A harmonious cacophony
It is early January and the air is redolent with the smell of rain. Half-a-dozen of us bundle into our car and head towards Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary to witness the annual congregation of winged visitors from foreign shores.
This year-round destination, close to the historic town of Srirangapatna, en route to Mysore, is 128 km from Bengaluru. An hour into the drive, the sun appears on the horizon, a cloud-
filtered crescent, elevating our hopes of enjoying a good boat ride sans rains at the sanctuary.
We zip past the fertile hills of Ramanagaram of Sholay fame, the towns of Maddur and Mandya, to reach Ranganathittu, located in the luxuriant environs of the Cauvery basin. We park our vehicle and enter the verdant lawns of the park through a winding pathway that is flanked by huge bamboo trees, fairly green with their spiky leaves.
The Cauvery River snakes through the sanctuary, forking into half a dozen mini islands, each dense with broadleaf forests on which are perched a colourful melee of exotic avian creatures. The birds begin migrating in November and remain here till March end.
The tourist rush at the park is yet to begin. Silence and tranquillity prevail, broken only by the twitter and squabbling of the resident birds and their visiting fellowmen. We warm to their flapping welcome as they glide gracefully against the backdrop of a peach-pink sky, chirping and babbling as they navigate through space in diverse manoeuvres, showing off their vibrantly coloured plumage.
We decide to take a boat ride before the flow of Sunday visitors gathers momentum. The view of the islands and its surroundings, with shrubs and myriad trees hosting flocks of varied birds, is mesmerising. The scent wafting up from the riverine reeds and eucalyptus trees that fringe the island is fresh and fragrant.
Pelicans, a variety of storks including the open-billed and painted storks, cormorants, darters, white ibis, terns, kingfishers, herons, egrets and many other bird species with which we are not familiar — are all here.
A few of them seem to enjoy their perch on trees in solitude while many of the avians chirp and squawk as they perform their acrobatics in flocks — gliding, swooping, whooshing, their wings taking flight in gay abandon. Some of them are apparently happy just to be among their own lot, basking on the treetops or enjoying the cool waters of the lake. We spot huge colonies of bats hanging from a clump of trees that fringe the island-park, and huge crocodiles, resting on the rocks in the middle of the lake.
It is early evening as it’s time for us to bid farewell to this theatre of nature. My auditory senses,
overwhelmed by the cacophonic melody of the birds, blot out the blaring music from our car stereo as we wend homeward.
The author is a travel writer
Post new comment