It was around 5-45 pm on 5th October 2023 while driving from Pattadakal to Aihole, I spotted these beauties browsing in an open field right next to the highway. Luckily it was still light and the young peacocks, probably siblings, were in the open, not even a twig in the line of sight. I pulled out my Nikon P900 swiftly and took half a dozen shots before they vanished into the neighboring field of grownup sugarcane.
During our 3-day tour of Hampi in December 2024, we saw several birds. The first one being a parrot at Pattabhirama Devastana. The parrot had nested in a small gap between two stone blocks in outerwall of the temple. Next we saw a pair of cormorants at Lokapavani which is a couple of hundred meters from Pattabhirama Devastana. Besides these two winged creatures we did see a lot of tiny birds but they weren't still enough to be photographed. On the third morning we visited Vijaya Vittala Devastana where I caught a parrot relaxing on a canopy. We too were taking a break after walking around for an hour. This is a rose-ringed parakeet also called the ring-neck parrot.
The little beauty was scratching itself with its beak. Probably a tick or some other tiny insect was bothering it.
I love to see how birds turning their heads 180° or more. Such an effortless act!
The parakeet enjoying a moment of bliss. Seems like it got rid of the pest.
It's fun to see parakeet flocks fly noisily, totally playful like a gaggle of 5YOs.
.........Hampi is a place where history meets nature however, man has messed with flora while fauna is relatively free despite the fact that flora and fauna compliment each other. If one has an eye for the winged creatures pleasant treats are guaranteed. Same with other forms of fauna like mammals and insects.
Here's one example of such a spotting parrots during my visit to Pattabhirama Devastana in Dec 2024. Though there were several parrots flying around noisily, I could capture just one since it was still and within the range of my Canon telephoto lens. It had perched on the temple's outer wall close to a small gap between the blocks. It looks like that tiny gap was the entrance to it's home. Probably there are a couple of chicks in there.
The following morning we got to see a pair of red-wattled lapwing on the banks of Tungabhadra at Chakrathirta.
.........
We had spent almost an hour at Badami northern hill walking in sandstone ravines, checking out the massive formations and the Chalukyan monuments built on these rocks- lower Shivalaya, the royal mantapa, upper Shivalaya and fortifications. I remember during my earlier visit more than a decade ago the path was quite rough. Now it was well laid slabs, tourists will walk and climb steps without a care. So looking around or shooting while walking is not as risky as earlier. As we descended the hill I happened to notice a few monkeys high up, some 45 feet above the ravine floor. One of them seem to be looking for a short-cut to the neighboring rock. I senses some action and aimed my camera at the scene with multi-shot mode.
Indeed the monkey was looking for a spot to leap and another spot to land. I was wondering if the monkey would really jump across. The other monkeys went out of sight. They seemed to climbing down the face on the other side.
The monkey after positioning itself at the spot was stationery for several seconds. Probably it was making up its mind, relaxing and flexing its muscles.
Get, set, and...
...go!
A close up of the monkey flying sideways and turning right gradually...
...now its preparing for the impact, making sure it lands on all four limbs at that instant.
Safe landing. A very brave Vaanara!
I think this is a rare sight. At least for tourists who spend a few hours here. Probably locals might see this happen one or two times a week.
We were at Huchimalli Gudi, Aihole. I was resting in the temple's Mukha Mantapa while Pushpa was going around the temple premises which consists of three temples and a stepped well. Pushpa spotted this Myna on the Kalyani (stepped well) wall, with the telephoto lens camera in her hands, multi-shot mode on. Here is the series of five clicks... it looks the Myna was practicing break dance.
These are two of three temples while the third temple is on my left hand side, out of view here.
This is the stepped well. While ASI is trying its best to protect & preserve the Chalukyan monuments are Aihole, Huchimalli Gudi is one of the best preserved temples.
This visit here was with Rajesh, my colleague in 2000s. We had explored Basavanadurga the previous afternoon and stayed overnight at Veerabhadreshwara Devastana. We woke up early and climbed Savandurga's Karigudda while the weather was pleasant.
This is one of the best scenes I saw at the summit i.e. neat to Basava Mantapa. These clouds moved in gradually engulfing the entire surrounding. It felt as though we were afloat in the sky. This dog which had accompanied us through out the ascent sat there watching the clouds. Probably it was wondering if it could hop over the clouds and find a bone somewhere :) The floating illusion lasted about 30 minutes.
.........This lovely creature is a swallowtail butterfly, a Blue mormon seen at Ulavi deep inside the Western Ghats jungles. This large butterfly is a graceful flier. It is said to be a pollinator.
It was around 2- 30, we were resting at Sri Veerabhadra Gudi when Pushpa spotted it. The butterfly was gathering nectar from a peacock flower (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) tree in full bloom.
These are a few lucky shots since the space was limited and sometimes the butterfly would fly around the other side of the tree. It has a blue patch on the upper side which was out of sight most times.
This is one of my favorite shots. The posture is a perfect symmetry, almost perfect.
The only shot when its wing span at its max. The dark part of the wings have blue patches hence the name Blue mormon.
During our stay at Ulavi and drive through the jungle, I spotted three more Blue mormon. Wondering how many are there deeper inside the jungles away from human beings.
.........I've seen nests of wasps, ants and birds usually from a distance. For the first time, I got a chance to see a nest at eye level. The nest was woven and stitched by a tiny bird called the Purple Sunbird. This bird is barely 10 cm long including its beak and tail feathers. I'd seen the bird several times at my friend's office-studio which has plenty of greenery. This is just one corner of one green area.
Aug-16-2019
Saw the nest for the first time when a colleague mentioned about it. He had seen three tiny eggs, sky blue with black dots. I was hesitant to go near it lest I scared the bird away.
Aug-19-2019
Three days later, I got a closer shot.
The nest is made in a golden money creeper, its leaves are almost 15 cm wide, 30 cm long and has a thick stalk. The creeper's stem is thick and clings on to walls firmly. The bird had stitched two edges of a leaf and within the niche it has woven coir fiber into a little cup. The coir strands were also bound together with white material, probably strands of Yekke-Gida seeds.
Aug-31-2019
The leaf had fallen off. We discussed about the nest and its owners. Some time in the past two weeks the eggs had hatched, the chicks grew up, learnt to fly and became independent. I learned that Sunbirds usually feed on nectar but they hunt insects too, especially to feed the young birds. Here's the abandoned nest. My friend inferred that the bird must've slashed cut the leaf stalk as a mark of abandoning the nest.
The woven cup bulging out of the leaf.
This is the closed end of the nest.
The nest entrance. Wish I'd a chance to see the eggs and chicks in here.
It looks so cozy. The soft green light during the day. That's harmony between plants and animals.
It's wonderful to see the natural architect-engineers' creations. Hoping to see the birds return for the next mating season.
.........Winged friends seen at Lalbagh during two or three visits in March-2019.
 |
| Spot-billed Duck |
 |
| Purple Swamphen |
 |
| seldom seen Tortoise |
 |
| Swamphen watches a cormorant swimming underwater |
 |
| Cormorants can stay submerged for couple minutes |
 |
| Pond Heron |
 |
| white wings of Pond Heron |
 |
| White Heron |
 |
| Cormorant stretching its wings |
 |
| Cormorant hangout |
 |
| Cormorant wary of crow |
 |
| Indian Kite hangout, no other dare to come near this tree |
 |
| Myna |
 |
| Purple Swamphen with a flock of Pigeons, Bismarkia palm in background |
 |
| Grey Pigeon |
 |
| an aged grey pigeon |
