Chilika, India’s largest lagoon and the second-largest of its kind in the world, offers a tepid reception to Jennifer Nandi, who retreats from it experiencing a strange emotion between disappointment and happiness India’s largest Lake, Chilika, famed for its birdlife, is our next destination. We pore over the map that shows a short and direct road from Puri to the Lake but both driver and guide advise us that we’d be better off taking the longer but better road via the capital, Bhubaneshwar. The drive takes longer than expected. Impatience gets the better of us as we ask ourselves what … Continue reading Odisha Diary: The Chilika non-starter

A few things to remember before you are battered to death by a wild elephant There are two opinions on elephants with respect to their behaviour. Some say they are foul-tempered creatures while others contend that they are the gentlest of animals that resort to violence only when left with no option. Whatever be the case, elephants have to be respected for their bulk and what they can do with it. Hailing as I do from Kerala, a land famous for elephants used to bear temple idols in ceremonial processions, I have heard of instances where elephants have turned rogue … Continue reading Pachydermophobia!

Nothing can prepare you for the awe-inspiring spectacle of a Great Hornbill, flying wild and free in its ancient forests The swooshing sound of the Great Hornbills’ wingsweeps resonates in the silence of the forest The Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) is found in the Western Ghats and the Himalayan foothills in India as well as in the thick rainforests of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and Thailand extending north all the way up to Nagaland in India, as well as Nepal. These large omnivorous birds do not have many natural predators. However, they are near threatened due to habitat loss from … Continue reading On the Wing – The Great Hornbill

The Timber Depot in Dandeli presents a feast for both bird and birdwatcher, and then some rumination If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. – Henry David Thoreau The Timber Depot at Dandeli is a living graveyard, if that oxymoron makes any sense. It stands right in the heart of this sylvan north … Continue reading Gluttony in the Timber Graveyard

Atul Jain, who has ticked 989 species of birds in the Indian subcontinent, ventured to the remote Andaman island of Narcondam and was rewarded with many prize sightings The Narcondam Hornbill is found nowhere else except on the remote Narcondam island The Andamans conjure a mystic image of a forgotten land with turbulent history and exotic flora and fauna. It lived up to its reputation and rewarded us with some excellent bird sightings. It took six months of planning to organise a trip to Narcondam Island and the Andamans. Five intrepid birder-photographers (Harkirat Sangha, Manoj Sharma, Vinay Das, Aparna Jain … Continue reading Rendezvous with the Narcondam Hornbill

Monday through Friday, we explore hornbills and their habitats at The Green Ogre Hornbills are intriguing birds. You can never forget your first sighting of one, however uncharismatic the species. Charisma, by the way, is a misleading word, for all of us at The Green Ogre are crazy about hornbills. We have travelled far and wide to see them — Arunachal Pradesh, Valparai, Parambikulam, Periyar, Pachakkanam, Mysore, Rae Bareli, Dandeli… the list of places where we have spotted and enjoyed hornbills is exhaustive. It’s time for us now to celebrate our passion and share it with you, dear reader, and … Continue reading It’s Hornbill Week at The Green Ogre!

Formerly thought to be a resident of the Himalayan foothills, the Lesser Fish-Eagle has pleasantly surprised us by nesting along rivers in southern India Formerly thought to occur only in the Himalayan foothills, the Lesser Fish-Eagle has now been confirmed as a resident breeder along the Cauvery River in Karnataka as well as river islets in Kerala, both in southern India The Lesser Fish-Eagle (Ichthyophaga humilis) was believed to be a resident of the Himalayan foothills until recently when there has been a flurry of sightings along the Cauvery river in Karnataka. Other recent reports also confirm that the bird … Continue reading Raptor Friday – The Lesser Fish-Eagle

After chasing down the Mangrove Whistler in Bhitarkanika, Jennifer Nandi journeys to the temple towns of Konarak and Puri, where a technicality stops her from washing away her sins A pair of Yali, fearsome mythical beasts, guard the temple gates True to his word, the boatman is already at the jetty – we choose to go to the same area where we had seen the snake. There is an embankment between two large bodies of water that we had reached too late the previous morning. Now we have arrived just in time to see close-ups of the Spotted Eagles – … Continue reading Odisha Diary: In the court of the Sun God