Rann Roadies – Part 3 – Bhuj and the White Rann

September 24, 2021Gujarat, January 2021, Rajasthan, rann of kutch, Tripsdhordo, grk, mandvi, rann, rann of kutch, rann of kutch road tripArjun Basandrai

Bhuj is a small city in the Kutch district of Gujarat. It has great historical importance and is famous among tourists going to Dhordo for ‘Rann Utsav’. Besides the Aina Mahal and Prag Mahal, there is not much to see in Bhuj city. So, after spending some time there, we left for Mandvi in the evening.

Rann Roadies – Part 2 – Jodhpur to Dholavira

August 8, 2021January 2021, Rajasthan, rann of kutch, Tripsgrk, harappa, harrapan sites in india, jodhpur, rann, rann of kutch, rann of kutch road tripArjun Basandrai

We entered Jodhpur at around 8pm which wasn’t very late but according to the Covid Regulations, all restaurants had to be closed by 7pm. After a lot of looking, we found a decent hotel which was still serving food. As usual, by that time we didn’t know where we were going to spend the night. We found a hotel to spend the night, checked in, had a good night’s rest, checked out early in the morning and left for Mehrangarh Fort.

Rann Roadies – Part 1 – Phillaur to Khichan

February 28, 2021Bikaner, January 2021, Rajasthan, rann of kutch, TripsBikaner, khichan, khichan bird sanctuary, lalgarh, laxmi niwas, laxmi niwas palace, punjab to rajasthan, rann of kutch, rann of kutch road tripArjun Basandrai

Every New Year, I go on road trips to wonderful destinations across India with my family. This New Year 2021, that wonderful destination was Great Rann of Kutch, Gujarat! The initial plan was a 14-day road trip covering Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Dholavira and Bhuj. But, since we had to be back by 13th for Lohri, we left Jaisalmer for another trip.

Our planning was rather spontaneous throughout the trip. Most of the days we didn’t know which city we were going to spend the night in until about 8 pm. Then at 9 we began the search for a hotel. In almost all the hotels we had late night check-in and early morning checkout.

Birding at Chakki Mod

January 20, 2021Chakki Mod, Tripsbirds of chakki mod, butterflies of chandigarh, butterfly eaten alive, butterfly park chandigarh, list of birds of chakki mod, spider eating butterfly, white crab spider eating indian jezbel, wildindia, wildlife of chandigarh, wildlife of himachal pradeshArjun Basandrai

Chakki Mod is a small village not far from Chandigarh situated on the Chandigarh-Solan Highway. It was on my bucket list for quite a while and so I planned a 1 day trip there on 15 November, 2020.

Cattle Egret

September 7, 2020Egrets, Resident Birdsbirds of india, cattle egret, Cattle Egret in breeding plumage, cattle egret in non breeding plumage, wildindiaArjun Basandrai

Cattle Egret

(Bubulcus ibis)

Size (48-52 cm): It is the smallest of all the Egrets found in India

Area: Most of India except the Himalayas

Habitat: Lakes, village ponds, cultivations, river-banks

Prinia Mania- Birding at Phillaur (#9)

August 29, 2020March 2020, Tripsbirds of phillaur, birds of punjab, birdsofindia, birdsofindiaonline, wildindiaArjun Basandrai

Prinia Mania- Birding at Phillaur (#9)

Date: 18 March, 2020

After yet another birding-break and with the winter slowly drawing to a close and the birds reverse migrating to Europe, Russia etc. to their breeding grounds, I went to Sutlej again.

Just like before, I left before sunrise, but, this time it was intentional because I wanted to shoot some pre-sunrise and sunrise photos.

On reaching the bank, there was no one there, no people, no wildlife, just me, which was perfect for what I had in mind then – Pre-Sunrise Blue Hour photographs. The road there always fascinated me and every time went to the river, I had at least 50 shots of just the road. Now, with Blue Hour slowly ending, and orangey clouds shining above the blue sky and with some low hanging fog, the landscape seemed twice as pretty.

Weavers and Plovers – Birding at Phillaur (#8)

August 1, 2020January 2020, Phillaur, Tripsbirds, birds of phillaur, birds of punjab, birdsofindia, wild adventures, wildindiaArjun Basandrai

Weavers and Plovers – Birding at Phillaur (#8)

After taking a long break from birding, on 24 January, 2020, it was time for me to go out and shoot some birds. So, I packed my stuff and left for the Sutlej River. This time I didn’t go to Mao Sahib though. Instead, I went to a different location on the Sutlej River which I had visited once last year. I didn’t get anything exciting there last year, so, I just wanted to try my luck once more.

Egrets

June 28, 2020Egrets, Large Sized Birds, Medium Sized Birdsbirds, birdsofindiaonline, birdwatcher, Egrets, featured-post, heronsArjun Basandrai

Egrets are medium to large sized birds, closely related to the Herons (see here) and belong to Ardea or Egretta genera. Similar to their (very) close relatives – Herons – they also have long legs and a long beak.