Notes from a Mountain Hamlet – Part 2

Continued from part 1 26 Feb 2013, Lava The next day our plan to to go Chaudaferi didn’t materialise. A bunch of people were trekking through the trail, and Joseph thought it might hamper our birding exercise. So I spent the day  outside the Forest Department’s Guest House: a colonial structure whose garden attracted birds […]

Notes from a Mountain Hamlet Part 1

23 February 2013 “We are building a Church.” Joseph Lepcha said and shook my hand. “Sorry I hope you didn’t have to wait for too long!” he continued. I dismissed his apprehension. I stood in the small living room and was trying to make sense of the place which was going to be my home […]

Gharwal Diaries -2

27th October 2010. Night. Around 2200 hours. Khirsu. The jeep fell silent after a rancorous cough. My ears are still ringing. The forest rest house (FRH) was tucked away atop an incline. 1800 m above sea level. The crickets and the eight of us are the only ones making noise. The chowkidhar turned up after […]

Kabini: Wilder Waters – 1

The tusker charged at our jeep. Initially I thought ‘mock charge, ha ha’ and started clicking away on my Nikon D90. And then it struck to me that only the ‘aunties’, female elephants that take care of the babies, mock. This tusker meant what he was trying to do: smash us to pieces. Our driver, […]

Observations of an Amateur Bird Photographer

I had posted this on India Nature Watch long time back… It is the journey. Not the destination. I used to go to Hebbal lake to photograph birds. What’s the big deal? Only, I was armed with my mighty Nikkor 18-70 MM and I used to wonder ‘Why in the god’s name do the Pelicans […]

Scaly Breasted Munia

The Great Himalayan Bird Count 2008

Prateek posted this on the BNG Birds Yahoo Mailing List. If you are a birder, you wouldn’t want to miss this: The Great Himalayan Bird Count, Winter of 2008 is planned on the most popular trekking trails situated in the valleys of Yamuna; Bhagirithi; Bhilingna; Ganga; Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers in Garhwal. – The Bird […]

Oriental Magpie Robin

On an overcast day in Siddhapur, Coorg, I was sitting around lamenting over the weather and bad light and this angel swung by to make my day. Did I grab the opportunity and make the most of it? No. Chromatic aberration screwed the pic.

More Birds of Chennai

Went birding in Adyar Poonga again and I am still amazed that I found such a rich variety of birds, bang in the middle of the city. Rose Ringed Parakeet Shikra See more pics from Adyra Poonga

White Cheeked Barbet

Got this guy in Cubbon Park. This is actually a very common bird. Every time you hear ‘coottrrrr-coottrrrr’ from atop a tree nearby, yeah, it is him making that heart-wrenching call.