Woolly-necked Stork!

The Woolly-necked Stork generally keeps away from forests, but is on occasion sighted in light woodlands or forest clearings.

The bird is primarily a carnivore, feeding on fish, frogs, toads, snakes, lizards, large insects, crabs, molluscs and marine invertebrates.

Previously called the White-necked Stork, the Woolly-necked Stork is a predominantly sedentary species.

Sauntering on the Kabini Banks?:)

In India, this stork generally breeds during the rains (between July and September in the southern regions of the country and from December to March in the north).

This season, you can spot them in large flocks dotting the Kabini. banks. Recall an encounter with the bird at Kabini?

Indian Rock Python at Kabini

The Sandpiper, unaware of the Python’s presence, slowly moved in its direction. In the nick of time, however, the bird was ‘rescued’, startlingly by the alarm calls of an Intermediate Egret that sensed danger ‘lurking’.

The entire ‘episode’ lasted over an hour and came as a surprise to us.

It's Showtime, Folks!:)

We were eventually forced to leave the spot, and did so half-heartedly. However, we were glad about having sighted Kabini’s great and mighty hunter.

A Crested Serpent Eagle

This magnificent bird prefers to perch on tall trees or branches and is on the lookout for snakes or lizards. It’s marvelous to watch this bird in action when it’s hunting – a rare sight. The Crested Serpent Eagle is a large-beaked bird with  sharp talons. It thus has all the ‘ammunition’ needed to overpower a snake, turning the latter into a meal.

Another bird similar to the Crested Serpent Eagle is the Changeable Hawk Eagle. This bird has a more conspicuous crest, especially when alarmed and thus alerted! Hunting by ambushing prey, it perches on high canopies overlooking a clearing,  and mainly ‘captures’ prey including rodents, birds and mammals from the ground.

A Changeable Hawk Eagle

Every once in a while, I’m blessed with a Crested Hawk Eagle sighting, with this bird feeding on a small or intermediate egret. It eats its meal by first taking off all the Egret’s feathers and then tearing the meat with its powerful beak!

A jungle drive is thought to be incomplete without a sighting of these Birds of Prey.

Sighting the Wild!

The land was so well-camouflaged, that it took a while for all my guests to spot it. The crocodile was in the company of a small flock of Spot-billed Ducks that gave us the impression that the humungous monster amidst them was their guardian.

It's a Croc!

I wish for the receding waters of the Kabini to reveal many more ‘hidden beauties’ during our boat safaris!

An Ibis at Kabini

During a boat safari one evening, I was guiding a handful of guests. Many of them had arrived there intending to celebrate their Diwali vacation, and hence were interested in larger animals during the safari.

We made very good sightings of elephants, especially tuskers on the river bank, some of which were busy feeding on bamboo. On one side, the lovely sun was setting in the horizon and on the other, clouds ‘beckoned’ from the sky.

As the safari was drawing to a close, I was about to return to the resort. However, much to our delight, the stumps springing from the middle of the river caught our attention as their branches had ‘blossomed’ with different birds, in particular, the Black-headed Ibis and several other white coloured birds such as Egrets.

My guests were excited to see the stumps in splendour; being full of life with white birds at that! The guests had plenty of opportunities to take pictures to please themselves.

Birds Galore!

A White-bellied Woodpecker

With its powerful hammer-like beak, it began hammering the log. In some time, we spotted termites being eaten by the woodpecker. All this was happening very close to the vehicle. As we proceeded to the river side we could see some Barn Swallows on a tree stump, which are always busy feeding on the little flies.

Barn Swallows

Our next sighting was  the juvenile of a Night Heron on another stump in the river.

A Night Heron

A Crested Serpent Eagle

As we proceeded, we came across several groups of Chitals.

Spotted Deer (Chital)

A short tusker was our next sighting. It crossed the jeep track ahead of our vehicle, walked towards a fallen dead tree and began feeding on twigs. Tree bark is an elephant’s favourite diet, containing calcium and cellulose, that aid digestion.

A Tusker Feeding on Twigs

Elephants use their trunks and tusks to tear off bark strips. I was fortunate to get a couple of pictures of this gentle giant’s behaviour. We then carried on for more animal sightings.

The latter part of the safari was the highlight of our journey. The surprise of the day – a Sloth Bear, darted across the road entered the view line and adopted a statuesque posture for a couple of seconds after spotting our vehicle. It then disappeared into the bushes.

This was an unforgettable and almost unbelievable sighting as it was a rare sighting, occurring only once in six months or a year.

I was on my evening Boat Safari along with our boatman Sundra. It was 3:45 pm when we began our journey, taking pleasure in the beauty of the villages on the edge of the national park; farmlands have turned orange with the Marie Gold flowers grown by the villagers.

It was 4 pm when we entered the waters of the national park and our boatman Sundra spotted a Painted Stork in flight. I managed to click a picture of it.

A Painted Stork in Flight

We went a bit farther, and I was very excited when I spotted a Cotton Pygmy Goose, perched on a tree stump. All of us picked up our cameras and began taking pictures of it.

A Cotton Pygmy Goose

While everyone was busy taking pictures, one of my guests sitting at the back without a camera, stood up and pointed to a bush. By the time I picked up my binoculars to have a look, a crocodile began slowly moving towards the water, half its body already immersed in it. Despite being pressed for time, I managed to click one photograph.

A Crocodile in Water

We resumed our ride through the backwaters, enjoying the nature and sunset during our journey.

A Malabar Giant Squirrel

This species of squirrel is among the largest found in India, and is distributed in the Western Ghats. It mainly feeds on fruits, barks of trees and vegetation.

We watched the squirrel feed on the bark of a teak wood tree for about 30 minutes.

As we began moving farther, we spotted Yellow-footed Green Pigeons in the salt pit. As these pigeons are shy by nature, we went closer to them. Unfortunately, they flew away to a tree close by.

These pigeons are very colourful birds; as their name suggests, they have yellow-coloured feet. Their green wings add more colour to them.

A Yellow-footed Green Pigeon

We made a wonderful sighting of this beautiful bird during the safari.

A Pack of Dholes

Having spent nearly an hour there, we moved further to spot more animals.

Next on the list was one of the largest storks found in Kabini mainly during the summer, the Lesser Adjutant. This rather tall bird was sighted on an island that was about to submerge due to the heavy flow of water.

A Lesser Adjutant

Our search for a tusker concluded when we reached close to the Mastigudi temple, where three tuskers were seen grazing together. Even after it began drizzling, these giants resumed feeding on the fresh grass available on the banks.

Tuskers Grazing on the Banks