Friday, December 23, 2011

Rangantittu Bird Sanctuary


The snow covered tree tops are actually white Egrets!

The trip to Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary. It is about 18km form Mysore and is home to some of the most exotic birds. It is a group of small islands in the Cauvery River.

Ranganthittu was formed as a result of a small dam across the river Cauvery in the 1600s. The Bird Sanctuary at Ranganathittu owes its existence to the world famous ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali who convinced the Maharaja of Mysore in 1940 to declare Ranganthittu as a protected area. The sanctuary is not very large it covers an area of 0.67sq.km. But is home to a great variety of birds and a few reptiles. It is said that the sanctuary is a sight to behold during the nesting season of the birds from June to November. The sanctuary is home to a wide species of birds including cormorants, darters, white ibis, spoon billed storks, open billed storks, painted storks, white necked storks, egrets, herons, terns, swallows, kingfishers, sandpiper etc. There are a few mammals in the sanctuary like fruit bats, bonnet macaques, palm civets, common mongoose and common otters. Marsh crocodiles make up the reptile population of the sanctuary.

MVI_2932 by syluette

MVI_2936 by syluette













1 comment:

  1. Vow..now i have got one more place to plan for a visit.
    Keep travelling and posting your pics..

    ReplyDelete