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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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Yellow Billed Blue Magpies

We first caught a brief glimpse of the bird at the Aghanjar Mahadev Temple. The temple had been disappointing, but the stream behind had more than made up for it. We were walking back to the car, when a harsh call and a flash of blue alerted us that there was a bird nearby. A big one. Gone were thoughts of getting back to the car and to our next destination. Samhith and I were completely focused on identifying the elusive bird. It took us a while to spot it properly, and when we did, I recognized it as the Yellow Billed Blue Magpie! 





The photo above was the best I managed to capture, as the bird remained hidden within the thick foliage, giving us only a brief glimpse now and then. Eventually, spurred by our driver's impatience, we moved on to our next destination - The Norbulingka Institute. By now, Samhith was tired and hungry, and we headed straight to the cafeteria to have lunch before setting out to explore the institute. And there it was again - the Yellow Billed Blue Magpie!!



It was so much closer now, and least bothered by visitors. There were lots around, so we were told by the staff! 



And that was how we had lunch, with such a beautiful bird for company. At first, I went on clicking, trying to get the perfect shot. After a while, however, I decided to give up, and simply enjoy the experience.....





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:
  • The Himachal Series- 
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Location: Norbulingka institute, Sidhpur, Himachal Pradesh 176057, India

Comments

  1. TusharJuly 15, 2015 at 4:09 AM

    During Uttarakhand tour specially in Devprayag I have seen many Yellow Billed Blue Magpie. Thanks for rewinding memory.

    ReplyDelete
  2. NatalieGJuly 15, 2015 at 8:53 PM

    I love discovering so many birds that are new to me via your posts. Thanks for introducing me to this Magpie! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. RanchiRJuly 23, 2015 at 2:55 PM

    Ohhh its awesome watching yellow billed blue magpie is an great experience, but its my bad that i missed this opportunity well hoping for next time. Well the clicks shared here inspire me a lot thanks for sharing such a lovely clicks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. rickyFebruary 15, 2017 at 8:53 PM

    i live between bhagsu and dharamkot villages..and last three years i was here for whole year round...in winter as all other birds flew away to lower altitudes but this magpie dared to stay here only.even i did not see any other bird in very cold days and they were in good numbers.

    ReplyDelete

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