As we wandered along the edge of the half-dry Dodda Kere (Large Lake) in Anekal, my friend Chandu suddenly stood stock-still, gazing intently into a thicket of reeds at the water’s edge. “Hey!” he called, in a carefully pitched monotone, “I think I’m seeing a crake here, come over!”

Geetanjali had mandated a bright and early start, but of course all of us arrived at intervals, so each us seemed to find our own way down into the semi-dried Anekal Lake bed, and moved around to try and spot the birds.

Let me begin with this lovely

If a friend tells you, “All my other friends are shit, you are the only nice one,” you may be sure that you are going to join the shit-list shortly thereafter.

Here is one of the magnificient beasts that I saw in Kaziranga….