Winter season being the best season for exploring birds and wildlife, we finally managed to plan a quick 3 day trip to Hampi. We planned for a trip filled with architectures, monuments and landscapes; however we soon found out about the unique and buzzing wildlife activity around Hampi – The globally threatened Yellow-throated Bulbul, the colourful Painted Spurfowl and Painted Sandgrouse, the mighty Indian Eagle Owl, the Sloth Bears…
Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India located near Hospet town in the Karnataka, known for beautiful temples, ruins of palaces, ancient market streets, royal pavilions, bastions, and so on against vast stretches of boulder hills. Coming to wildlife, in-case you haven’t explored Hampi from a wildlife perspective, it will come to you as a big pleasant surprise… especially the Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary along with various areas in Hampi itself. The Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary is spread over 55 square kms and is known for Indian Sloth Bears. Along with the bears, we came across a variety of wildlife and birds; the Ruddy Mongoose, Painted Spurfowl, Grey Francolin, Painted Sandgrouse, Indian Eagle Owl, Spotted Owlet, Yellow-billed Babbler, White-browed Bulbuls, Yellow-crowned Woodpeckers, Nightjars, Coppersmith Barbets and so on. We also got lucky to sight the globally threatened Yellow-throated bulbul at the Tungabhadra river banks. There are also sightings of Leopards, Pangolins and Smooth-coated Otters in and around Hampi.
Here is a glimpse of the wildlife that we could capture in our lens during our visit.
eBird Checklist – http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27440399
Hampi is a dream destination for any type of Photographer… – wildlife to landscapes to architecture..! This place has it all. Our entire trip was designed and arranged by Pompayya Malemath sir, and everything was just top class. His knowledge on Sloth bears, birds and also about key monuments at Hampi is unmatched. One does have to keep in mind that sighting of wild animals (many of which are nocturnal) like Sloth Bears is a matter of luck, similar to sighting tigers in national parks. Always enjoy the unique habitats these national parks, sanctuaries have to offer – from the wildlife and birds to the terrain and the trees, and Daroji does stand on its own with its unique habitat.
Signing off with the classic sunset of Hampi captured from the Hemakuta Hill.
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– Rudraksha & Shraddha