and Rufous Treepie

Common Kingfisher

Woodpecker


Shikra
Black - Naped Monarch Flycatcher.
This tiny bird (about the size of a sparrow or just slightly bigger, proved remarkably tough to capture. It was only cause we waited for almost an hour at the pond that I managed this blurry photo! 
White Bellied Drongo.
There were so many of these around, I was so surprised I had never seen them before!! 

Among the birds we couldn't identify was this pigeon we saw, at a water hole. It was bigger than the usual ones, as you can see from this pic, where you can see how much bigger it is than a Bulbul....


Here is a better view...

Can you help me identify this bird? 


The Changeable Hawk Eagles we spotted were so impressive that they deserve a post to themselves. Then, there are other birds we saw that I have written about here.  But these were just a few of the many birds we saw. The purpose of this post is twofold. Firstly, for me to remember which birds we saw, and yes, also to show you... and second, to show you just how much life there is, in the jungle, just waiting to be seen!!! I just hope you remember that, the next time you visit a jungle!

This post is part of my series on my #summertrip 2015, and I hope to take you along with me as I recount stories from my month long trip, which took me across the country. To get an idea of all the places I visited, and what you can hope to read about, click here. 

Related Posts:
  • On Tadoba

  • On the Summer Trip


Labels:
Location: Tadoba National Park, Chandrapur, Maharashtra 442401, India

Comments

  1. Vivek PrasharJune 14, 2015 at 9:34 PM

    Awesome clicks Anu. Hope to see more of them. I am also planning to go there in a few months would be great if you could share your itinerary. Thank You.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJune 15, 2015 at 8:14 AM

      Thank you Vivek. Details coming up in the next post. As to itinerary, just plan for the number of days and simply go on safari as many times as you can!

      Delete
  2. TusharJune 14, 2015 at 10:44 PM

    Nice. Very nice. Too many birds. Male Asian Paradise Flycatcher and Golden Oriole personal favorite. Thanks for sharing.
    The best about this National Park is with Tiger one will watch birds too and so many birds. Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anuradha ShankarJune 15, 2015 at 8:13 AM

    Thank you Ashu! I will update the post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anjali SengarJune 15, 2015 at 9:53 AM

    Amazing pictures..

    http://zigzacmania.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
  5. AndyJune 15, 2015 at 10:51 AM

    Nature has put so much Colours and Creativity in them.. they are just so beautiful and adorable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJune 15, 2015 at 11:35 AM

      Absolutely, Andy! There is so much to enjoy and learn from nature!

      Delete
  6. Anuradha ShankarJune 15, 2015 at 11:35 AM

    Thank you Bhaskar

    ReplyDelete
  7. HaddockJune 15, 2015 at 4:25 PM

    Wonderful birds.
    The last one, is it a Pied Imperial Pigeon ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJune 16, 2015 at 8:12 AM

      Thank you, Haddock! Nice to see you here after so long! I am not sure, but a couple of others have also suggested Imperial Pigeon, so I guess it might be.

      Delete
  8. Shrinidhi HandeJune 16, 2015 at 7:02 AM

    Flycatcher and pied Kingfisher were best ones

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJune 16, 2015 at 8:13 AM

      Actually, the best was one I didnt manage to photograph, Shrinidhi... a shikra and a serpent eagle fighting. It looked so wonderful, but i didnt get a single decent shot... but among those i did, these two certainly stand out.

      Delete
  9. UnknownJuly 29, 2015 at 10:55 AM

    Hello Anuradha Shankar,
    Your passion for capturing these birds is amazing and getting these still images of birds is a tough task that you have totally nailed. The water birds are interesting and thank you for this informative article. Keep going with it and I would be waiting for your next post.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sumeet MukherjeeDecember 27, 2017 at 5:18 PM

    Which is a decent place to stay in tadoba, if i'm only interested in bird watching? Can you help me please?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw...
10 comments
Read more

Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
9 comments
Read more

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport.  That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’...
2 comments
Read more