Story of a huge bearded vulture spotted near Chakouri, Uttarakhand in June 2019

Pic taken and narrated in the first person  by avid wildlife photographer and IndianRoadie fan, Mukul Mukherjee at Chakouri in June 2019.

I was driving past Chakouri in Uttarakhand and suddenly saw this big bird just infront of us at the edge of the road was feasting on a bird.
I suddenly stopped my car and my camera was all ready. I somehow parked the car on my left side giving ample space to other passing by vehicles. Instead of getting down I thought to click from my driver's seat because if it get disturbed then it may fly.  Hardly got few shots and it opended it wingspan which was really huge and went away with the kill.

The bearded vulture also known as the lammergeier is a bird of prey and the only member of the genus Gypaetus. The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists almost exclusively (70 to 90 percent) of bone. It lives and breeds on crags in high mountains in southern Europe, the Caucasus, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Tibet, laying one or two eggs in mid-winter that hatch at the beginning of spring. Populations are residents. The population of this species continues to decline. Until July 2014, it was classified by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as being of Least Concern; it has, however, since been reassessed as Near Threatened.

This species is almost entirely associated with mountains and inselbergs with plentiful cliffs, crags, precipices, canyons and gorges. They are often found near alpine pastures and meadows, montane grassland and heath, steep-sided, rocky wadis, high steppe and are occasional around forests. They seem to prefer desolate, lightly-populated areas where predators who provide many bones, such as wolves and golden eagles, have healthy populations.
This bird is 94–125 cm (37–49 in) long with a wingspan of 2.31–2.83 m (7.6–9.3 ft). It weighs 4.5–7.8 kg (9.9–17.2 lb), with the nominate race averaging 6.21 kg (13.7 lb)
Unlike most vultures, the bearded vulture does not have a bald head. This species is relatively small headed, although its neck is powerful and thick. It has a generally elongated, slender shape, sometimes appearing bulkier due to the often hunched back of these birds. The gait on the ground is waddling and the feet are large and powerful.

F 5.6, 1/1000, 240 mm at ISO 400.
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Leopard that killed 450+ people was shot down by Jim Corbett

The world famous Mango tree where Sir Jim Corbett used to sit on his Machan. Infact it's rare to find a Mango Tree in the lap of Himalayas.This is the village where the pandit lived who was even attacked by the Leopard. The leopard made numerous attempt to kill the pandit. He also talked about a lot about the terrace farming and the Manadakini & Alaknanda river. He also described very well about the mountains accross the river. The Leopard has almost killed 450+ people in this area and he used to roam around in 300 sq km. Yes finally the Leopard was shot here by world famous shooter, Jim Corbett Sir.

Museum is being built here.

And my favorite book. Carried the book just for this click.

I am in the lap of Himalayas. I feel blessed.

Photos and content: Mukul Mukherjee (Indian Roadie follower and avid wildlife photographer) in October 2019.

Jim Corbett and the bridge North of Rudraprayag in October 2019 (Courtesy: Mukul Mukherjee)

This used to be a tower bridge earlier where Jim Corbett has spend sleepless nights to hunt down the Man-eater Leopard of Rudraprayag.
And the Leopard used to take this bridge mostly during night to enter the town and search for a kill and move out before the dawn.

The bridge is well described in the book and has been said about it numerous time. This bridge is located at North of Rudraprayag.
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Photo and content:  Mukul Mukherjee (avid wildlife photographer) was there in October 2019.