Hello friends, hope you are safe and doing fine,
before I start let me apologize for the delay in posting the blog. For a couple of weeks, I
was busy with work and then I was waiting for the trip to happen so overall it took
time.
Today I am presenting the trip report which has come after a long time, a first-ever overnight trip in this difficult time. A lot of things were in mind while planning
the trip, how to go, what all precautions required etc. after proper planning
and discussion with local people we decided to go on with a trip. Somewhere we have
to start, people's earning/ livelihood comes from travelers, it will adversely affect
small places so with this thought and taking all precautions we
unlocked ourselves and jump to our favorite place Bhigwan. So let us see how
this trip helped us to energize ourselves from so-called jail 😂
The Report card
For a long time, we wanted to go for an overnight trip to enjoy the field again so we were asking Saurabh to
evaluate a place that we can enjoy like never before. After a long wait, the
champion came out with the suggestion of Bhigwan, without wasting any time we agreed to backpack and drive down to heaven. To ensure safety we decided to go self-drive and we added
Pankaj to handle driving so we 3 can focus on photography.
With Mask, sanitizer, and medicine we started off
to Bhigwan, unlike the earlier times we avoided outside food and crowded places and
reached the destination with minimum stoppages. At Bhigwan Sandeep Nagre and
his family managed all necessary arrangements along with a stay and lovely food.
Food was
just awesome, it was typically local food such as Thecha, Pitlay, Jawar Bhakri,
Patal Bhaji, and fresh fish for Vishnu and Saurabh. After such tasty food (feel of AMRUT on earth) we took a rest a bit and got ready at 5 am to reach heaven. Let move to the next section to feel the trip, to meet exciting species, and one of its kind experiences that we noticed on the field.
Ground report
From Bhigwan grassland BT Wild Art reporting
live 😜
The day started early because the distance was a bit long from the place we stayed in. This time we opted for grassland because the target was raptors plus we had never been to the grassland before. I know you are excited to know more about "Adbhut" onfield experience with birds so without taking more time let me start with unique birds and its stories.
The day started early because the distance was a bit long from the place we stayed in. This time we opted for grassland because the target was raptors plus we had never been to the grassland before. I know you are excited to know more about "Adbhut" onfield experience with birds so without taking more time let me start with unique birds and its stories.
Drongo
Let me start with Drongo first, though it is a very common bird and found almost everywhere still it is part of the key sighting.
We decided to keep our focus on uncommon birds and big raptors and if time permits,
we will go for common birds. While we were looking for rare birds, Drongo
forced us to shift focus towards it by doing a super daring activity, let me
describe in detail.
Little Drongo of around 28cm in length
was challenging much larger bird (almost 3 to 4 times of its size) Drongo
was behind Shot Toed Snake Eagle to shift its place and was not allowing Eagle
to settle down. At first instance, it was chasing Eagle and pushing the eagle to go to another place. This little bird has so much courage and confidence that it was going behind eagle all around the place.
Another instance was even more shocking, Eagle was settled on top of a tree but Drongo was not liking it and hence so it was flying overhead to pass on a message to Eagle to move on but Eagle was not in the mood to pay attention to it, after a couple of failed attempt Drongo even dare to hit Eagle on its head (kind of Chamaat) this continued till the time Eagle got irritated and took a flight.
The aggressive and fearless attitude of the bird was just mind-blowing, we were lucky to witness the whole activity live and could not believe more that such a small creature is taking the large raptor directly without any fear. Drongo's daredevil attitude forced me to keep it on top of the list.
Short-Toed Snake
Eagle
This bird’s favorite prey is a snake, the
area rich with snakes becomes the habitat of this eagle. They are famous to
battle larger snakes on the ground and eat them swiftly, it swallows snakes with
ease (as if people eat noodles 😆). We saw around four Eagles in two days
that means the place is certainly rich with snakes.
Harriers
Another attraction of the trip was two different
types of Harriers, Montagu Harrier, and Pallid Harrier. Montagu is known for its graceful
flight with powerful and elegant wingbeats, which gives an impression of
buoyancy and ease.
Pallid Harrier is known for hunting its prey by surprising them as
they drift low over fields and moors. Both migratory species are best on
grassland and look so graceful and elegant for a photoshoot, you can check the DSLR
section to feel the same.
Common Kestrel
A common kestrel is a killing machine, the attack on prey is so deadly that prey is killed in the air itself. With sharp talons, it hit the prey in the air
to ensure that mission is accomplished on the spot. They are known for keen eyesight. Even in extremely poor
light, allowing them to hunt almost until dark. With such quality, the bird
deserves to be on the lucky list.
Other attractions
However, I have mentioned mainly
raptors in the above list you just cannot rule out the charm of other birds we sighted
there, they were equally beautiful and charming; certainly, details will be
published through various blogs from time to time.
The list includes – Indian Courser, Sand
grouse, Singing Quail, Hoopoe, Shrike, Eurasian hawk cuckoo, Blackbuck, Shikra,
Bonelli's eagle, Ashu crowned sparrow, Green Bee Eater, Dove, Francolin, Lark
Eagle Owl (fooled us and flew away without giving pictures) and many more.
Caution alert
We need to be cautious about the reality that
COVID is not over, just because of unlocking we should not take the liberty of forgetting
about wearing masks, using sanitizer, and maintaining social distancing. If you don’t
follow rules then Virus will follow you. The choice is yours to follow rules or to
invite viruses. Take care but don’t take chances.
I hope you liked this blog, keep blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, do let me know your feedback on btwildart@gmail.om
Vote of Thanks
Pankaj for being a calm and safe driver throughout the journey
Sanju
Bahu for wonderful knowledge of grassland species and excellent driving
skills on difficult roads of grassland, thanks for supporting us with your car as well
Agni
Pankh Flamingo Point - Sandeep Nagre, Nitin, Ganesh & family). For enabling
all necessary items for stay. The food was just amazing, specially Thecha.
Vishnu,
lovely friend as always, your realistic GYAN and Vishnu Vani is out of the
world
Saurabh, the champion will remain champion, guidance in improving photography skills,
planning the place and knowledge sharing remains the best part of this trip
Learning of the day
State Bird of Kerala
Great Indian hornbill –
Its
impressive size and color have made it important in many tribal cultures and
rituals
BT Wild Art
DSLR Section
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