GHNP Trek Day 3: To Dhel, and the layers unravel
Day 3 of our Great Himalayan National Park trek takes us from Humkhani to Dhel Thatch (3500 m) – 7 km and 1400 m to climb. Sandeep Somasekharan continues with Part 4 of the travelogue
GHNP Trek Day 2: Beyond the bridge, the wilderness
Once we are across the bridge, it feels as if behind us a huge wall of forest has grown, shutting us out completely. It is silent, dark and mysterious. Day 2 of our Great Himalayan National Park trek, recounted by Sandeep Somasekharan
GHNP Trek – Day 1: An oxymoron called acclimating
Day 1 was an ‘acclimatizer’. Ha. Acclimating is an oxymoron. Ask those who laboured up the slopes from Neuli to Shakti and ended up painfully breathless by the end of the day. Part 2 of Sandeep Somasekharan’s report of The Green Ogre trek to the Great Himalayan National Park in 2012
Encounter – Himalayan Bulbul
Even birders rarely felicitate bulbuls with a second glance, worse if they are Red-whiskered or Red-vented Bulbuls. But when we head up to the hills, the sight of the Himalayan Bulbul is a joy to us. For it means we are in the hills, and there’s a bounty of birdlife waiting to be discovered.
Nut job – When a monkey steals a coconut
What happens when a monkey chances upon a coconut? Well, let’s just say there’s no business like monkey business. And monkey business is show business. Enjoy this video
Great Himalayan National Park Trek – Day Zero – Warming up
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
It’s not a bird, it’s a jird
Happy 2015! Take inspiration from the Indian Desert Jird. Dig deep into your past to find the key to the future.
Birding Nirvana – Still stupid after all these years
No matter how long you’ve been birding, it’s never too late for an enlightening moment of stupidity
Christmas Day birding on a lark
Christmas day, I took out my socks and found my car keys inside. I took it as a portent and headed out birding
Rajasthan – A Thar Desert Lifescape
What is west to India is east to Pakistan. But what does the Thar care for such demarcations? Its dunes sift with abandon, and thrum with life
Hudhud have thought it was the Hoopoe?
Cyclone Hudhud was named after Hudhud the Hoopoe. Hud have thought?
A Skylark on song evokes Shelley
An Oriental Skylark in song at Goa’s Chapora Fort evokes Shelley. But you must listen to the song to believe that the poet wasn’t exaggerating in his effusive praise
Monsoon, gone so soon
Gayatri Hazarika wrote this ode to the monsoon during the peak of the rains, but we lazybones are sharing it with you now so that you cherish the last gasp of the season, the final raindrops before winter desiccates the subcontinent. Enjoy this photo essay
Osman Sagar – A Flamingo Oasis in Hyderabad
On a hot summer morning we went looking for the famed flamingo flock of Osman Sagar. And came across a treasure trove of birds