Thattekkad Diary – Lessons In Birding, Guiding, and Tourist Privilege
A reflection on the economic and psychological pressures of informal ecotourism, which weigh heavily on the skilled birding guides of Thattekkad
Author: Sandeep Somasekharan
Sandeep Somasekharan (or Sandy as friends call him) took his headlong plunge into photography with a three-megapixel Nikon point-and-shoot he purchased in 2003. The avid reader and occasional scribbler started enjoying travel and nature more as he spent more time photographing. Meeting Beej in 2008 helped him channel his creative energies in the form of essays and nature photographs that he started publishing on The Green Ogre.
Sandy loves to photograph birds and landscapes, and considers photography and writing as his meditation. Now based out of the US, Sandy juggles his time between parental duties, a full time engineering role, writing short fiction in Malayalam, and an occasional birding trip thrown in between. His debut novel in Malayalam hits the bookstalls in January 2025.
Sandy can be found at instagram as @footprintsonlight
Cicada Apocalypse – A Survivor’s Account
For the first time since 1803, two broods of cicadas synchronised their emergence. The next time this takes place, who knows if the human race will be around?
Costa Rica Diaries – Parting Gifts
Pura Vida. The phrase that translates roughly to “Pure Life” doesn’t do enough justice to all that Costa Rica offers the nature lover. It’s goodbye for now.
Costa Rica Day 6 – Resplendent Quetzal: Part Bird, Part God and Full-Time Economy Driver
On a rainy Day 6 of Sandy’s birding tour in Costa Rica, he and his fellow birders seek out the Resplendent Quetzal, which the ancient Aztecs venerated as a feathered serpentine deity, Quetzalcoatl.
Costa Rica Day 5 – Toucan Trees and Wild Dreams Coming True
Trees full of toucans, and a gobsmacking parade of macaws… the birding bonanza in Costa Rica seems to get better and better with a last-mile burst of lifer luck. And, yet, there’s more to come!
Costa Rica Day 4 – Midnight weightlifting, flashing hummingbirds and misgendering in Spanish
On Day 4 in Costa Rica, Sandy learns his Spanish grammar the hard way, and indulges in a little light experiment with hummingbird photography
Christmas at Boca Tapada – Costa Rica Birding Diary Day 3
Scarlet Macaws, Great Green Macaws, Shining Honeycreepers, King Vultures — a great big birding feast! What better way to spend Christmas in Boca Tapada, Costa Rica
Muddy Boots in Guapiles | Costa Rica Birding Diary – Day 2
From white bats huddled like dumplings under banana leaves and shimmering hummingbirds and gaudy tree frogs, to majestic owls necking in the dark of the forest, it’s just another birding day in Guapiles, Costa Rica. Is crazy!
Costa Rica Birding Diary | Day 1 – Cinchona and Sarapiqui
Exploring the bird life of Costa Rica, Sandy meets many that he assumes are either marital partners or relatives, but is mistaken!
How looking out of the window saved my sanity – a quarantine birdwatching tale
Burning out during the lockdown looked like a very real possibility for Sandy. Until he began watching birds for a few minutes every day. Over the year, he documented more than 40 species in his North Carolina backyard
Stargazing on the Appalachian Trail
Recounting a quest for the Milky Way along the Appalachian Trail in August
Comet watching : Neowise aka C/2020 F3
Neowise has been lighting up the skies for the past few days. Sandeep Somasekharan rides to the countryside for a glimpse of the celebrity comet
Faces at a Feeder: Meet the Carolina Wren
Teakettle… teakettle. The Carolina Wren, though diminutive, makes its presence felt with its big, loud voice.
Faces at a Feeder: Northern Cardinal
Lockdown birding gets a boost with the arrival of a nesting family of Northern Cardinals at a North Carolina home feeder. Here’s the first post of an absorbing pictorial series
Embracing darkness – celebrating the night sky
A photographic quest for the Milky Way under truly dark skies on Sunday, April 26, which marks the end of the Dark Sky Week organized by the International Dark Skies Association