While the lockdown brings birds and beasts out into the cities, clandestine moves are underway to destroy the pristine forests in which they live. Praveen Tangirala recounts a birdwatching trip to the beautiful Kali Tiger Reserve in Dandeli, great stretches of which are threatened to be swallowed up by the proposed Hubbali-Ankola railway line Continue reading Bird-watching in Dandeli’s fragile forest
On a wintry morning in Kutch, we waited among the dense Salvadora bushes for a glimpse of a rare winter visitor from West Asia – the Grey Hypocolius Continue reading Kutch Diaries – Breakfast with the Grey Hypocolius
From an apparition to a presence, the endangered Yellow-throated Bulbul regaled us with an appearance on a short birding walk at Rishi Valley. Continue reading Encounter – Yellow-throated Bulbul at Rishi Valley
Visiting the same location time and again has been the secret of this year’s winter birding escapades. It’s March but the migrants are still here. Among this week’s surprises was a flock of Garganey, wintering ducks from Europe that I have observed at Kaikondrahalli for the first time Continue reading Winter birding – it isn’t over until it’s over
Though winter has been erratic these last few years, migrants are still seen in Bangalore’s dwindling lakes. At Kaikondrahalli, the sighting of two Northern Pintail drakes is a cause for celebration, however minor Continue reading Northern Pintails and other finds at Kaikondrahalli Lake
Why go on an expensive safari to watch birds when your backyard is just as well endowed as any forest? Continue reading Balcony Safari – The idle joy of birding
Confusing a mongoose for a fox isn’t an act of uninformed stupidity. It means something is amiss with your Semantic Network Continue reading Outfoxed by a Mongoose in the cognitive maze
That’s no crow. That’s a Crow-billed Drongo. Notice the thick, slightly down-curved bill, very like a crow’s. In every other aspect of behaviour, it’s one hundred percent drongo Continue reading Encounter – The Hair-Crested Drongo
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. Continue reading Encounter – Himalayan Bulbul
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 Continue reading Great Himalayan National Park Trek – Day Zero – Warming up