Peacocks at my feet

Different Tariff for Indians & foreigners

This weekend when I visited Mysore, we went to Karanji Lake Nature Park. It is quite within the city and I had driven so many times past it while going to my aunt’s house, I never knew there was park with beautiful birds right there. As we stood at the ticket counter I had to take a picture of the board with ticket prices. I am not sure if this is followed all over India, but in Mysore this is the third time I see a ticket counter that has different prices for Indians and foreigners. The other two places I had seen before were at Mysore Palace and The Hoysala Temple in Somnathpura. If I understand that the Palace & the temple are old heritage & hence they charge double for foreign visitors, I am wondering why to this park. It was a regular park with open spaces to walk with the birds and that was just one such walking space. Rest was a lake and a butterfly park, which wasn’t really like an old heritage or anything.  So I find it hard to see why they would charge more for our foreign visitors!

Grand walkway

The park starts with a walkway surrounded by palm trees – Roystonea Regia on either side, which looks very grand. After a few yards, there is a big cage to walk in along with Peacocks and other bird varieties like pheasant, turkey, pigeons, ducks etc along with a turtleJ.




The magnificient  peacock spread

 

The moment was extraordinary when we saw one of the peacocks spreading out its feather fan!  It’s just the most beautiful sight, the colors are so magnificent and the whole alternate arrangement of the feathers – Beautiful nature! The whole bird itself is so beautiful, You wonder how can a creature be so so beautiful and that too a male creature.. ha ha..

An elegant looking bird

I captured numerous pictures of the peacock spread out, other peacocks walking past me. The length of the feathers behind the bird is just unbelievable. I captured the face of a peacock trying to get a shot of the crest; when I actually saw my shot I was spell-bound to see the beautiful eyes of the peacock, the black eyeball surrounded by white feathers but a blue line going around the eyes and outwards in the end, it totally reminded me of my eye-liner I draw above my eyelids - exactly the same shape! I never before knew of this similarity! So this is how we learn how to look beautiful! Isn’t it?

Beautiful eyes and the pretty crest!

We saw other birds too but nothing like the Peacocks and with their feathers spread out. There was one friendly moment I had with a turkey, seemed a little old; may be. We generally assumed that these birds would be afraid of humans around them and so we were very cautious while we walked with soft steps. As I walked close to this turkey, it didn’t seem to get scared. So I kneeled down to it and made some tick-tocking sound to converse with it and it responded back by getting close to me & looking at me. For some reason it seemed sad and may be to say something; I thought it is so helpless that it can’t convey what it wants to say. It seemed it wanted to get close. But I did not take the chance of petting it, not sure if I would scare it; although I wanted to pat it and brush it. L

Peacock pair



The friendly turkey



Pigeons

Ducks that remind me those in Spokane & Seattle

   

A not-so-beautiful Peahen, doesn't mind posing :) 



Bridge to butterfly park

Flowers in the butterfly park

We then strolled around the lake; saw other birds like pelicans, storks etc.

The lake also has boating facilities that we were not interested to enjoy. The greenery around the lake it just beautiful, to take a stroll and the butter fly park is beautifully created on a little land that is attached to the main park land with a small bridge. The bridge makes it look like the back waters of some river!

It is a great location for photographers.