To the land of Hornbills -- I

"Sir, there have been sightings of Great Pied hornbills around my home", said Ajith. He was excited. I mean why not? who wouldnt be thrilled to see such colorful big birds from close vicinity..!? He continued, "Sir, can you make it to Amara?". I did not hesitate in saying Yes to his offer and packed my bags to leave to the land of Hornbills.

I decided to drive the whole night in order to reach Dandeli by morning. I couldnt wait to take the glimpse of large billed birds hogging on fruits.

I finally managed to reach Amara by 7 in the morning. It was a foggy morning and the light was bit dull. Thick fog embarked the forest. It looked as if the forests is covered by ash and not green.
Ajith took me to the place where the Hornbill were seen. For the next couple of hours I kept looking at the fog and nothing else. As the mist started clearing what began was pure-- "Hornbill saga".

Great Pied Hornbill.

Although thick forests of Dandeli hosts pretty birds and animals, what attracts the most are the flagship species of this area. All 4 types of hornbills, ie Indian Grey Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Pied Hornbill and Great Pied Hornbill can be found here in abundance.

Hornbills main diet are the figs. They are excellent in spotting fruiting trees and can cover close to 40 trees a day, making them a very good agent of seed dispersal. The forests of Dandeli-Anshi is very good with fig trees which perhaps is the reason for growing hornbill population around Dandeli.

Malabar Pied Honbill--female.

Malabar Pied Hornbills usually roosts at an altitude for better vision.

Malabar Pied Hornbill--male.

The place which Ajith took me had atleast 3 fruiting trees with abundant fruits. That was the main reason for hornbills to visit his neighborhood. The sun started brightening the place. The activity had just begun..! It all started with 2 or 3 pied hornbills, slowly it increased to 10, then 20 and then to 40. I was awestruck looking at the number of Pied hornbills increasing..!

But what caught my attention more were the Great Pied Hornbills. It probably was my first time observing their flight pattern from a closer range and it looked similar to the other hornbill variants. Well known for its one specialty -- the sound it makes can be heard at a farther distance. It is distinctive and unique.

There were at least 10 such birds that flew over me.

Flight of a Great Pied Hornbill.

But its just not hornbills that were around me, there were other beautiful birds too. My next post is on them, stop by and say "hello".