Visit to Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary

During my visit to Mysore during the first week of November i made it a point to visit Ranganthittu bird sanctuary which is near the historic town Sriranganpatana about 18 kms from Mysore city. During this period there were hardly any migratory birds which normally come around mid December to January, however was able to see considerable numbers of White Ibis, black headed Ibis, egrets, bats, crocodiles. Here are few pictures of the same

Crocodile basking in the sun

Bats having their nap

Crocodile in the river just beside the boat

 Black headed Ibis

Greater Thick Knee or the Stone plover or Great Stone curlew

Open billed Stork

Black Cormorant

Group of Cormorants, Black headed Ibis









The sanctuary consists of six islets which are lush with vegetation where there water birds nest and whenever  excess water is being released from the KRS dam these islets are generally flooded and during these times there is no boating and you would be forced to view these birds from the river bank only. The main attraction of this sanctuary is the boating ( row boats only) which is operated throughout the day by Karnataka Forest department staff depending on the crowd and you get to be up close with these birds. An interesting news is that this sanctuary came into existence in 1940 due to Dr Salim Ali the famous ornithologist when he requested the king of Mysore to declare this area as a sanctuary. A great place to be for bird watchers and lovers.