Voyage 361

Herons of India: We have so far able to photograph six types of Herons in India, The Purple Heron, Grey Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Pond Heron, Western reef Heron and Striated Heron. Grey Herons are the largest among the Herons found in India and are usually a winter visitors. They grow up-to a metre tall and its wings can spread up-to 195 cm wide. They weigh around 1 kg to 2 kg. Grey Heron - Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Mandya Grey Heron in flight - Karanji Lake, Mysuru Purple Herons are also large birds but are slightly smaller in size compared to Grey Herons and larger than the Night herons & pond herons. They can grow about 70 to 94 cm tall and has a wingspan of 120 to 152 cm. They weigh only about 0.5 to 1.35 kg. Purple Heron - Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Mandya While Grey and Purple herons are mostly found in the winter months, the night heron and pond herons are found through the year. The Black-crowned Night Herons or simply night herons p

Mysuru (Previously Mysore) has lot more to offer apart from it's palaces and heritage sites, this time of the year we visited Mysuru dedicated for bird watching. Starting from November migratory birds arrive in and around river banks of cauvery and many lakes of Mysuru. We started with Ranganathittu. Every time I visit this bird sanctuary I have always spotted different species of birds, this time we spotted Grey herons and red wattled lapwing which was my first sighting in Ranganathittu. Apart from these we spotted Black Headed Ibis, Cormorants, spoonbills and spot billed pelicans in large numbers. We also spotted Snake bird, White Spotted Fantail Flycatcher, Night Heron and White-browed Wagtail. Eurasian spoonbill and Black headed Ibis at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary Black-crowned Night Heron, Ranganathittu Great Cormorant drying up its wings after a dip in the water Snake Bird or Darter Eurasian spoonbill Grey Heron Red-wattled lapwing Snake Bird