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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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Birds of Tadoba - Changeable Hawk Eagle

We first saw a Changeable Hawk Eagle while driving to Mysore from Wayanad. Since then, we have seen the bird often, but never managed to get as good a click as the first time. Then, at Tadoba, as we criss-crossed our way across the forest in search of the tiger, we saw these birds often, either near ponds or just by the side of the road.





It was easy to identify them, thanks to their trademark crest, but each sighting was just as fascinating as the first. It was even more so, to see how the bird sat perfectly still, yet moved its head and eyes, almost like a dancer, taking in its surroundings, keeping watch, for dangers as well as prey.












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

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 5, 2015 at 1:48 PM

    These pictures are amazing! Beautiful framing and great shot!

    ReplyDelete
  2. R Niranjan DasOctober 5, 2015 at 3:04 PM

    Nice captures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Saachi AgarwalOctober 23, 2015 at 2:11 PM

    Spellbound! Great pictures depicting the minutest details of the bird. Thanks to your beautiful capture that I got an opportunity to see how a hawk eagle looks like. I hope if I ever get a chance to visit Tadoba, I can also get a glimpse of this beautiful bird.

    ReplyDelete

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