• Kerala Pelagic Trip (Sept 2011)Jan 10, 2012 2011 was mostly about birdwatching in the Arabian sea for me. It all started with a recce trip in the Mulki(Mangalore) coast in January followed by a planned West Coast Pelagic trip from Mulki and Kannur(kerala) in April and then the recent trip from Kannur in September. All pelagic trips in Kerala is organised by the Malabar Natural History Society in association with the fisheries department. It didn't take me much time to decide when I saw the email. Sept 24th and 25th were the dates. The ... more
  • Skipper (Butterfly)Nov 19, 2011 It had rained the previous day and Gubbalala lake looked beautiful. While walking along the lake with the primary purpose of watching birds, we kept looking for other forms of life too. Somewhere along the trail, we saw this butterfly. Yes, you heard it right - a butterfly which belongs to the family of Hesperioidea. Skippers are very different from the other types of butterflies. Their wings are never completely closed and their fly very fast. What you see in the photograph above is the ... more
  • Through the dentNov 5, 2011 Ashwini and I were just heading back after spending a day at the Nameri Wildlife Sanctuary. It was getting dark and we had to cross the Jai Bhoreli river. As we were walking past the forest guard quarters, we saw a guard looking through the window. There was something cryptic in his expression. There was a dent in one of the grills which the other guards told us that it was caused by an elephant. I always remember this picture when I think of ... more
  • A concert to rememberOct 24, 2011 After a long time, I felt like going and looking for concerts to attend. A quick check on the Gayana Samaja website told me that there was going be a jugalbandi performance by Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Mysore Manjunath on Sunday, Oct 23rd. And it was an amazing performance with two amazing percussionists. I just found myself completely lost in their music for the 2hrs they performed. ... more
  • Running my first full marathonSep 30, 2011 No. of Participants 1037 My bib num 3023 Race Start Time 6.45AM Finally, I completed my first full marathon on Sept 18th,2011. This was at the Kaveri Trail Marathon in Srirangapatna, Mysore along the cauvery canal. This is the third time I am participating in that marathon, the last two times being 10K and half ... more
  • Wild flowers and orchidsAug 25, 2011 The arrival of the monsoon also brings the blooming of wild flowers. While I walked on a relatively undisturbed patch to and look at these wildflowers and orchids, I was just amazed by their beauty. I spent a lot of time watching them trying to get a close look at them. They are so beautiful. There were buds, fresh flowers, withered flowers, bees feeding on the flowers and I could just sit and watch them all day. Commelina forskalaei Dodonaea viscosa Cyanotis Habenaria ... more
  • Freshwater JellyfishAug 15, 2011 I have always heard about Jellyfishes being poisonous. But the one found in the rivers are apparently not. They looked like little circular white structures with tentacles. There were all sorts of problems trying to photograph them since they are constantly on the move. But in the night, it got better. With soft torch light, they looked really beautiful. Infact, they really looked like moving around in space. Freshwater ... more
  • Persian ShearwaterAug 12, 2011 Persian Shearwater was another lifer sighting during my West Coast Pelagic Survey last April. They would come in good numbers and land on the water to feed on fish. As the name suggests, they would just cut across the water with their long wings while taking off and that was something which I enjoyed a lot. In most places, we saw a good number of these birds. I could just watch them shearing for days :-) Persian ... more
  • The tides come and goAug 9, 2011 Walking along the beach is so relaxing and peaceful. The tides come and go, watching the crabs digging holes, birds flying around and the cool breeze is something I keep looking forward to when I am in a land of beaches. Whattay life ... more
  • Bridled TernAug 8, 2011 This was the most sighted bird during our pelagic trip in the Arabian Sea in April this year. It was lovely to see them in large numbers and also see them fishing. They would just hover a little above the water and fish. At time, they cam quite close to the boat. Actually fishing boats are an important source of food for these birds in the sea. When fishermen just throw away the unwanted fish back into the sea, these birds come and feed on them. For me, this was the first time I was seeing this ... more
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