I hate myself for being so late in writing this. A few days back, one weekend, I had been to this magical place called kokkarebellur. Having heard about it from a couple of reliable sources, I wanted to visit the place and when I did, it turned out to be one of my favorite places. If you atleast have any remote interest in birds, this place is a treat. You can see colonies of Painted Storks and Pelicans nesting on trees, both of which are said to be in "near threatened category" as per IUCN Red list. I could also spot few Egrets, little cormorants, herons and kingfishers. The village has large water bodies and that explains why you should be able to see many of these birds.
According to few villagers that I met, the best place to visit the place is Jan-Feb when the storks and pelicans migrate and are seen in plenty here. A guy told me that in January, they find it hard to sleep because of the sounds these birds make all night. The villagers believe that these birds bring good fortune to their village and hence they make sure that these birds aren't harmed. D and I were discussing about how better it is to not educate people sometimes. If you convince them that what they are thinking is just a blind belief, they'd probably start eating these birds the next day.
Most of the storks that I saw there were juveniles. I learnt it from two sources. One, through D's bird book that I carried and two, from a local boy who is 8 years old. I showed him the pictures of an adult stork and a juvenile and asked him what are they and he quickly identified them as an adult and a juvenile correctly. He also said "If you want to see their "ammas", you should come in January". The kid earned a few chocolates before I left.
