Big encounters with the ‘Little 5’ of the Namib Desert
Unbelievable but true, the tiny Palmate Gecko and the diaphanous Cartwheeling Spider can hold a candle to the Big 5!
Category: Encounter
There’s always a first time. The Green Ogre’s ‘Encounter’ series describes memorable first meetings with birds, beasts, places, natural monuments and natural phenomena.
Manjhi Akshayavat, an immortal Banyan tree
Located not far from Lucknow, the Manjhi Akshayavat, one of India’s celebrated great banyans, is all that survives of the vast forest that once protected it.
Encounter – Plumbeous Water Redstart
Married to foaming mountain streams, the Plumbeous Water Redstart is a constant companion to the trekker in the Himalaya. As cattle egrets are to grazing bovids, mynahs to figs, and flowerpeckers to Singapore cherries, Plumbeous Water Redstarts (Rhyacornis fuliginosa) are married to Himalayan streams.
Encounter: Himalayan Bluetail
What do you call a bird with no name? Or one whose name has been changed lately? Such questions such briefly but subside when confronted with the dazzling beauty of the Himalayan Bluetail — or whatever they called it earlier Before I tell you about the Himalayan Bluetail I must…
Encounter: The Black-and-Orange Flycatcher
In a Nilgiri forest cloaked with moss, the adorable and confiding Black-and-Orange Flycatcher sets the woods — and your imagination — aflame.
Encounter – Yellow-billed Blue Magpie
After every birding trip there is always one bird that occupies our thoughts after we return. For me, it was the Yellow-billed Blue Magpie As a voracious reader of Tintin, my first impression of a magpie was a rather plain, pied bird with a needle-like beak (thanks to the illustrations).…
Encounter – Common Kingfisher
It was early days when I still hadn’t started birding seriously. A fun trip with some friends to Edamuri falls, near Mysore, more of a ‘get your feet wet’ trip. As we stood along the shore of the irrigation channel, taking off our footwear to drench our feet, I heard a…
Indian Licorice – Black-eyed beads of death
The red-and-black seeds frequently used in the indoor games of my childhood, I learned recently, are deadly poisonous. Introducing the pretty and dangerous Rosary Pea or Indian Licorice. Now chew on that! Back when I was a kid visiting my grandparents, dinner would generally be over by 7 pm. The…
Encounter: God, Darwin, Ali and the Blue-capped Rock Thrush
In the foggy ruins of time, most memories can get blurred, or muddied entirely. But not a birder’s remembrance of a cherished bird. Every time I see the Blue-capped Rock Thrush, I am reminded of myself at twelve, a scruffy, itchy pilgrim gazing in rapture at a sprite, a vision, a gift of the forest. It’s a story that involves God, Darwin and Salim Ali — all playing significant bit-parts.
Raptor Friday: The White Tiger of the shores
On broad soaring wings, the mighty White-bellied Sea Eagle patrols the coastline, plunging every now and then into the ocean for fish or sea snakes. Its aerobatic displays can make test pilots envious. If you see one, stop and watch. I remember that day more than four years ago. We were…
Encounter: Large-tailed Nightjar
When the dim, shadowy silence of the leaf-litter suddenly takes wing, it’s either a ghost or a nightjar that sets your heart racing. Our search that began in the hunt for a peacock feather took us to the adorable Large-tailed Nightjar The Large Tailed Nightjar wrapped up in silence. Notice the…
Encounter: Cyclone Thane, Pondicherry
To those of us sitting in Bangalore, Cyclone Thane is just a cold, wet day to grumble about. Or perhaps even enjoy as we huddle (or perhaps cuddle – but don’t let us give you any ideas) amid cups of tea. But out on the east coast of India, the…
In the kingdom of the Lion-tailed Macaque
In Valparai the endangered Lion-tailed Macaque inhabits tracts of dense evergreen forest hemmed in by tea plantations. It lives, literally and alarmingly, on the edge. Here are memories of a brief but illumining encounter with these fascinating primates
Hail to the leopard, spirit of the forest
In the presence of two regal cats we watched mesmerised and awestruck. Some of that aura rubbed off on us I have wandered only a handful of forests. Most wildlife enthusiasts might have traveled more in one year than I have over the last five. So I never complain about not having seen most of…
Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher: An Afternoon Haiku
What could be common to a tiny forest bird and a temple statuette that embodies grace, beauty and wild power? Having looked at a small group of 4-5 highly energetic and extremely acrobatic birds with small grey heads, small straight sharp beaks, large black eyes and yellow bodies, I looked…