Written by Sourabha Rao
There is an almost supernatural power a spot-billed pelican can affect you with when you watch it in flight, swooping down from its roost to pick up a twig as its nesting material or to drink water. Imagine yourself on a boat among islets on the banks of River Kaveri and you see tens of them perched on trees, some of which are flying around you and sometimes right above your head.
© Zhayynn James
Add in a few painted storks into this flurry of flight. And some great thick-knees peering at you, their craned necks taut with curiosity.
© Anindya Photography
There is also a possibility that when your boat is still and isn’t sending out ripples of its movement, an otter or two might appear on a rock nearby and play around – an occurrence so rare that it will be a priceless stretch of time that will become its own little eternity.
And, in fact, a place such as this exists, and it is easily accessible from Bengaluru, enroute to Mysuru – Ranganathittu. A bird sanctuary in Mandya district that can be visited throughout the year, best experienced early mornings if you hire a boat. However, the best time to experience it at the peak of its glory would be from November, a time that heralds in the winter migrants who stay put until March, adding to the already numerous varieties of resident birds you can see here.
Ranganathittu also nurtures river terns with their unmistakable yellow bills – glowing like a blob of gold in the morning light. A number of Asian openbills dot this fair, too. Black-crowned night herons add to the frenzy of bird-symphonies you are yet to fathom. Great egrets, with their all-white plumage, fly around like pockets of light themselves.
The wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae, the Eurasian spoonbill will delight you while a white-thraoted kingfisher will add a bluesy enchantment to your day. Cormorants and darters pepper these islets with their graceful presence, too.
© Harsha Narasimhamurthy
There is also the stunning black-headed ibis, its down-curved beak that’s also black and unmissable from the other white-bodied aves.
Indian flying foxes hang upside down, again, hundreds of them. A stark contrast in their resting to all the breathtaking bustling morning avian activity all around.
Not to forget the marsh crocodiles basking in the sun, their mouths agape and so still and so stunning in their reptilian glory. Every little detail of their physical being renders itself as a piece of art, vivid images you could stow away in the recesses of your memory long after you leave Ranganathittu.
© Zhayynn James
Around these unstirring crocodiles can be a few white-browed wagtails, nimble and sure-footed in their swift movement.
After the boat ride, if you are in the mood for a short walk on the banks, you might be lucky to spot white-spotted fantails flitting about among trees.
Ranganathittu is a perfect weekend getaway, especially if you are living in Bengaluru or Mysuru. A place that has so much to offer even if you were to plan one single boat ride, which is no flattery and no exaggeration. A place that has long entranced avid birders. A place comprising islets that the great ornithologist Salim Ali observed as an important nesting ground for a vast variety of birds and urged the then king of Mysuru to declare Ranganathittu as a protected area back in 1940. It is currently maintained by the Forest Department of Karnataka.
© Harsha Narasimhamurthy
Tell us all about your experience when you next visit this little haven of wilderness that so quietly exists between two major cities but is always bursting with bird activity and so much more!