Encounter: Robber Fly, raptor of the insect world
With the menacing looks and businesslike patience of an assassin, the Robber Fly captures its prey on the wing
Wordless Wednesday – Who goes there?
Photograph: Sandeep Somasekharan The Green Ogre – Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India.
Encounter: In Shangri-La with Bar-headed Geese
Meeting the Bar-headed Goose, arguably the world’s highest flier, in its breeding grounds at 15,000 feet is a rare and humbling privilege
Encounter: Stream Glory, a dazzling tropical damselfly
A day of tired wandering in a forest ends with an intimate rendezvous with a stunning damselfly – the Stream Glory. It’s often the little things in life that give you the biggest highs
On World Environment Day, out with Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus, exotic and introduced, has had a complex relationship with the Indian forest landscape, impacting biodiversity and the water table.
Encounter: The darling buds of May
May is just behind us, but the familiar trees that lend their signature flush to this month are still in riotous flower One reason I look forward to May, despite the sweltering heat it brings, is the blooming of Gulmohar (Delonix regia), often called ‘Mayflower’ locally. The tree is also…
Encounter: Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo
Is that a drongo? Or a cuckoo? Or a bit of both? Meet the Fork-tailed Drongo-cuckoo
Wordless Wednesday – Hanuman’s leap
This Wordless Wednesday, Arun Menon captures the leap of a Hanuman Langur in Dandeli
Weaving the love nest
Even as male weaverbirds build their love nests, tenants are waiting in the wings for real estate prices to crash Imagine that the lady you are wooing would accept your proposal only if she is impressed with the houses you have built for her. Such is the tale of the…
A homecoming to Iruppu Falls
A chance trip to Iruppu Falls at the foot of the Brahmagiri peak in southern Coorg brought back a rush of old trekking memories The falls, not yet at their most splendid, are captivating In 2006, a little after my broken humerus had regained its sense of humour, I ventured…
Raptor Friday – Eurasian Marsh Harrier
Why are male Eurasian Marsh Harriers so hard to come by in winter? A juvenile, banking in flight With early winter the wetlands of India become the haunt of a chocolate-brown raptor, some individuals showing an odd facial coloration as if affected by leucoderma. This, to the uninitiated, is the…
Encounter: The Copper Pod Tree
Though not as grandly picturesque as the Golden Shower or the Flame of the Forest, the Copper Pod tree makes its yellow-crowned presence felt all over the flower-carpeted ground It’s a humid May forenoon and even in the shade there is no respite from sweat. The sea, a mere 100…
Wordless Wednesday: A Himalayan Riverscape
Photograph: Sandeep Somasekharan All rights reserved The Green Ogre – Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India.
Odisha Diary: The Chilika non-starter
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…
Pachydermophobia!
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…