Kerala - God's Own Country

God's own country needs no introduction. Surrounded by network of water channels, lush green rice fields, tall coconut trees, this place is truly a nature's  paradise.

Following pictures are from the two very famous locations in Kerala, which are Allepey - entrypoint to chain  of brackish lagoons and Kochi - A major port and spice centre of India since the mid-centuries.

 Click on the photo to view in large size.

For more visit the Tourism Kerala website @ http://greatbackwaters.com/ and be fascinated by Kerala's beauty ..

Bird Watch: Bhigwan

Wildlife photography is not my area, but I never miss a chance to visit places where one gets to see the wonderful animals in their natural habitat. It is truly a  refreshing and awarding experience. One such place I visited recently is Bhigwan. 

Bhigwan is a small village on the Pune-Solapur highway, some 100 kms from Pune. The catchment area of the Ujjani dam build on the river Bhima hosts a number of migratory birds from all over the world. Most popular among them is the Flamingo. The other notable bird which we spotted was the Bar-headed goose. It is the highest flying bird in the world and flies above the Mt. Everest during its migration.

There were many other bird varieties we spotted, the ones which I remember are the painted stork, reddy-shell ducks, open billed stork, black ibis, glossy ibis, terns, black-winged stilt, ring-billed gulls, herons, egrets, plover, sandpiper. 

Greater Flamingo

Greater Flamingo (Juvenile)

Painted Stork

Painted Stork

Painted Stork

Bar-heade geese

Bar-headed geese

Pond Heron

Black-headed Ibis

Open-billed Stork

Ring-billed gull