FramesOfNature

An Unbelievable Encounter in Bhutan

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Nature, inherently is quite unpredictable. She has her own way of doing things, on her own timeline. She doesn’t have to worry about the fact that you have traveled far to watch a particular animal to appear at a particular moment, that you have been waiting for hours for a particular natural phenomena to occur or that you have been doing the waiting for a few days in a row. If things have to happen, they happen, else not. It is that plain and simple.

However, in all her unpredictability, Nature has those sprinkled, elements of surprises that bring us immeasurable amount of joy.

The below story is about one such moment in time.

We were in Bhutan on a bird photography trip, this past December of 2025. We had covered the wonderful locations of Thimphu, Punakha, Glephu and Tingtibi. Our next stop was Bumthang which was to be a long drive from Tingtibi, close to 5 hours, give or take.

After a great morning session of birding in Tingtibi, we were all tired. We would have dozed away but the roads kept us up. Long, winding and completely broken up roads (landslide prone areas) and on top of that road construction work was underway (inevitable though, monsoon here can be quite relentless and merciless).

(SideNote: Tingitibi is a magnificent birding location with amazing diverisity, a must visit. More on that in a later post perhaps)

Just as we finished passing all the open cliffs and the valleys and entered a wooded patch, our guide, the inimitable Phub Dorji, suddenly stopped the vehicle. To our left and pretty close was sitting a beautiful Owl, the Asian barred owlet.

This one was quite a bold individual and wasn’t fazed by our presence one bit. It was mid day by then and the light had become quite harsh. But we still managed some decent shots and moved on.

Asian barred Owlet

The talk about where to stop for lunch was starting up. We went past a small settlment and suddenly we noticed something moving by the side of the road, to our left. Whatever that animal was, seemed like it had just crossed the road from the other side.

I jumped up saying that it looked like a cat. As our vehicle was coming to a stop, I quickly picked up my camera and tried to capture a few shots through the windshield. Hardly any luck there, with the vehicle movement and having to focus through the thick windshield.

Though blurry, the images revealed what we had just seen. It was a Leopard Cat !!

I just couldn’t believe it. A Leopard cat!, in Bhutan and that too in the middle of the day!! OMG! That was just mindboggling!

The cat quickly scurried away into the bushes. As has been my experience with cats in general and these lesser cats in particular, they just don’t give too much time. I had resigned to the fact that, that was all the chance we would get with this leopard cat.

Just as we started moving, a tiny movement in the bushes caught my eye. It was the Leopard cat. Seemed like it had not gone too far. We turned our vehicle off and waited.

A shortwhile of wait and the cat cautiously comes out. The curious cat that it was, it moved around a bit and stood there watching us.

By then, I had very slowly and as sliently as possible opened the huge sliding door of our vehicle.

This leopard cat seemed to have something more important on its mind and chose not to mind us or in fact, completely ignore us. That was totally mad!

It was a lovely setting too, the cat surrounded by all the beautiful purple flowers.

The cat then moved away and ahead of our vehicle, all the while keeping close to the bushes. Thats when, very carefully and crouching, I got down from our vehicle and sat down on the road below. My friend Surya who was also with me, did the same too.

Here’s us, on the road 😃

Me, below, wondering whether all that was happening was for real ?? !! 😇

The leopard cat took its time and came out towards the road and enthralled us by posing for us, literally.

After a quick couple of pauses to look back at us, the Leopard cat finally decided that it was time to go and darted back like a lightning bolt into the thickets from whence it came.

That was a truly unbelievable encounter for me. Leopard cat giving so much time, posing for us and that too at mid-day. I was getting high purely from the complete surge of adrenaline in my body, flabbergasted to say the least!. Moments & memories that will be etched in all our minds for a long time to come.

Hope you enjoyed the post. Please do share your thoughts by dropping in a comment below.

See you on the next one.

Ranganathittu - A quick weekend getaway

Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Ranganathittu, a beautiful bird sanctuary, en-route Mysore, is a birder’s, a bird photographer’s and any nature enthusiast’s paradise. Being very easible accessible from Bangalore, this place is ideal for a quick weekend getaway.

I used to be a regular at Ranganathittu many years back. Somehow, over the recent past, this place had fallen off my radar! It is not that I had grown out of the place or anything of that sort, just that, amidst the melee of many other things, a plan to visit Ranganathittu never materialised.

A look back at a couple of images from my last trip there, back in 2016! Yes, it had been that long 😅

Black-capped night heron (Juvenile)

Muggers...

Spot-billed Pelican

For sometime now, I had been quite intrigued by the camera gear from the OM system (formerly Olympus), a MFT (Micro Four Thirds) sensor based mirrorless system. I was drawn by the gear’s rugged build quality, compact profile and light weight. I was looking forward to an opportunity to try them out.

Finally got my hands on one in December of 2025.

[Thanks Ravindra & Gokul from OM for all the support]

With OM in hand, I was thinking about a place to visit to test it out and Ranganathittu hit my mind. My good friend Nagesh Murthy sir, agreed to accompany me as well and the plan was in place.

Note: This post is going to be more about my experience of using the new camera system and a look at the results. Detailed review of the gear will be out soon.

The combination that I picked up was the OM1 Mark2 camera body and the M.Zuiko 300mm f/4 IS Pro lens. First time I held this combo, I was amazed at how compact and light it was! Being MFT, the effective focal length of this 300mm lens in Full Frame terms would be 600mm ( basically 2x ). 600mm reach in such a package!, was a big win in my mind.

