Painted Stork

Painted stock: The painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala) is a large wader in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctive pink tertia feathers of the adults give them their name. They forage in flocks in shallow waters along rivers or lakes. They immerse their half open beaks in water and sweep them from side to side and snap up their prey of small fish that are sensed by touch. As they wade along they also stir the water with their feet to flush hiding fish. They nest colonially in trees, often along with other waterbirds. The only sounds they produce are weak moans or bill clattering at the nest. They are not migratory and only make short-distance movements in some parts of their range in response to changes in weather or food availability or for breeding. Like other storks, they are often seen soaring on thermals

© Rajat Ghosh, stock footage / pictures available for licensing

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GREY HERON

The birds breed colonially in spring in heronries, usually building their nests high in trees. A clutch of usually three to five bluish-green eggs is laid. Both birds incubate the eggs for around 25 days, and then both feed the chicks, which fledge when 7-8 weeks old. Many juveniles do not survive their first winter, but if they do, they can expect to live for about 5 years. In Ancient Egypt, the deity Bennu was depicted as a heron in New Kingdom artwork. In Ancient Rome, the heron was a bird of divination. Roast heron was once a specially prized dish; when George Neville became Archbishop of York in 1465, 400 herons were served to the guests.

© Rajat Ghosh, stock footage / pictures available for licensing

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Golden jackel at Bharatpur, rajasthan

Golden jackal: The golden jackal (Canis aureus), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller and has shorter legs, a shorter tail, a more elongated torso, a less-prominent forehead, and a narrower and more pointed muzzle than the Arabian wolf. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its widespread distribution and high density in areas with plenty of available food and optimum shelter.br>

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Keoladeo National park what an experience aka Bharatpur

One images a day series - Day 2126 since lockdown, 28th January 2026 A barasingha/swamp deer seems to pose for my camera as we wait for more such magical moments in the canopy of trees

as time went by they grew more curious

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Bird brained

have 4 devices, Two phone, One laptop and One ipad, I lost my phone and facebook would keep sending verification messeges to the lost phone for verification, and then we say AI is smart or Meta is a threat, I think not, Bird brained is more like it.

Reaching Sandakfu, 2 of 2

An dramatic sunrise greeted us next day and post breakfast :

we did a reke of Tumling, making a few images as we waited for our ride to Sandakfu

The road to Sandakfu along with being very steep was also very rocky and full of boulders making the journey very bumpy. Every time an vehicle approached from the opposite side a fair amount of maneuvering had to be done by both drivers to pass each other. EN-route from Tumbling , we stopped at Kaya kata- Red Panda viewing expeditions are often done from here , which involves few km trek from this place

Next stop was at: kalipokhri Roads from Nepal join India roads Bikes are not allowed into Singhilila national park from India side,, but if one wants to test there skill by riding into Sandakfu, one has to enter via Nepal and it sure is a challenging road, ride, best done on a adventure I say.


Next we stopped at CHOURI cHOWK a grassland to catch the view n give the cars a rest, on ly 20 more to reach Sandakfu, n onward again right up to Sandakfu. We reached by 1230hrs approx. the weather was quiet clear We had lunch rested n at 1530 we started to trek to sunset point also called - AHAL.

The landrover that one hired to reach sandakfu, for an extra Rs 1000 will do a drive from hotel Sunrise to Ahal and back We just kept walking watching the sun n 1.5 km later we reached the point where we were greeted with a blanked of clouds n fog which was way below us. Yes this was Ahal viewpoint.

The sight was mesmerizing to watch the fog roll in n cover the land masses, and as the sun got low on horizon it started to color Mount Everest, giving us an mesmerizing view of sunset magic. All too soon it was dark but there were few others who had trekked like us. And I was carrying a flashlight making return journey not so difficult.



Did I mention? From out hotel to the sunset point the 4x4 cars charge Rs 1000 per trip. Rs 3500 is Manebhanjan to sandakfu drop Rs 5500 is Manebhanjan to sandakfu return same day Rs 7000 if overnight stay is needed for the cars with drivers. We trooped back to the hotel n had a cup of streaming tea n fritters before we turned in to our room till dinnertime at 2000 hrs. The hotel staff was very punctual and we got dinner at 1955 hrs. A knock on the room door announced and requested us to come to dining room for dinner. Long tables with 6 chairs, each table was shared between various tourists n we shared out table with a kid and his parents making for various entertaining moment as the kid was mad at her parents. Dinner done we headed out for a short walk. Outside temp was -2 n had a strong breeze, forcing us to retreat indoor and continue with our walk in the corridor. We decided to call it a night early and were in bed by 2130 hrs.

The next day would see us up at 0500 hrs. Again as the sunrises by 0600 n we needed to freshen up n get a round of tea before the sun rose. We were hoping for clear weather next day n another amazing sunrise with sunlight reflecting on the Mtn Kanchenjunga. We caught the golden light some, but 30 seconds and and then again it was foggy for a while .

This eve we decided to not go to sunset point but spend time hoping for reflection of sun on Mt kanchanjunga and Mtn Everest.

Day time we trekked some visited nearby temple and viewpoint n had a good short hike.

Sunset time had some amazing views again of the valley in front of us, named Thaken valley

A viait to Thaken vally costs Rs 2500 and is an 2 hr each way affair, over bad roads once more.

Our trip was mostly successfull except we dint get to see snow and hearing out driver jonny tell stories of how if snows people are typically stuck for a few days. Boy were we glad we dint get stuck.

Next morning would see us head to Latpanchar an popular birding station, hoping to see Rufous necked Hornbill.

Happy new year

Wishing all a very happy new year, Image : Bharatpur Rajasthan

© Rajat Ghosh, stock footage / pictures available for licensing

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