Wordless Wednesday – What’s inside the fig?
Photo: Sandeep Somasekharan See all Wordless Wednesday posts The Green Ogre – Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India.
Year: 2011
Encounter: Indian Giant Squirrel
Fluffy and tubby, the Indian Giant Squirrel is a treat to watch anywhere you may wander in the forests of peninsular India
Chhattisgarh Diary: The Palace at Kawardha
Italian, British and Mughal architectural styles are all represented in this regal palace of some 56 rooms with a splendid domed and filigreed Durbar Hall. Much of the ground floor of this palace at Kawardha has been converted into a heritage hotel run by the erstwhile royal family. Secularism throbs in Kawardha’s historic heart and its pulsing beat invites us to be one with it.
Would they kill the keelback?
Did that curious crowd know, or care, that the snake we were trying to see off to safety was a harmless albeit aggressive Checkered Keelback? Here’s how to tell a Checkered Keelback from its venomous relatives: Round eyes, checkered scale pattern, keeled scales and the oblique stripes behind and beneath…
Encounter: White-cheeked Barbet, the Invisible Chatterbox
The White-cheeked Barbet, earlier known as the Small Green Barbet, just melts into the canopy. But peer into the roof of leaves and you’ll see it devouring fruits and figs I saw this green bird for the first time at Polachira, a wetland near Thiruvananthapuram. My friend Rahul pointed to…
Close Encounters of the Slithering Kind
These are not just encounters, but close encounters. In these situations I have either touched or been too close for comfort with certain members of the suborder SerpentesI’d never imagined that such a day would dawn. In 2008, I visited the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS) with friends PD, Zak…
Le Question: Did Indians do nothing but celebrate festivals?
A tree may be our primary connection with the universe — but it will take us all our lives to acknowledge it The Ficus virens that outgrew the shrine Shashwat: Haven’t the Americans built big cities, warships, fighter jets and so on? Me: I guess so. Shashwat And the Germans…
Raptor Friday: Crested Serpent Eagle
What’s the fuss about the Serpent Eagle’s crest? At first glance, it isn’t even there. But wait and watch… I first ran into the Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela) in BR Hills on my first-ever trip with Beej, Sahastra and Sunita, and I wondered why those who named this bird…
No teeth, no claws, but very much a Tiger!
Not the cuddliest tiger around but certainly the safest to introduce your kids to, this one is best chased with a camera on a sunny spring morning. If your intentions are evil, back off or you’ll be left with a bad taste in the mouth! The Plain Tiger Butterfly (Danaus…
Wordless Wednesday: The hues of advancing autumn
Photo: Sahastrarashmi Chopta, Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand The Green Ogre – Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India.
Freedom in a cage – a critical look at captive breeding
On the 64th anniversary of India’s freedom, we wonder about the efficacy of captive breeding programs. Are they really worth it? In the last six odd decades since Independence, India has been witness to the exploitation of its wildlife and natural resources along with apathy to diminishing forests coexisting with…
Book Review: Life’s Grandeur by Stephen Jay Gould
Eminently readable, Stephen Jay Gould’s Life’s Grandeur is a must for anyone who wants to understand Darwin better Stephen Jay Gould (Sep 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) is one of the best known and most influential writers on the Theory of Evolution. The author of more than two dozen…
On The Wing: Indian Grey Hornbill
What goes flap-flap-glide, flap-flap-glide? A Grey Hornbill in flight!Grey hornbills (Ocyceros birostris) fly like tiny missiles — if not by speed, by profile. Flap-flap-glide, flap-flap-glide… when you see one pass by you can always expect another one to be close behind – usually its soulmate. This one was headed straight…
Encounter: Malabar Grey Hornbill
The next time you hear a chuckle from the treetops or endearing squeaks and musical caws, look out for the Malabar Grey Hornbill. Or maybe a whole flock! What’s so different about the Malabar Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros griseus) compared with the other three hornbills found in the Western Ghats? The…
Wordless Wednesday – Sitting Duck
Photograph: Sandeep Somasekharan All rights reserved See all Wordless Wednesday posts The Green Ogre – Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India.