Thursday, January 10, 2008

Irpu Falls Coorg

The Rameshwara Temple, a shrine with a sivalinga believed to have been installed by Rama. This temple is at the base of the hill that has the Irpu Falls, a cascade also known as the Lakshman Tirtha, a major tourist attraction at Coorg, Karnataka.

A section of the track leading to Irpu Falls.
The Irpu Falls as it cascades over 150 ft down the hillock.


The falls further downstream of the main cascade.



At Nagarahole

A couple of weeks back I visited the Wynad and Nagarahole forests - both are contiguous forests and part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Wynad is in Kerala and Nagarahole in Karnataka.
December is actually not a very good time for wildlife sighting. Immediately after the monsoons the greenery is thick, water is available in plenty for the animals and they stick to the deep jungle. People do not often get to see the large animals. But we were lucky - here are some pics...
They are a random mix from Wynad and Nagarahole taken at dawn and late evening.

The forest trail in Wynad. It is about 7.30 in the morning and mist is yet to lift...

An Indian Gaur in the mist - at Nagarahole
A view from a boat at Kabini. Young darters, also called Snake Birds sit on the branches
More darters
A rare sight... at Nagarahole, it must have been about 6.30 pm, I have to thank the ultra zoom and the image stabilisation features on the FZ18 I used to take these pics. It was at full extension of the zoom at 23X (more than 750mm equivalent on film camera) and shutter speed was less than 1/50. The real life sight was actually not as clear as this... managed to catch this guy napping
the leopard in the glow of the setting sun...


fully awake



and glares at the intruding tourists


Sunday, January 06, 2008

Lost in admiration

A red vented bulbul - is it just admiring itself or wondering how to free the one trapped in the glass cage... Picture taken at Coorg last week. This guy would turn up in the mornings and peck away at its reflection in the car window or just sit and stare for minutes together before getting tired and fluttering away.


Talacauvery

At Talacauvery, the source of the River Cauvery in Karnataka.
Devotees seek the Cauvery's blessings