Warming up for our trek to the Great Himalayan National Park, the Ogres spend time in Delhi, waiting impatiently to get there. Part 1 of a new series by Sandeep Somasekharan Continue reading Great Himalayan National Park Trek – Day Zero – Warming up
Christmas day, I took out my socks and found my car keys inside. I took it as a portent and headed out birding Continue reading Christmas Day birding on a lark
On a hot summer morning we went looking for the famed flamingo flock of Osman Sagar. And came across a treasure trove of birds Continue reading Osman Sagar – A Flamingo Oasis in Hyderabad
A Fourth of July trek report from Mission Peak, California. Warning: Birds inside. Continue reading Mission (Peak) Accomplished – A Trek Report
I remembered a little affront I heaped at the mighty mountains when I landed at Aut. Taking a reel out of Apollo 13, I mimicked the scene where Jim Lowell covers the moon with his thumb and looked at a peak far away, murmuring, “As tall as my thumb.” Anand Yegnaswami reflects on his trek in the Great Himalayan National Park, one year later. Continue reading When a rookie walks the Himalaya
The Vembanad Lake in Alleppey, once praised by Lord Curzon as the “Venice of the East”, is a Ramsar Wetland and a Birdlife Important Bird Area. But those tags have not stopped greedy and exploitative tour operators from turning it into a sickening playground of hooligans and a dumping ground for trash. Here’s a horror story that will turn Stephen King’s stomach. Continue reading All is not well with Alleppey
Winter’s officially out the door, but we still entertain memories of a January morning in Bharatpur amid winged angels and wicked vandals Accompanied by the creaking of the cycle rickshaw’s suspension, the eerie silhouettes created by the dense fog eclipsing … Continue reading Nature’s palette at Birdpur
A birding spree from Mudumalai to Masinagudi and Theppekadu to Ooty Continue reading A jaunt across Mudumalai – Trip Report
Dandeli, post-monsoon, is a completely different forest. Quieter, darker, denser, and offering a whole new birding experience that left us unsatisfied A misty morning welcomed us as we got down at the VRL bus stand at Dandeli and through the … Continue reading Green Ogre Autumn Conclave Dandeli – Trip Report
To derive joy from the simple act of birdwatching, all you need to do is wait, watch and listen. Jennifer Nandi reveals the Birding 101 in the third episode of her travelogue on Bedni Bugyal A Blue Whistling Thrush, ever the skulker, trails us as we walk its wooded paths Lots of little surprises greet us the next morning. The Pied Thrush and his companion are in full view; so are the rock thrushes, the blackbirds and the Mistle Thrushes. A new visitor to the campsite is the Variegated Laughing Thrush. A very secretive bird; keeping close to the shrubbery, … Continue reading Odyssey to Bedni Bugyal – A Day at Didana
If we as a people so revere nature, why do we go to so much trouble to disfigure it? The view from Kavala Caves, Dandeli Is there a legit word ending in “phobia” for the fear of being ripped off? Whatever it is, it was on our minds when we set out early in the morning from Dandeli’s Kulgi Nature Camp for a safari. Safaris are always dubious deals – at the outset you are force-fed the disclaimer that every sighting banks on “good luck”, which is thereafter effectively neutralised by the grunting and gnashing diesel vehicle that ferries you … Continue reading All’s not well in the bat-cave
Atul Jain and friends track down the Spot-breasted Parrotbill, the Mountain Bamboo Partridge and other incredible birds at Fakkim Wildlife Sanctuary Mountain Bamboo Partridge The plan to visit Pungro and Fakkim WLS, Nagaland was hatched on “Emerald Blue”, the sailing boat which had taken us to Narcondam Island. The usual suspects Harkirat Sangha, Manoj Sharma and I got together to organize a trip to this wonderful birding hotspot. The credit to unravel this scantily birded spot goes to Ramki and Shashank. Ramki’s cracking pictures of Yellow-throated Laughingthrush appeared as an apparition in my dreams and made me restless over the … Continue reading Birding in Nagaland – a trip to Fakkim Wildlife Sanctuary
Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, also known as Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, is located between the branches of the Periyar River in Ernakulam district of Kerala. The great birdman Salim Ali had surveyed Thattekad in 1930 and described it as the richest bird habitat in the peninsula. He later urged the Kerala government to notify it as a sanctuary. In 1983, it was thus declared. The sanctuary covers around 25 sq km of tropical semi-evergreen and tropical deciduous lowland forests. Hence the name (Thattekad literally translates to ‘flat forest’ in Malayalam). Our guide Sudeesh (a crack-shot at spotting) explained that excluding the … Continue reading In the Flat Forest, Abode of the Frogmouths
Our destination is Tungnath, the third Kedar, and my purpose is religious only in a pagan sense. To walk the wild Himalayas, breathe their bounteous air, encounter their wildlife, their trees and wildflowers, rivers and springs, and to be at the mercy of their elements is pilgrimage enough for us. Continue reading In the arms of Shiva – a trek to Tungnath
Birdsong brings comfort to tired trekkers ascending to the heights of Brahmagiri in the Western Ghats Continue reading Iruppu-Brahmagiri on foot