These were some of the birds that we saw in Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary in second week of May. Apparently, Jan-Mar is the best time to visit. If possible, be there by 7 am, to avoid the rush and to see the movement of the birds.
colony of young painted storks
open billed stork
adult painted stork
little cormorant
ibis
young painted stork drying its wings
pied kingfisher
young pelicans
snowy egret
night heron
river tern
stone-curlew or great thick-knee
Visiting Rome is on our bucket list and this summer holidays we decided to make a trip there. Our first destination was Venice and we gave it 2 full days. We landed in Marco Polo airport after flying from Bangalore for about 9 hours. Since Europe is behind India, we were gaining a few hours. Immigration was a minute job at the Marco polo airport. Never had it done so fast, anywhere, so far. Already, mighty impressed.
Water taxi ride from Marco polo airport to Venice
Even though water taxis are quite expensive, we opted for it because of the luggage and 2 kids. I had booked a family run B&B in Ca’Arco Antico in San Polo, to get the authentic venetian experience. This place is so close to San Marco square and also to the Rialto bridge. There is also a vaporetto stop close by. Very convenient and I’d certainly recommend this place.
Rialto bridge on the Grand Canal
Shopping at the Rialto market
Gondola ride - over hyped, IMO, but you should do it once
I think the gondoliers really take you for a ride! You may want to bargain and ask what places he is gonna take you, before you get in.
hand blown Murano glass
old church
art vs graffiti
st. mark's square as seen from the campanile
The view from the campanile is great.
demonstration of the hand blown glass in Murano glass factory
If you have the time please go to the Murano island. Worth it! He made a beautiful horse in < 1 minute.
A typical venetian window
lace making at Burano
Again, if you have the time please go to the Burano island. We took the viator tour – Murano, Burano and Torcello tour.
multi-colored houses in Burano
grand canal
st. mark's basilica - made of tiny mosaic
This is a very pretty church. The above picture is not a painting. It is made of tiny mosaics. Blown away by the artistry.
doge's palace + st mark's square
st. mark's square
We were in venice in the 4th week of March and that is considered to be off-peak. Still it was pretty crowded. I don’t know what the summer crowd will be like. Somewhere I read that it will be like locusts’ invasion. I think Spring is a good time to visit Venice. I am glad that Indian Summer and Europe’s spring coincide.
shoreline
After having a great time in Venice, we took the eurostar train to move to Florence, our next stop.
Adding some more pictures that were taken recently during our trip to Italy. These are all shot by my 8 year old. Mostly in auto/program mode; flash was off.
ORIGINAL POST
Powershot SX240HS (this one has been post-processed a little bit in lightroom)
Yes! From the newly released Powershot SX240 HS (no GPS version of SX260HS). It was released in India a couple of days ago. I picked up one yesterday, for my kids. Below are some of the pictures that I took during my evening walk. All taken in the P(program) mode, flash off. Haven’t done any kind of post processing in adobe photoshop. Couple of them may be for contrast. No cropping done either.
I am happy with the photos, rather the camera 
Kabini River Lodge / Rajiv Gandhi National Park / Jungle Lodges and Resorts - Boat safari
Gaur (indian bison) - Jeep safari
After 4 months of planning atlast we were doing the wildlife safari in Nagarhole. Never knew that the Kabini River Lodge aka the Jungle Lodges and Resorts was so much in demand that one had to book 2 months prior! Anyway, the wait was totally worth it. You cannot get any closer to the nature and wildlife, I suppose.
We stayed in the Maharaja cottages for 2 Nights – 3 Days. (After all this was Mysore maharaja’s hunting lodge and so why not live like him for a couple of days ). That means a total of 4 safaris. Did we get to see a lot of wildlife? Yes. Did we see the big cats? No. Even though some of the other jeeps saw leopards and/or tigers (not one multiple), we were not lucky enough. May be it is Nature’s way of saying, ‘You live so close-by, come again!’. Are we disappointed? No. Maybe a wee little bit.
Nagarhole forest - foggy morning
Nagarhole forest - later in the day; reminds me of Robert Frost - The woods are lovely, dark and deep....
Flora – Nagarhole forest is beautiful. The main trees found are Rosewood, Teak, Sandalwood and Silver oak. You can see only young sandalwood trees now due to extensive Sandalwood smuggling that happened in the past.
kabini river and nagarhole forest and the giant
Fauna – You go to safari in jeeps or boats; each vehicle takes a different route. You will mostly spot the chitals, gaurs, elephants, langurs, etc if you go by the land safari. And the lucky ones will see the big cats! You may also see the giant squirrel and definitely some exotic birds near the river banks, water holes and in trees. If you are a bird lover, you should take atleast one boat safari. We opted for one boat safari and 3 jeep safaris.
cottages with a hammock and the river flowing next to you - BLISS!
cottages, greenery, hammock and the kabini river
Stay – Jungle lodges and Resorts is run by the Government and therefore people are a little apprehensive. Let me tell you, it is a very nicely maintained facility. We opted for the Maharaja cottages. The rooms are spacious and the bathrooms are big and clean, with shower head. All the toiletries including the toilet paper are provided. You get fresh towels everyday. More or less a 4 star facility without any frills. No AC or TV in any kind of room or cottage. There are ceiling fans. With a high wooden ceiling and plenty of meshed windows, there is abundant ventilation. The Maharaja cottage comes with a water cooler and a mini fridge. There is a divan in the cottage which will be useful if you are travelling with a child.
foggy morning - kabini river
Weather – Since we travelled in late January, the weather was pleasant. Jackets are needed for the morning safaris. It was very foggy on one of the morning safaris. Surprisingly not many mosquitoes and/or insects. Did not use the mosquito wipes/repellant that I carried.
