Monday, July 4, 2011

Kaziranga National Park,Part II

Finally we are here to complete Kaziranga National Park, Part II...have been very lazy indeed. This is going to be a long post as we would like to cover all that we saw...
As we drive to Kaziranga we are greeted with a view of lush green tea gardens, indeed a feast for the eyes !!!

















Raw material for my cup of tea...
































As we reached the guest house we just had enough time to grab a bite and pack some snacks for the kids before we left for the Jeep Safari with our guide at 2p.m
As we entered the park we saw some wild elephants and Rhinos at a distance... this is also the flood plains of the Brahmaputra (river), during the monsoon season the river floods most of the forest area. Animals are forced to move uphill.


















Male elephants do not stay in a herd, one decides to peep from the tall elephant grass (these grasses grow as tall as the elephants, hence their name)

















A herd of elephants feeding on fresh water hyacinth

















Elephant Apple fruit (Dillenia indica ) or "Ouu tenga" as we call it in Assamese(pronounced O,Tenga,tenga means sour). The fruit pulp is used in Indian Cuisine in curries, jam, and jellies...
You must be wondering why am I mentioning about this fruit...it is because this is a favourite among the elephants...lol

















Wild buffalo relaxing at dusk...

















Kaziranga is home to the Indian one-horned rhino and we spotted a few...


This one sniffs the air for any dangers...






























One in the bushes...
































One close enough for a shot...

















Kaziranga is also a bird-watcher's paradise...


















The Ruddy Shelducks
















The Indian Roller

































Ring nosed Parakeet.

















Bar headed geese (these are migratory birds)















































Yellow footed green pigeon.

















Bulbul.



















Am not too sure about these ones...are they kites or eagles? Help with ID's please




























































Black necked stork.

















Wooly necked stork.

















Asian Barred Owlet.
































Spot billed pelican.













































The scarlet minivet(male)

















The scarlet minivet (female)

















We think this is the black Drongo...missed the fork tail as this one suddenly popped up from nowhere and disappeared before we got another shot!!!

















Assam Macaque.

















The turtles basking in the sun:)

















This one swims around..

















As Arun goes around click...click..click..we pose for him:) atop a watch tower at the edge of the forest.
























And as the sun sets we head back to our guest house!

10 comments:

  1. How fantastic! you saw so much, i really loved looking at all these photos Shantana! I will have my husband look at the raptor ones, i think you have both, kite and eagle. and the indian roller, wow! the lilac breasted roller (found in africa) is one of our favorite birds, yours is gorgeous!

    It's so nice to see you too and your adorable babies, sucha pretty photo. I'm going back for another look at all these photos now!

    xo lori

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  2. Hi Shantana, Thank you for sharing these awesome pictures of your trip. I know your daughters must have had so much fun seeing all these sights. I am fascinated by the birds especially and the photo of the turtles is very fun! Wishing you all a nice vacation. Take care, Mildred

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  3. My husband, John, just looked at your nice photos. He thinks that one bird you asked about might be a hawk.

    He loves that sunset picture especially!

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  4. What an amazing collection of photos Shantana! A place to remember for ever, you saw so many wonderful sights.

    Lovely to see your precious family too, what an experience for the little ones! They will have so many happy memories to treasure.

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  5. What a wonderful afternoon you had! Fantastic photos and memories for a lifetime!

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  6. Hi! I saw your comment on Lori's blog, and was intrigued about bird IDs! It is so interesting to see how many of your birds are really similar to our African species! The National Park looks amazing - living on the borders of a national park here, I can really relate to the stories and pics of Kaziranga, so similar yet totally different!

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  7. Ciao, this is a interesting and beautiful trip into nature!

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  8. Such beautiful photos! The bird images are fantastic! and it's good to pictures of you all!

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  9. Breathtakingly beautiful photographs.
    Thanks

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