birds and beasts

what we saw in one corner of chitwan national park

sandaji  (kanak), shanta and myself took a canoe and jeep ride as part of safari activities from the jungle villa resort in patihani in chitwan. it was an amazing trip, and we got to see so many birds and beasts, thanks to the sharp eyes of our guide ashok botey.  some of the pictures were taken from the balcony of the resort.

winter is always a good time to go to chitwan for the sheer number of migratory birds that can be found in the rivers and lakes across nepal, and chitwan national park with its rivers and large number of oxbow lakes plays host to a lot of these birds.

 

ruddy shelduck (चखेबाचखेबी) on the rapti river in the daytime...

… and cormorants at the end of the day along the banks of the river  

high up  on a simal tree near ghatgain there was this black drongo (चिबे), whiskers and all 

the little egret ( बकुल्ला) by the banks of the rapti, next to the resort.

 a river lapwing takes a breather from feeding...

 ... while its friend forages in the shallow waters 

 ruddy shelduck couple (चखेबाचखेबी) preen themselves by the river... these birds are supposed to mate for life!

 … and do a bottoms up in the water

 white-throated kingfisher (माटिकोरे चरो) waits patiently on a branch

a goosander looks around with a very smug expression 

 indian cormorants relax on a branch...

… while another one seems to be clearing its throat! :) 

 a darter  with its spindly neck, almost camouflaged as a branch...

 … and another one drying its wings in the morning sun

 a red-naped ibis in a sand bank on a foggy morning

 a purple heron in deep concentration (ढुकुचुकु कर्के बैठ्ना!)

 lesser whistling ducks rest on a grassy bank (very close to crocodiles, not seen in this photo!)

 a juvenile striated heron is all eyes on a branch above the water...

 … and then was standing still like a rock in the water for more than ten minutes or so.  i had to look through tele-lens to check if it was indeed a bird!

 one of the many peacocks ( and pea hens) we saw during the safari.. and no.. it did not spread its tail!

 slaty-headed and plum-headed parakeets

 could hear  the sweet notes of this black-headed oriole before i saw it

  a drongo  waits to catch flying insects

a long-tailed shrike strikes a pose... 

 also spotted a fish eagle

 amongst animals, we managed to spot, with the help of our guide, all four species of deer in the park.. including this hog deer...

... tons of spotted deer...

 
… sambar deer...

… and barking deer...

along the water ways we got to see many reptiles.. like this elegant green eyed gharial (घरियाल)

 .. huge ones too... 

 

 and the magar crocodile. (गोही) lazing about... 

 … basking in the morning sun...

 .. or seeming to enjoy a good joke!

 

 there was no way we would have seen this python (अजिंगर), if it wasn't for the sharp eyes of our guide...

.. nor would we have noticed this turtle (कछुवा) on the log..

.. a monkey (बाँदर) on a simal tree...  

 .. and a mongoose  (मलसांप्रो) in the resort premises

 peaceful coexistence of egrets, deer and crocodiles

 a rhino (गैँडा) in the lake also very close by..

  

 it would dip its head occasionally to feed on weeds

 and then a bit further we came by this huge rhino right next to the road... "what are you staring at? never seen a rhino before?" it seemed to be saying!

 during the jeep safari we saw three black bears (भालू) .. what luck!  two of them we heard  before we saw them. like dogs barking... . this one entered the forest, and then we saw another one.. as it ran towards where the former had gone

 also saw two wild boars (बँदेल) right next to the trail...

 of course a lot of anthills.. but none as stately like these manhattan highrises! 

 

 .. and to end.. take a ride down the rapti rapids on a dugout canoe!