Sunday, May 30, 2010

Some Birds & Animals of Sasan Gir Forest

Frankly speaking, I consider myself reasonably good at taking pictures of those objects that do not move! Hence I surprised myself when I managed to take a few pictures ( two to be precise) of the resident birds in the gardens of the lodge where we stayed. This place where we stayed is a bird lover's paradise. There were so many of them - tiny ones and they are so very fidgety that its very difficult to focus on them. One has to have a lot of patience.


It was with great difficulty I managed to get these shots. Generally I get the picture of the trees rather than the bird itself! There is much scope for improvement and as they say – No pain no gain.




Gir Forest - Peacock4

Peacock - just finished his mating dance


Gir Forest - Lapwing 2
Lapwing - keeping her eggs warm

Gir Birding lodge - Paradise fly catcher
Paradise Fly catcher - in the gardens of the lodge

Gir Birding lodge - Oriental white eye
Oriental white eye - very tiny birds sighted in the gardens of the lodge

Gir Forest - Langur 1
Langur

Gir Forest - deers 1
male & female deers drinking water


Gir Forest - sambar
Sambar Deer

Gir Forest - nilgai
Nilgai

Monday, May 24, 2010

Part II - Somnath Temple, Sunset & the Hailstorm


The visit to the temple was on our agenda but we had thought of visiting it early in the morning. But God had other plans for us ( and I firmly believe his plans always works the best). The bright afternoon suddenly turned into a cloudy one followed by lightening and thunder and then the hailstorm! It was such a beautiful sight. Like pearls dropping from the sky on the green lawn in front of the cottage where we were staying ( I was witnessing the hailstorm for the first time). I tried to capture the beauty of this scene and hope I have done justice to it.

The evening safari was cancelled due to the hailstorm and so as not waste our day we thought of visiting the temple when the weather cleared a bit.

We managed to see the Temple (cameras are not allowed inside). Its a beautiful structure. We were also rewarded with a spectacular sunset which I managed to capture. The scene was absolutely breath-taking.



Somnath 2
Front-view of the Somnath Temple


Somnath 3
Silhouette of the Somnath Temple


Sunset at Somnath
Somnath Temple with the sun setting in the background
This photo has been published today(May 25, 2010) in the Deccan Chronicle Bengaluru edition on page 21


Somnath - sunset 2
The sunset


Hailstorm

The hailstorm - "Pearls " dropping from sky !


Gir Birding lodge - Hailstorm 2
Close-up of "the pearls" on the lawn!




watch out for the next post - Part III

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Pride of Gujarat & Asia


Hi! Everybody! I am back ! No I did not run out of ideas for recipes !


We just returned from our vacation in Gujarat and Mumbai. I feel all refreshed and rejuvenated. We had a wonderful time at Sasan Gir Forest – the only home to Asiatic Lions. The safaris in Sasan Gir Forest in Gujarat were very rewarding. I got some good photographs (by my standards!) of the lion and the pride and other animals and birds too. I thought I will share them with you all.


Lioness crossing the road
The "Great Mom" crossing the road

The thrill of seeing a lion at such close quarters is very difficult to describe.


Lioness 3
Two's Company



Lioness 4

The Reunion!



Lioness 10

Threesome



Lioness 11

The curious one



Happy Family
Happy Family


Lioness
The AnxiousWait


Lioness 8
The cute one



For details of the trip report, you may visit my daughter’s blog ( Birds & Bees - on my web-page )


Watch out for the part II