Feathered Bipeds & Me.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
01/08/2005 : Lesser fish eagle @ Bheemeshwari
Waking up at 4:45am is a tough task, but the mission of the day, ie to go to bheemeshwari in search of the lesser fish eagle, was incentive enough to put sleep behind. Black-bellied tern & Small Pratincole were on my wish-list, though.
As planned, Praveen & Jemson arrived at 5:45am at BTM layout, and we set off on the 100km drive to bheemeshwari. In the 2nd week of december, our friends Nick Lethaby & Vijay Ramachandran , during their stay at the Jungle Lodges resort at bheemeshwari, had seen the eagle. Based upon directions from them, we chose the spots at bheemeshwari, to search for the bird.
After a few brief halts enroute, we reached our first eagle spot at 8:45 am. No sight of any eagles. We spent some time shooting wagtails & bee-eaters.
The next stop was some 4-5 kms beyong the fishing camp, opposite a wayside temple. Abt an hour there also resulted in no eagles, but we were gifted by the sighting of small pratincoles & black-bellied terns.
Then we headed back to the fishing camp, hoping to get the help of the CFC guide Pushparaju in finding the eagles. A road alongside the perimeter of the resort led towards the river. As per my suggestion, we headed that way, and spent another 2-3 hrs there.
Mistaking an eagle sitting far away, on a small tree in the middle of the lake, myself & praveen worked our way through the forest on the banks, getting closer, only to find that it was an osprey. I took a record shot. Returning to the bank near the camp, we resumed our sky-watch, for the eagle. Though having had to wait pretty long, finally we were able to see the eagle, high up in the air, soaring. The white belly was easily discernible. The secondaries seemed a bit paler through the binocs, inspite of the bright sky above. The upperwing coverts showed a palishness also, as it banked. Praveen managed to take some videos of it soaring. I had to be content with binoc views :-)
So, with all three specialty species having been seen, we decided to call it a day, and headed back for bangalore.
As planned, Praveen & Jemson arrived at 5:45am at BTM layout, and we set off on the 100km drive to bheemeshwari. In the 2nd week of december, our friends Nick Lethaby & Vijay Ramachandran , during their stay at the Jungle Lodges resort at bheemeshwari, had seen the eagle. Based upon directions from them, we chose the spots at bheemeshwari, to search for the bird.
After a few brief halts enroute, we reached our first eagle spot at 8:45 am. No sight of any eagles. We spent some time shooting wagtails & bee-eaters.
The next stop was some 4-5 kms beyong the fishing camp, opposite a wayside temple. Abt an hour there also resulted in no eagles, but we were gifted by the sighting of small pratincoles & black-bellied terns.
Then we headed back to the fishing camp, hoping to get the help of the CFC guide Pushparaju in finding the eagles. A road alongside the perimeter of the resort led towards the river. As per my suggestion, we headed that way, and spent another 2-3 hrs there.
Mistaking an eagle sitting far away, on a small tree in the middle of the lake, myself & praveen worked our way through the forest on the banks, getting closer, only to find that it was an osprey. I took a record shot. Returning to the bank near the camp, we resumed our sky-watch, for the eagle. Though having had to wait pretty long, finally we were able to see the eagle, high up in the air, soaring. The white belly was easily discernible. The secondaries seemed a bit paler through the binocs, inspite of the bright sky above. The upperwing coverts showed a palishness also, as it banked. Praveen managed to take some videos of it soaring. I had to be content with binoc views :-)
So, with all three specialty species having been seen, we decided to call it a day, and headed back for bangalore.
posted by Job K Joseph, 9:18 PM