flying things, himals, lapsi and valley floor

 we were up in kot over new years... the winter haze covered most of the valley as well as the himals. mornings with chirping and flitting birds were wonderful- to hear and see.  as usual primary activity in kot is looking at mountains, the valley floor, trees, and things that fly, including birds and planes! 

a pair of himalayan bulbuls, जुरेलि,  atop a lapsi tree.. some lapsis decided to brave the winter chill!

.. and then these little birds... not much bigger than the lapsis... this yellow beauty is the himalayan black-lored tit...

... and this other one.. the cinerous tit atop a lapsi cluster...

had a hard time identifying this oriental turtle dove ढुकुर .. turns out it is a juvenile one and doesn't yet have spots on the sides of its neck

what a beauty this blue whistling thrush.. equally melodious its whistling...

... and different sizes and hues if the great barbet न्याउली with their almost mournful cries

... the one on the right is large cuckoo shrike... and a closer look of the bird on the left is below...

... the large billed crow कालोकाग...

... and below are bird sounds in the morning.. from little chirps to cackling...

... it is fascinating to watch the immediate southern view of the valley with its mist-wrapped terrain early in the morning before sunrise...  the pinkish sky...

... that begins to turn orangish...

... and this is the northern view of the himalaya... before sunrise...

...an early morning panorama of the valley below and the himals beyond...

... once the  sun's rays hit the himals.. the birds (the steel ones) चीलगाडी take flight to the everest region and back.. this an atr...

...  and this an lta-410 ... off on a mountain flight or a trip to lukla..

... ganesh himal range glowing a deep orange with the added haze..

.. and himalchuli with manaslu.. the annapurnas were blocked by the winter haze..

.. close-up of ganesh 3...

...ganesh 2...

... ganesh 1...

.... and himalchuli...

... a closer look at the mushrooming houses now hugging the hillsides of the valley...

... ganesh himal range behind the lapsi tree, as the sun comes further up...

... and of course the mountain flights comeback to kathmandu..
shree's bombardier dash-8

... buddha's atr...

... and yeti's  twin otter...

... this was the last sunset of 2023...

... and this the first one of 2024...

... the lapsi trees catch the ruddy evening light of sunset...

... and as night falls, the birds are silent... but its the dogs in the distance barking on and on...

.. and what is a chilly hillside evening without a warm fire in an upcycled

washing machine drum!

... iti...

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!