Nature’s Layers Unravelled – Encounters with birds, beasts, and relatives
The snake tried every trick to climb the coconut tree. Failing, it slithered down and risked death. How could I stop it from being killed, I wondered. But the snake had plans of its own… Remember how Kaa of Walt Disney’s Jungle Book hissed seductively from a tree: “Trusssst in…
Alaska, Gaia and birds whose presence is dwarfed by their voices — that’s what The Green Ogre was all about this week It’s the last day of July with the monsoon still in full force over the subcontinent. In the rainforests of Agumbe, the frogs must still be calling, their…
More often heard than seen, the diminutive Coppersmith is a thousand times smaller than its enormous voice Once a while we may be treated to the sight of a coppersmith perched this low I was on my first ever trip to Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary near Mysore, when I had a…
James Lovelock, whose birthday fell on July 26, proposed the compelling but controversial idea of Gaia. Sahastrarashmi offers an appreciation of the man and his work Gaia as metaphor; Gaia as a catalyst for scientific enquiry; Gaia as literal truth; Gaia as Earth Goddess. Whoever she is, let’s keep her.…
Often, the stupidest questions elicit the most enlightening answers. Such was my initiation to the little featherball known as the Rufous-tailed Shrike
Moose, elk, grizzlies and caribou are on Anand Yegnaswami‘s mind as he recalls a trip to Alaska’s Denali National Park Alaska was a part of Russia until 1867 when US Secretary of State William H Seward played a key role in purchasing it for $7.2 million. It is believed that…
Last week the birds returned to The Green Ogre, though we have been feasting on frogs and snakes after our Agumbe conclave and continued to lick our fingers into the week that was The Golden Frog The Golden Frog (right) poses for an ardent admirer Frogs have inspired fable, poetry…
True to its name the Common Sand Boa spends most of its life under the sand or in loose earth, and its tough skin offers protection while burrowing. I’m glad we didn’t run over this fine snake.
In the dark, mysteriously beautiful shola forests the little Nilgiri Flycatcher will drive your blues away.
Photograph: Sandeep Somasekharan More Wordless Wednesdays The Green Ogre – Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India.
Its serpentine structure and moist, clammy skin gives the caecilian the appearance of a frog masquerading as a snake. Chances are you’ve seen this intriguing amphibian before but never taken a second look at it!
Our very own Golden Frog, a Western Ghats endemic, gave us the cherished privilege of a long and uninterrupted audience
The two faces of a forest stream are so unlike each other
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…
Anand Yegnaswami witnesses a bizarre encounter between a spider and a wasp and stumbles into a freakish discovery of manipulation in animals Mind manipulation is not new to many of us, considering we have watched Jedi Mind Tricks, read about suicide bombers, and seen cricket-playing teams sledge players to get…
