Happy New Year 2017! And the past year of Birding and Trekking!

Dear Readers,

Happy New Year 2017!

May the year bring lots of happiness, peace and fun to all of us!
May we travel a lot!
May we get cheap air tickets and the train tickets whenever we want!
May we get packages that included everything we want to do!
May we get best compatible travel partners for our expense sharing journeys!
May we get ...

Common Sandpipers in action at Sunderbans National Park West Bengal

Check out the entire GALLERY

Old Magazine House, Ganeshgudi- The Bird Paradise!

Bathing Beauty- White rumped Shama at Old Magazine House Ganeshgudi

A peaceful place where one can relax body and mind, little birds sing for you! Do you love birds? Just birds? No craze for tigers, no rushing safaris! Only colorful little winged wonders- birds and butterflies. The place is Old Magazine House in Ganeshgudi, Karnataka, India.

Finally a peek into the mighty Himalayas ...

Couple of months ago (though I am blogging about it now) I went trekking in Himachal Pradesh. The plan was to bird watch all along the path. And I added 70 new pics to my GALLERY. Yey! Okay, where did I go? First part was to trek up to Kareri Lake in the cradle of Dauladhars mainly looking for birds. And the second part was to reach Kaza and trek to 5 villages of Spiti Valley. Ohh! reaching Kaza-the base camp, itself was an adventure for the solo-first-timer with not much of info. The thrid part was, birding and wildlife viewing in the mountains of Kibber- Huff huff! Kareri Lake, though not too high above 10,000ft, was a refreshing trek amidst thick forest and boulders higher up. So more of bird life too. Big hairy Himalayan langurs were so beautiful. Their hair thick-long-straight-silky naturally worth considering for an expensive shampoo advertisement. And heeeee! spotted and photographed the shy Himalayan Monal. Thanks to my guide Arvind Sharma based in McLeodganj who is not only patient with his clients but also is a bird expert in Kangra Valley.

1200 birds of India

Oriental White Eye at Khijdia Bird Sanctuary Gujarat

(CLICK HERE for the entire Photo Gallery)

A decade-and-a-half ago I was a bird enthusiast. It was my passion to identify birds. I even bought a then expensive zoom lens. But, soon I started with trekking and there was nothing else I thought of doing on weekends. When trekking I got the craze of waterfalls and then the waterfalls photography. I enjoyed watching wildlife including birds on the way though. Exclusive birding trips were long forgotten. Binoculars and zoom lens were left deep inside the closet. With the world travel and backpacking India trips I left behind the heavy camera gear and taking bird pictures was a forgotten story. I bought a high end point-and-shoot camera instead. Now, my trekking trips are stopped due to some mysterious illness. Recently, I was lazily browsing nothing in particular and found some articles on birds interesting. I was shocked to know many species of birds in India have found their place in the endangered list. It is very sad to know the very common birds are going uncommon. That info kind of rekindled the passion for birds in me! Thought if I don't see them now then I may not see them anytime later!

Backpacking India Part IV- In search of 1200 birds of India!

Map courtesy: Internet

Well, I am back after taking a long break from blogging. Many reasons for the break! First, I was sick with every bone and every joint in my body severely complaining :( After taking rest for a couple of months I was fed up of the walls around me. I fed up of liking, sharing, commenting the FB posts on Intolerant India, life inspirations, profile and cover pictures etc. I had never thought I would some day take interest in being active on Facebook. After suffering all the frustrations of being stuck in between four walls I decided go out no matter what! And I went travelling resisting the pain. Felt great indeed! I feel partly my pain is evaporated!