Fields of Gold

The Best time to see Ranganthittu is during the Monsoon (July-August) when the water birds are nesting. We accordingly planned our visit in mid July. Sadly, excess rainfall had caused the water levels to be dangerously high and boating was closed. We did see a few birds, will be posted in my next blog.


Bandipur National Park is nearly 220 Kms from Bangalore. We made our way from Srirangapatna's (near Mysore) Ranganthithu Bird Sanctuary at around 11:30.

On the way to Bandipur, we stopped several times to take in the beauty of the Sunflower fields that can be found on either sides of the road. In some patches, the road is rather bad, so you really cant miss it. [ :) ]

We stopped for lunch at NanjanGud a tiny town with 3 restaurants. We chose the middle one (they are all next to each other) - Prasad something. We were starving, and the food was acceptable. I would suggest stick to the Masala Dosa, the vadas were tough and oil soaked.

Spot the bee in this picture below!

This child was very curious to see us marvelling at, what to him must be, an everyday view from his bed room.



Route :

From ranganathitu, come back on mysore road. Around 10 km beyond srirangapatanam there is a major signal with directions - take right. Continue on this road without turning.. be on the main road - there are a few diversions ( one of which is major one to go to coorg).
After around 10 km turn right( major T junction.. you either take right to Ooty/Bandipur or take left to mysore). After around 60 km there is a Y junction.. right goes to Ooty, left to Bandipur. Take left.. after 30 km or so you reach Bandipur.

Next post will contain pictures of Ranganthithu and Bandipur.

Tiny wonders

It started out as a great idea. A drive to hebbal lake just 40 min away, to capture a shot of the Purple Heron. We left at 7:00am on an overcast morning. Gentle misty drizzle.
Reached the lake at 7:45 only to discover that it was being de-silted!

No matter, said we, (always the optimists) there is a lake just next to it with a little park attached, surely we can at least get some shots. But we were wrong, for the man at the gate said he would only let us in after 10:00am.

I have no idea how long the desilting of the lake is likely to take, nor the impact it will have on its avian residents. I was unable to find any time line mentioned for its completion. Any info regarding this is most welcome.

Disappointing though it was, there is ample opportunity for interesting things to photograph, provided ofcourse that one is prepared to look closely.

Praying Mantis

Im not certain if the name is correct, but certainly looks like one to me. Though I've never seen one with multiple colors before. This little guy was sitting on a tulsi plant in our balcony.

DragonFly

Again, I have no knowledge of the exact name. It seemed to be in some kind of trance. Hardly moved at all for over 15 min. Took a few shots and left it alone. ( Our Maid looked at me as though I had taken leave of my senses )

Caterpillar

This was taken at Lal Bagh, on an overcast rainy day. There were two of them and an extremely curious black dog that couldnt understand what the fuss was about.

I dont know what insect this is. Shot was taken by accident while trying to take a picture of the purple flower in our balcony.

The following picture was taken at Lalbagh, by Keshav, who kindly let me add it to my bug collection. His blog can be found on the right side of this page.