Dandeli Delight ! - - April 17th - 20th, 2003.

The people were generous. P. D. Sudharshan was a storehouse of information. Shivakumar Patil would not let me carry my camera! He was always with me helping me with my equipment. Vijay Raj was a revelation to me… I must say, “Internet is crazy”. You interact with someone for a period of time with a certain notion of that person( DFO, Gadag) and when you actually meet him it turns out that you had no idea what the person was like! Vijay Raj was unassuming, leading from the front and quite inspiring. I have no doubt that this young IFS officer is one of the best things that happened to our forests in recent times!!

Together these people have formed the “North Karnataka Birders Network” – NKBN. With one of their aims being to support wildlife conservation in the region, NKBN is a great resource for anyone interested in the natural resources of North Karnataka. Correspondence Address: No. 31, Ashok Nagar, Hubli. Ph. 0836-253693. e-mail : Vijay_ifs@yahoo.co.in

I briefly met up with Niranjan R. Sant from Belgaum. He has a superb collection of images of birds in action. He is part of a soon to be released book on birds of western ghats! Do keep your eyes open!!

Spread over 834.16 sq.km the Dandeli wildlife sanctuary is one of the largest in Karnataka. The forest in Dandeli is typical moist deciduous and semi evergreen types, with pockets of evergreen. Contact : Dy. Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Division, Dandeli (Uttar Karnataka) Ph: 08284 231585.

Though it was difficult to get the birds in the open and in good light as the forest was quite thick and most of the birds kept to the upper branches, I did manage to get these birds for your viewing pleasure! Do let me know if you like them…

Vijay Cavale