It’s raining in the rainforest!
After a long, wet, leech-infested weekend in the rainforest, you return like Noah after the flood, intolerant of anyone complaining about rain
Encounter: Blue-eyed Bush Frog
On a dark, wet monsoon night in Agumbe we met the very kissable blue-eyed prince of frogs
Raptor Friday – Last Hope for Disappearing Vultures
There are enough roadkills, but why are vultures absent from our skies? An independent filmmaker explores the reasons Himalayan Griffons engage in a scuffle Several animals are killed in road accidents but we hardly see any vultures hovering above and swooping down for a cleanup operation. Ever wondered why? Neloy…
The Cannonball Tree, an explosion of beauty
In flower the Cannonball Tree is lovely. But, by Toutatis, beware the skull-crushing quality of its menacing fruits
Wordless Wednesday – Weaving the Trap
Photo: Sahastrarashmi Taken at Agumbe The Green Ogre – Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India.
Encounter: Chestnut-tailed Minla or Bar-throated Siva. Or whatever.
Why call it a chestnut-tailed whatever when no one notices the colour of the tail? Bar-throated Siva? Ah, that’s another story.
Encounter: Crimson Sunbird
A chance meeting with this charming sunbird kept our spirits high through the unpredictable Himalayan weather In September 2010, on our way to the shrine of Madhyamaheshwar, we spent a night at the beautifully situated GMVN guest house at Ukhimath. It had been a year of catastrophic rains – an…
Dads we love wildly
On Father’s Day, we raise a toast to the best animal dads, but our top contender isn’t a bird! It might be just another Hallmark card red-letter day, but Father’s Day means a lot to us Ogres. And not just because we hold our own dads in great esteem. While…
Raptor Friday: Brahminy Kite
Though dirt-common, the Brahminy Kite is both gorgeous and majestic if you care to give it a second glance An adult Brahminy Kite surveys the landscape beneath overcast skies To quote my good friend Nikhil: “The only mistake the Brahminy Kite ever committed that made him a non-celebrity among birders…
Encounter: Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin
It had given me the slip in Kutch, but in Oman I caught up with the Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin.
Wordless Wednesday – Symmetrical Suckers
Photo: Beej The Green Ogre – Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India.
Birding in Nagaland – a trip to Fakkim Wildlife Sanctuary
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…
Odisha Diary – Meeting our Kondha and Paraja countrymen
The younger women are lithe and beautiful with tattoo markings and jewellery and a piece of cloth wound around the waist and then carelessly thrown over the shoulders. I am amazed at such natural beauty worn so easily. They sit in the warm sunlight, looking at us take pictures, talking to their babies, bathing their little ones, pounding rice, just carrying on despite our nosiness, our inelegant clothes and ungainliness with our shiny cameras. The group embodies an intelligence that seems to be fundamentally social.
The First Green Ogre Monsoon Conclave at ARRS, Agumbe
If all goes well, The Green Ogre will hold its first-ever Monsoon Conclave at the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station from Saturday through Monday. Conclave is actually a dignified and rather hyperbolic term that describes the rare opportunity when all four (and now five) of us get together. Weather and luck…
On the Wing: Indian Silverbills
Ever wondered why some birds never fly? And we are talking of little birds, not ostriches and emus… Flit: v. To move lightly and swiftly. I have always been amazed as to how some birds never seem to fly — they always flit. Whenever I have come across a flock…