Nature’s Layers Unravelled – Encounters with birds, beasts, and relatives
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.
Ogres Sandy and Arun recollect their encounters with the common but lovable Pied Kingfisher Black, white and eats fish Sandy: The first time I saw the Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) was in Thekkady, Kerala, in my fledgeling days of bird-watching. As a kid I had read that kingfishers were of many…
The Elliot’s Forest Lizard is common in the Western Ghats, where it is an endemic species occurring up to 6000 feet.
While combing the Marakkanam beach in Tamil Nadu, north of Pondicherry, Sahastra, Beej and I came across an object that was pale green and symmetrical, with bands radiating from a central orifice at the top. Five white bands radiating from the centre can be seen Being city-slickers from landlocked Bangalore our…
The Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) visits the subcontinent in winter. It is also resident in the Himalayas and to a lesser extent in the Western Ghats
At 6,000 feet oxygen isn’t as easy to aspire as I’d like. My lungs labour to adapt subcontinental lethargy to the punishing demands of altitude, and for a while I am oblivious to the spectacular Himalayan scenery drifting by in a sweat-soaked blur only furlongs away from my fumbling feet.…
As we headed out of Guwahati airport towards Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, the Bugun Liocichla (Liocichla bugunorum) was on our minds. Though none of us mentioned it (since no one wanted to be thought of as a twitcher), every one of us was hoping to catch a glimpse…
The Asian Paradise Flycatcher can appear quite unbelievable for those laying eyes on it for the first time A female Asian Paradise Flycatcher I distinctly remember the first time I saw an Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi). It was May or early June and I was in my mango orchard…
I always thought only humans queued up, and that too occasionally when they have no choice. Ah… and ants. But on our very eventful tramway trek in Parambikulam, Kerala, we experienced an epiphany. And the evidence of such orderly behaviour came from an unexpected group of insects: Butterflies. Halfway into…
Demoiselles, like other cranes, suffer on account of habitat loss and degradation throughout their breeding and wintering ranges. With the spread of agriculture in the Eurasian steppes a large swath of the species’ breeding territory is threatened on account of disturbance, grazing and hunting. In India, where the cranes winter,…
As I enter the village children greet me. They are a cheerful lot, waving and smiling at the visitor with a camera. I notice that they are playing with a dead snake and want me to see it up close. For an armchair explorer like me, fed on a regular…
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 Harrier on the hunt I have seen Montague’s Harriers (Circus pygargus) frequently in and around Mysore but…
In April 2006, we trekked from the Iruppu waterfalls in Kodagu (Coorg) to the Brahmagiri peak on the Karnataka-Kerala border. After crossing the lower bamboo-dominated patches we crossed a transition zone and reached a nice shola patch at the edge of the high-altitude grassland. That’s where we saw the frog.…
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 in flight My first prolonged and high quality sighting was near the Ranganathittu Bird…
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 layer of surface grass, occasional shrubs and small, hardy trees such as acacias. Visit one…
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!
