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- Anuska Hazarika
We were dropped off at the entrance of the Agoratoli range, the eastern range of Kaziranga, to get ready for our jeep safari into the least visited and comparatively more diverse range of the National Park. After fixing 70-300mm lens of my Nikon D3400, I got into the jeep and got ready for the adventure. We went past the gate into the entry post of the range where a forest ranger joined us. After going further I spotted an Asian Elephant eating what seemed like water grass and enjoying the cool water in the biggest beel of Kaziranga. Along with the elephant, there were flocks of Bar-headed Geese, Geese and a few Little Cormorants. After taking a few photographs we continued on.
Only after a minute I spotted a Lesser Adjutant Stork probably basking in the sun with its brilliant light blue eyes glistening in the sunlight that will definitely make people with blue eyes jealous . Then there was a Darter spreading its wings out to dry in the sun, its black, grey and white feathers dazzling, a perfect pose for a photograph of course, not that I know of Darter’s being natural super models.
Moving on, I then spotted my first One-Horned Rhinoceros of this trip along with a huge male Asiatic Water Buffalo. Strangely the Buffalo looked annoyed, perhaps a bit disappointed too since he never agreed on getting famed upon by colourful bipedal mammals that talk in a weird language. Nearby I saw some Northern Lapwings, their iridescent feathers shining as they searched for food in the marsh like waters. As my camera kept on clicking, locking in moments, I spotted a few Swamp Deer scattered here and there nearby a spring of water with a few Mallard by their side. Further is we spotted a big Grey-headed Fish Eagle looking over the water body probably in search of food or maybe pondering about itself.
Mid way, there was a tree that had somehow bent over like an arch and had rooted itself over the road in a semicircular shape, truly nature does weird things sometimes. After that our jeep reached the bank of the mighty river Brahmaputra, taking a few photos and spotting two Brahmaputra River Dolphins coming in and out of the water in a blink of the eye. We also spotted a herd of elephants which seemed to consist mostly with pregnant females and mothers with baby elephants, luckily they weren’t hostile and I got to take a few pictures but well the pictures weren’t clear since the herd was in the dense vegetation.
After this point we entered the thick forested part, where not even a bit of sunlight touched the forest floor. I didn’t spot any animals except the grunts of Wild Hogs and the rustling of the leaves in the eerily calming forest. The forest itself was a sight, how it looked scary but also refreshing in a way I can’t explain. Most of the trip was the dense woodland and its silence. When we were almost near the end, I spotted two Woolly-necked Storks in a marsh looking for a nice snack, we saw a beautiful sunset over the grassland and lake, and nearby was were herds of Water Buffalo and Swamp deer and on another side a committee of Indian Vultures, many of them resting on Silk Cotton trees for the evening.
The most remarkable find was not one, not two but more than 15 Rhinos together near the lake drinking water, something I haven’t seen once in the other two times I visited Kaziranga before. After that our jeep continued on back to the entrance of the range, ending the wild adventure through the Agoratoli range.
( All pictures used in this article are photographed by the writer Anuska Hazarika. Photo Credit: Anuska Hazarika).