Food – Typical south indian cuisine buffet is provided for all 3 meals. Bread and Eggs are available for breakfast, besides idli, vada, dosa, etc. Chapathis and Rice are provided for lunch and dinner. You can buy soft drinks at Gol Ghar(restaurant). Kent RO water filters are installed at several spots. You can always buy the bottled water from Gol Ghar. There is also a bar if you want to chill out.
spider web on the ground - never seen anything like that before. There are several of these on the forest floor
hornet's nest
weaver ant's nest - wonder why it would need such a big nest!
Staff – Be it the naturalists or the helpers, they are extremely nice. Never had anybody wait for me with a cup of coffee in hand, near the door. They are ready with the hot beverages when you are getting back from safaris. Even in a 5-star you have to call the room service to get a cup of coffee. From what I heard, the tips collected is very minimal(IMO). For a place that is always full, I would have expected much more. I would guess it is because people do not notice the Gratuity box that is available in the Gol Ghar. Apparently, end of the month the money is distributed amongst all the employees, equally, including the sweepers. I think their service deserves a good tip!
spot the spider!
Miscellaneous – The cottages face the kabini river. The water is quite deep and has crocodiles. Hence, swimming is discouraged. You can see a lot of birds just in the vicinity of your cottage. You can also take a coracle and a boat ride. Both are complimentary. If you have the time, take the nature walk. A naturalist will walk you inside the campus and educate you on the flora & fauna. Saw a lot of weird-looking spiders and a huge owl during this walk. Even this is complimentary.
Also, try to see the documentary, ‘The Truth about Tigers’ http://www.truthabouttigers.org/, screened in the evenings. If you missed it there, see it on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/truthabouttigers).
The trip was a memorable one! Will try to be back in Summer again and see if we are lucky spotting the big cats!
If you liked this, here are some of the pics from the trip – elephant, langur, bird, deer, gaur
For more on the nagarhole flora and fauna - http://www.ecoinfoindia.org/lldb_rajivgandhi_np.php
Wikipedia page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagarhole_National_Park
Jungle Lodges and Resorts - http://www.junglelodges.com/index.php/resorts/kabini-river-lodge.html
Nagarhole National park has over 270 species of birds. Most of these birds I saw are near the kabini river or the ones that were flying around near the cottages. I am no bird expert. If I have named something wrong, please let me know. I have referred to Salim Ali’s book and also ’100 birds of Bandipur National Park’ booklet that was given by Jungle Lodges and Resorts.
Little Cormorant and Little Egret - Cormorant is a black duck like water bird with longish stiff tail, slender, compressed bill, sharply hooked at the tip. A small white patch on the throat. Seen near water bodies.
Brahminy kite - bright rusty red body with white head, neck, breast and elbow. Seen in singles or pairs near water areas.
Little Egrets - Long black bill and yellow feet. Seen mainly near water bodies.
Little Cormorant, Grey Heron and White Ibis
Snakebird or Darter with wings open
Snakebird or Darter's profile
Little Cormorant nesting
Little Egret, Turtle and Cattle Egret
Egrets, Brahminy kite, Cormorants
Little Egret and Wooly necked Stork
Wooly necked Stork - Heron look alike with heavy dark bill, black wings and body, white wooly neck and long red legs. Seen near water bodies
Crested Serpent Eagle - A dark brown bird with black and white crest. Seen in singles or pairs flying over forest areas
warbler? I don't remember what the naturalist told us
Yellow footed Green Pigeon - A tree canopy dwelling bird that is usually seen in flocks at fruiting trees; they come down to ground occasionally to drink water or for salt licks. Very pretty!
Black Drongo, Scarlet Minivet and Bulbul - all were seen near the cottages
a warm welcome on the very first safari!
beautiful nagarhole forest...lots of spotted deer
sambar and spotted deers licking salt from the salt pit
Barking deer - very shy creatures
always alert
A lone tusker quenching his thirst in kabini river
Same tusker, got a little closer to him this time
Another female elephant in kabini river. She is taking off the mud from the grass before eating it. See her scrubbing the grass against her body here.
In the bamboo bushes. Don't miss the birds...Did not see a single bull in a herd (except for the middle guy in the below picture)
These guys came in a herd to have water to a watering hole. Only one (you know which one) wanted to stay back and play but the older one got her out 
A herd seen at the kabini river
Classic pose with a ? mark tail
Wish I could see more of the mother-baby interaction. She just ran away with the baby.
Please save our trees! Don't chop them!
Langurs are found everywhere in the nagarhole forests. They are the ones to give the warning calls when there is a predator like a tiger or leopard in sight. With a vantage point so high, that is not surprising! (Only 1/3rd of the tree is shown here)
Buddha statue - calm and peaceful
centre of the glasshouse - adorned with a Pagoda, atop which stood a Buddha statue, all built in white and yellow roses.
Just fell in love with it, so here is one more shot
flower stream - a huge pot made of flowers, out of which poured millions of flowers...like a stream
beds of flowers - the whole floor is covered with these, pictures can do no justice
Here are some of the pictures of the cacti from the flower show. Symmetry in Nature is fascinating!
Click here to see some of the pictures that I posted yesterday.
