Not the cuddliest tiger around but certainly the safest to introduce your kids to, this one is best chased with a camera on a sunny spring morning. If your intentions are evil, back off or you’ll be left with a … Continue reading No teeth, no claws, but very much a Tiger!
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 set out early in the morning from Dandeli’s Kulgi Nature Camp for a safari. Safaris are always dubious deals – at the outset you are force-fed the disclaimer that every sighting banks on “good luck”, which is thereafter effectively neutralised by the grunting and gnashing diesel vehicle that ferries you … Continue reading All’s not well in the bat-cave
With the menacing looks and businesslike patience of an assassin, the Robber Fly captures its prey on the wing Continue reading Encounter: Robber Fly, raptor of the insect world
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 known as Flamboyant and Royal Poinciana. The glory of red! All year, Gulmohar trees stay evergreen, providing ample shade with a thick canopy of branches that spread out in all directions like umbrellas. Though they do not grow very tall, their spreading canopies makes them ideal avenue trees. A variant … Continue reading Encounter: The darling buds of May
Is that a drongo? Or a cuckoo? Or a bit of both? Meet the Fork-tailed Drongo-cuckoo Continue reading Encounter: Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo
A fig tree in fruit is a forest in itself: every creature in the vicinity is attracted to the sprawling canopy to eat the ripe red fruits, or the fruit-eaters. Sadly, these lovely fig trees are disappearing with our appetite for wider roads Continue reading Tree or no tree, who gives a fig?
Watching a great bird in flight is an experience both meditative and educational A Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) rises slowly on a thermal — an updraft of warm air rising up from the sun-warmed earth — above the dense forests in a … Continue reading On the wing – Himalayan Griffon in flight
Antlions are far more menacing as larvae: their pits are death traps for ants and small insects and can offer kids many hours of macabre entertainment Continue reading Encounter – Antlions and the pit of death
Half-mouse and half-hare is the Royle’s Pika. One of the most adorable mammals in the Himalaya Continue reading Encounter – Royle’s Pika
I was drawn to the massif gleaming in the horizon as it towered over the lesser ranges in the foreground Chaukhamba (right) from Bedni Bugyal. The peak next to it is Shivling (near Gangotri). Photo: Sahastrarashmi (2002) In September 2009, Sahastra and I took a train from Delhi to Haridwar and ventured on our second trip together to the Himalayas. On the first leg we aimed to explore the trail to Tungnath, one of the five sacred shrines dedicated to Shiva (known as the Panch Kedar). We began by taking the trail to Deoria Tal from Ukhimath, a hillside town … Continue reading Chaukhamba, the four-pronged mountain of Garhwal
The Baobab trees of Pondicherry were lost in time and rediscovered in the 13-acre forest patch inside the now defunct Swadeshi Cotton Mill Complex Continue reading Encounter – Monsieur Baobab
The Chinkara or Indian Gazelle (Gazella bennettii), more of a newsmaker for its association with a trigger-happy Salman Khan, is a sight to behold in the arid wilderness of Rajasthan and Kutch Continue reading Encounter: Chinkara or Indian Gazelle
The Indian Desert Jird, a diurnal rodent, lives in huge colonies and is a great food source for desert cats, jungle cats, jackals, mongooses and raptors. Continue reading Encounter: The Indian Desert Jird
All right, shoot me. I have never had any luck with the Black Francolin. Continue reading Encounter – Black Francolin
If Ram Gopal Varma had imagination, he’d make a movie on insectivorous Pitcher plants. One helluva motion picture, that’d be Continue reading Encounter: The insectivorous Pitcher Plant