Meluha Moment – In which I blink my third eyelid ;)
The nictitating membrane protects a bird’s eye from dryness and injury. You might call it a Meluha moment, this blinking of the third eye. Take a look and be amazed.
Krithi Karanth’s dream to re-wild India – we second!
Every now and then I delight in a moment where I can introduce my daughter to something alive and wild — the birth of a butterfly, a sisterhood of elephants, the jawbone of a monitor lizard, the nest of a carpenter bee, the bill of a pelican, the colour of a fruit bat’s fur, the proud puff of a baby cobra’s hood… And when I meet parents who, like me, revel in the moment they introduce their own children to these fast diminishing joys of nature, I can sense their wonder and share their delight. And rest, at least for a wink, in the comfort that our tribe will increase. Thanks to Krithi Karanth for this innervating talk about her dream to re-wild India. Watch, share and teach your children well.
Morning Raga by the Kentish Plover
On the first day of 2014, we found this adorable Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) in half minds whether to sing or not. Warm sunshine, sandy beaches and blue skies – who wouldn’t want to?
Winning The Toss: Blue-tailed Bee-eater pops a meal
Humans toss pancakes but birds like the Blue-tailed Bee-eater grab venomous insect prey like wasps and bees in mid-air and thrash them dead to dislodge the sting before tossing them in the air a la Rajinikanth with the cigarette
Say, does this Crab Plover speak Malayalam?
The Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola) is a bird of decidedly unique appearance. It found along the coasts of Asia and Africa, where it chases after crabs and deftly pries them open with its highly specialized steak-knife of a bill. Here’s a picture of one on a beach in Kerala.
Monsoon romance: Birds love rain, rain loves birds
Rain drives some of us indoors. But a Green Ogre loves nothing more than to step out, get wet and click madly. Uh, let’s go see what the birds are up to.
Encounter – The Spotted Forktail
For many years, the Spotted Forktail was just an apparition in a dream. Now, happily twitched off the list, it is one of my favourite Himalayan birds.
When a rookie walks the Himalaya
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.
Birding in Hong Kong: One flu over Victoria Park
In flu-fearing Hong Kong, Victoria Park is perhaps the sole isle for anyone who cares for a spot of garden birding.
Birding notes from Melbourne, Australia
It wasn’t a day fit for birding, but even on such a dull day Melbourne had plenty to offer to a jet-lagged birder on a lightning first-time visit to Australia.
April Fooled: A drongo’s spot of bother!
The thin line between beautification and photo-manipulation can get troublesome… if the culprit manipulates the vital evidence!
Encounter: White Storks wintering in Polachira
In the Polachira wetlands of Kollam, southern Kerala, the sight of a White Stork, a winter visitor increasingly hard to come by in the subcontinent, fills the mind with memories seen and imagined
Encounter: The Bald Eagle, America’s most majestic raptor
A lucky and rewarding encounter with the Bald Eagle, one of the enduring symbols of America, in Maryland’s Conowingo Dam
Encounter: The Sacred Grove at Oorani
The sacred grove at Oorani is the last stand of Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests — a postage stamp-sized green patch in the middle of insipid featureless coastal plain dotted with coconut plantations. It does not exactly draw your attention. That, however, would be a huge miss.
Hurricane Sandy, Landscape Redesigner
From New Castle, Delaware, an eerie ‘watercolour’ of Hurricane Sandy the landscape artist with a sense of humour. Exclusive Photos.