Wayanad Bird Festival - 2025

Just back from Heikki Banakku - Wayanad's first-ever bird festival (Nov 14-16, 2025) at Hume Centre near Kalpetta, and it was EPIC. I set up a stall (hundreds visited - kids going wild over nest-weaving, adults obsessed with Banasura Chilappan ID tips!) AND got to join an official field trip where I ticked my lifer Lesser Fish Eagle soaring over the wetlands - what a moment! 🦅

Stall life was hectic fun - explaining Wayanad's 350+ bird species across shola forests/grasslands/wetlands to students, families, green activists, and international birders. Shared conservation challenges, made project connections, watched kids light up during bird art sessions. Festival had workshops (bird calls/photography), Minister O.R. Kelu inauguration, Dr. N. Anilkumar keynote, Bavul tribal performances ("Heikki"=bird, "Banakku"=festival), theatre, painting contests - pure biodiversity celebration for Wayanad's 10% of India's species in 4% of Kerala's land!

Field trip highlight: That Lesser Fish Eagle lifer over the wetlands was the cherry on top. Spotting it during an organized WBF outing with expert guides, surrounded by fellow birders - pure magic. Those powerful wingbeats and that intense fishing stare... already replaying it in my head.