Raptor Friday – Raiders of the honeycomb
Until five years ago, every bird that soared was an “eagle”. I had just started birding and I don’t know how many times until then I had let pass this intriguing bird as an eagle.…
Nature’s Layers Unravelled – Encounters with birds, beasts, and relatives
Until five years ago, every bird that soared was an “eagle”. I had just started birding and I don’t know how many times until then I had let pass this intriguing bird as an eagle.…
The Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus), also known as White Scavenger Vulture and Pharaoh’s Chicken, is easily distinguishable thanks to its unusual plumage. Its large size, creamy white plumage, hook-shaped beak, and yellow face are diagnostic. In…
Hunters 1 Freeloaders 0, at least that was the score when I left a Crested Goshawk to eat its meal in peace. The crows had to be content with looking I was at Sim’s Park,…
Birds of the scrubland, harriers are unmistakable for their flight – close to the ground, with the wings held in a high-upstroke V, and the eyes directed downward looking intently for prey. A male Montague’s…
Though smaller than other Aquila eagles, the Booted Eagle (Aquila pennatta) is a powerful bird of prey. It hunts reptiles, small mammals, and medium-sized birds, including crows and partridges. A pale morph Booted Eagle banks…
To a layperson, scrublands connote territory that is laid to waste. Dead, deserted places to stay away from. But that impression deserves to be tested. Scrublands, in fact, are dry, open spaces with a thin…
If your guide points to nothing on the bark of a tree, you can be sure you’re looking at (but not seeing) Draco dussumieri, the Southern Flying Lizard!
Meet the Short-toed Snake Eagle (Circaetus gallicus) or plain “Short-toed Eagle”. It is a raptor of open countries, grass/ scrublands and semi-deserts, which, as its name suggests, loves to devour snakes and reptiles and occasionally mammals as…
A natural portrait of an owl and a squirrel is when the latter is in the claws of the former. Owls and owlets are generally fond of rodents, and squirrels do fall under their diet…
The Indian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo bengalensis) is a sub-species of the Eurasian Eagle Owl, formerly known as the Indian Rock Eagle owl. My first run-in with this enigmatic bird was near Mysore’s well-known landmark…
It’s easy to see why Lord Shiva fell in love with the Ganga. Mere mortals can be hopelessly smitten.
A glimpse of the majestic Golden Eagle When I set out on the Madmaheshwar trek in September 2010, I had not entertained hopes of seeing a Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos daphanea) as the altitudes we…
We had finally stumbled upon the beauty secrets of the gorgeous Red-headed Bullfinch, and his mate
The arrival of the Jacobin Cuckoo announces that the monsoon is here