Wordless Wednesday – Hanuman’s leap
This Wordless Wednesday, Arun Menon captures the leap of a Hanuman Langur in Dandeli
Year: 2011
Weaving the love nest
Even as male weaverbirds build their love nests, tenants are waiting in the wings for real estate prices to crash Imagine that the lady you are wooing would accept your proposal only if she is impressed with the houses you have built for her. Such is the tale of the…
A homecoming to Iruppu Falls
A chance trip to Iruppu Falls at the foot of the Brahmagiri peak in southern Coorg brought back a rush of old trekking memories The falls, not yet at their most splendid, are captivating In 2006, a little after my broken humerus had regained its sense of humour, I ventured…
Raptor Friday – Eurasian Marsh Harrier
Why are male Eurasian Marsh Harriers so hard to come by in winter? A juvenile, banking in flight With early winter the wetlands of India become the haunt of a chocolate-brown raptor, some individuals showing an odd facial coloration as if affected by leucoderma. This, to the uninitiated, is the…
Encounter: The Copper Pod Tree
Though not as grandly picturesque as the Golden Shower or the Flame of the Forest, the Copper Pod tree makes its yellow-crowned presence felt all over the flower-carpeted ground It’s a humid May forenoon and even in the shade there is no respite from sweat. The sea, a mere 100…
Wordless Wednesday: A Himalayan Riverscape
Photograph: Sandeep Somasekharan All rights reserved The Green Ogre – Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India.
Odisha Diary: The Chilika non-starter
Chilika, India’s largest lagoon and the second-largest of its kind in the world, offers a tepid reception to Jennifer Nandi, who retreats from it experiencing a strange emotion between disappointment and happiness India’s largest Lake, Chilika, famed for its birdlife, is our next destination. We pore over the map that…
Pachydermophobia!
A few things to remember before you are battered to death by a wild elephant There are two opinions on elephants with respect to their behaviour. Some say they are foul-tempered creatures while others contend that they are the gentlest of animals that resort to violence only when left with…
On the Wing – The Great Hornbill
Nothing can prepare you for the awe-inspiring spectacle of a Great Hornbill, flying wild and free in its ancient forests The swooshing sound of the Great Hornbills’ wingsweeps resonates in the silence of the forest The Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) is found in the Western Ghats and the Himalayan foothills…
Trees speak, even in death
Lifeless, numbered, fated to become furniture, the dismembered corpses of ancient forest trees are stacked neatly in the Dandeli Timber Depot. Peer closely at these images gleaned from that brooding graveyard — your mind’s eye might detect fate-lines gone awry, cracked smiles, suppurating wounds, faces contorted in silent pain, broken hearts, gnarled…
Gluttony in the Timber Graveyard
The Timber Depot in Dandeli presents a feast for both bird and birdwatcher, and then some rumination If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a…
Rendezvous with the Narcondam Hornbill
Atul Jain, who has ticked 989 species of birds in the Indian subcontinent, ventured to the remote Andaman island of Narcondam and was rewarded with many prize sightings The Narcondam Hornbill is found nowhere else except on the remote Narcondam island The Andamans conjure a mystic image of a forgotten…
Encounter: The Malabar Pied Hornbill
A timber yard in Dandeli, Karnataka offers some of the best views you can have of the threatened Malabar Pied Hornbill When you mention Dandeli, people respond in two ways. “Rafting!” exclaim the majority. The others enthusiastically say: “Hornbills!” On our trip, we (Sahastra, Bijoy, Andy, Satish and I) didn’t…
It’s Hornbill Week at The Green Ogre!
Monday through Friday, we explore hornbills and their habitats at The Green Ogre Hornbills are intriguing birds. You can never forget your first sighting of one, however uncharismatic the species. Charisma, by the way, is a misleading word, for all of us at The Green Ogre are crazy about hornbills.…
Encounter: Otter in the water!
At first they looked like coconuts bobbing in the water. The next second we were gaping with wide-eyed delight at a family of Smooth-coated Otters! Champion Swimmer’s Rule #1: Keep your nose above the water My first brush with the Smooth-coated Otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) was back in 2008 when I…