Ranganathittu ,weekend birding destination

 We have been to Ranganathittu so many number of times that I have lost counting.No matter how many times I go, I still love going again.

So this year when my brother came to Bangalore, me and Ankur decided to show Ranganathittu to him, hoping he will like the place as much we do.

So as usual we started early from Bangalore at day break and reached Ranganathittu around 10 am.We followed the usual route from Bangalore via Mandya. For some reason the crowd was very less when we reached.I had never seen so less people in Ranganathittu anytime before.

We hired a private boat for 1000 INR. The private boat is exclusive and takes you to parts of the water body where bird sightings are supposedly better for almost an hour. The shared boats though comes very cheap just takes a very small round and the ride is just for 15 minutes. Though the shared one also gives a very good scope of seeing the birds from close, but we decided with the other option.

We saw some really spectacular birds like the painted stork, river tern, stone plover, pelican, snake bird, cormorant, heron, spoon bill ,open bill, egret , ibis.

I won't do much talking in this blog. All details about Ranganathittu are already there in my old blog posts. Please take an easy chair and enjoy the photos.

Painted Stork

River Tern

River Term

Pelican in flight

Crocodile

Painted Stork

Crocodile

Pelican

River Tern

Painted Stork

Crocodile

Crocodile

Pied Kingfisher

Juvenile Heron

Spoon Bill

Open Bill

Stone Plover

Swallow

Pelican

Painted Stork

Crocodile

Stone Plover

Swallow

Swallow

Pelican

The Guys

Bro and Sis

Kumaon Trip ~ Summing Up

I hope you have enjoyed going through my Kumaon trip blogs, as much as I have enjoyed writing them.As I always do with my major travel blogs I always keep the last blog for summing up, so this trip will also be no exception.

Kumaon is a heavenly region in the foothills of the Himalayas.In summers the place beams with life and greenery.One can see a part of the snow clad Himalayan range in the background.The rivers are sapphire, the lakes are emerald and there is a burst of colour all around you. So many flowers,so many birds and butterflies the place turns into a naturalist's heaven.

Winter paints a different picture. Whatever was green in summer turns white in winter. The lakes also get frozen partially or fully. The coniferous trees stands lonely on the bed of snow, their branches and twigs covered with snow.It is another beauty to behold, though travelling becomes a constraint.

Monsoons should be totally avoided as there can be fatal landslides.

The best time to visit is either summer, if you do not mind the excessive tourist rush or from September till December.

Below was our itinerary for the trip:

DAY 1| Reach New Delhi
       Night train to Kathgodam

DAY 2| Reach Kathgodam at 5:05 am
       Reach Nainital
       Hotel Check in
       Full day sight seeing
       Night Halt
Nainital Blog : http://thetravellerweare.blogspot.in/2015/10/nainital-land-of-lakes-part-1.html

DAY 3| Head to Binsar
       On the way visit Katarmal Sun Temple
       Full day rest
       Night halt
Binsar Blog : http://thetravellerweare.blogspot.in/2015/11/binsar-idyllic-himalayan-forest.html

DAY 4| Full day at Binsar
       Visit Binsar Wild Life Sanctuary
       Visit Jageshwar group of temples
       Night Halt

DAY 5| Head to Chaukori
       Enjoy nature
       Night Halt
Chaukori Blog : http://thetravellerweare.blogspot.in/2015/11/chaukori-hidden-beauty-of-kumaon.html

DAY 6| Head to Munsiyari
       Enjoy nature
       Night Halt

DAY 7| Sightseeing at Munsiyari
       Night Halt
Munsiyari Blog : http://thetravellerweare.blogspot.in/2015/11/munsiyari-kohinoor-of-kumaon.html

DAY 8| Head to Kausani
       Visit Baijnath on the way
       Enjoy nature
       Night Halt
Kausani Blog : http://thetravellerweare.blogspot.in/2015/11/kausani-nostalgia-kept-me-calling.html

DAY 8| Head to Nainital via Ranikhet
       Lake tour
       Evening shopping
       Night Halt
Nainital Concluding Blog : http://thetravellerweare.blogspot.in/2015/11/nainitalconcluding-our-kumaon-trip.html

DAY 9| Nainital sight seeing
       paragliding/rest/shopping/boating/zoo
       OR can go to Corbett for a day
       Night Halt

DAY 10| Return to Kathgodam
        Night train to New Delhi

DAY 11| Return to Bangalore

In Nainital there are shops that give bikes on rent.

Staying:

Except for Nainital we stayed in KMVN guesthouses all the way. The staffs are good and friendly.
KMVN Deenapani is a little less maintained but that is compensated by the graceful staffs.If are planning to stay at KMVN Binsar then please keep in mind that do not provide electricity after sunset except for half an hour of dinner time.The reason is since Binsar KMVN is located inside the Binsar wildlife sanctuary so they do not disturb the natural wildlife. A good alternative is to stay at Deenapani which is 16 km before Binsar.In KMVN Binsar and Deenapani breakfast and dinner are complimentary. In all the other KMVN guesthouses only breakfast is complimentary.

All KMVN guesthouses can be booked online.
I booked from here:

 http://www.kmvn.gov.in/

Just a word of advise: If you are reaching any of the KMVN late say after 12:30 pm and you intend to have dinner after reaching then call up the reception and let them know that you will be late and wish to have lunch. Else you may not get lunch once you reach.

In Nainital we stayed at Alka and Prasanth Hotel.
Alka is very good but expensive, Prasanth is okay but have nice views of the lake.


Driver:

Jivan : 9411198443 / 969068194

A very good and reliable driver and is knowledgeable about the places.
He was also one of the key factors why our trip was so good.

Always bargain with drivers for the price they quote.It will always come down.

And the most important thing that I believe is we all should be responsible tourists. We must not litter  or throw garbage anywhere. After all our country is beautiful and it should be kept like that.

Some of the random clicks from Kumaon