We landed up at Ranganathittu as early birds do, well ahead of time. While waiting for the ticket counters to open, I suddenly noticed a quick movement among the thickets close to the parking area. It was December, cloudy and early in the morning too, light was still quite low.

From the movement, it was clear in my mind that it was a cat. However my mind was all on leopards, that would be something, greed, I agree 😃

The animal quickly disappeared into the bushes. From a quick estimate of the size that I could gather, I thought a leopard cub perhaps 😉

Slowly moved ahead to notice that it was a cat for sure, but a house cat which had just caught something. A cat, nevertheless, I can take it 😃

OM did a great job with the ISO handling too, This was at ISO 2000 and am quite happy with the results. I was a bit hesitant to go beyond that, but in retrospect I feel that my concern was unwarranted. OM does handle high ISOs pretty well if you know what you are doing and get your basics right.

The ticket counters were open by then and we got in.

Waiting at the deck for our boat to be ready, we noticed that the Spot-billed Pelicans were already up and about.

Couple of Pelicans were scooping up water too. Though I realised that this time of the year was more of an early nesting time for the birds and they were all busy collecting material to build their nests.

With no chicks yet to demand water to drink and the weather being cold as well, the scooping action wasn’t there as much as one would otherwise see in Ranganathittu. I presume there would be more later in the day perhaps, as things get much warmer.

The OM1 Mark2 was fabulous in bird-eye tracking. We hadn’t yet started our boat ride, was still early in the morning and light was low as yet.

Paired with the 300mm prime lens, the focus grabbing was pretty instantaneous and the tracking was spot on. Nearly every image in the sequence was tack sharp. Big thumbs up there for sure. Once again, the ISO handling was good as well.

And being lightweight, the combo caters very well to hand-held shooting, very helpful for tracking birds in flight.

We got on our boat and headed on.

Ranganathittu is truly an amazing place. Lovely, serene ambience, peaceful boat rides and plentiful bird activity around, create wonderful photography opportunities. Damn! how much I missed this place!, should have visited more often.

[A tip: Choose a photography specific boat ride, slightly more expensive than a regular one, but well worth it. And if you can be there on a weekday, even better with lesser crowd]

Pelicans were quite busy landing on the water, collecting fallen tree branches/twigs to carry back and construct their nests.

What massive birds these Pelicans are!

Eurasian Spoonbills were busy with their morning ablutions, having a quick bath and a drink.

Squabbling at times too…, what wonderful hairdo, right 😅

As we moved on, we came by the regular residents of Ranganathittu.

Pied Kingfisher

Indian Thicknee

White-browed wagtail and the Mugger (fresh water crocodile)

OM definitely handles very well in constricted spaces like a boat. It is easy to manoeuvre owing to its compact form factor and lighter weight. I loved that.

I never got tired of hand-holding this all through the boat ride and was able to get to lower or higher positions as needed without any qualms by leveraging the tilting LCD and wonderful Live View shooting.

Back to the Pelicans. Had a wonderful time with these birds. Wonderful opportunities of them in action.

Some lovely portraits and close ups too…

It wasn’t just the Pelicans which were busy collecting nesting material, Cormorants weren’t to be left behind…

Have to say that I had a wonderful time at Ranganathittu with the OM gear. To be honest, going in, I was a bit skeptical about the quality of the results that might come out of the OM camera combo when compared to a Full Frame. After using it though, I have to admit that I was completely wrong about my trepidations.

Fantastic, tack sharp results. Wonderful handling, so compact and light weight. For a person like me who likes to do hand-held shooting most of the time ( I am too lazy to lug around a tripod ), the OM combo worked great. I felt that I could sling it on me and keep going all day without fatigue.

I agree that it is not all positives alone with the OM. There are a few cons, as does any camera system out there. May be will go deeper into them in my detailed review post. No system is perfect, right. It is about knowing the shortcomings and working around them that fetches the best results.

To summarise in one sentence, I loved the OM gear, might have a convert on hand, let’s see 😉

Look forward to trying the OM setup again at a different location soon.

Hope you enjoyed the post. Please do share your thoughts by dropping in a comment below.

See you on the next one.

Butterflies from Costa Rica

Sat, 02 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Let me start with a honest admission, when it comes to my love for Nature and the experience, I can be quite a greedy individual 😀

On my wilderness trips, I always try to imbibe as much of the Nature’s wonders as possible. I do not like to restrict myself to observing and enjoying just 1 or 2 categories of wildlife, like Birds or Mammals for example.

Though a particular trip will have a focus on say Birds or Mammals (which I love ofcourse), I believe that Nature has so much on offer and limiting ourselves would mean that we would be missing out on and be oblivious of so many amazing things transpiring around us.

Experiences, learning and memories can come from the anywhere, predominantly coming from the most unexpected quarters. Hence I try to keep an open mind.

While out and about photographing birds, when I notice a lovely butterfly flutter by, I cannot help but wonder at its beauty and try to capture that as well, in the interest of learning more about it later. On my trails into the jungles, my eyes constantly keep looking at the undergrowth for anything interesting, insects, spiders, frogs, lizards, snakes, fungi, anything at all that would catch my attention.

That is how this post came into being 😀

All right, let’s get to know some of the lovely butterflies that I managed to capture during my recent trip to Costa Rica, Pura Vida!

Just a quick info-bite before we start, the Spanish word for butterfly is ‘Mariposa’, derived from María and posar (“to rest/perch”), literally translating to “Mary who rests”. It symbolizes transformation, beauty, and freedom, as a butterfly truly does!

Let me begin with the butterfly which is tagged as the National Butterfly of Costa Rica, the Blue Morpho.

Blue Morpho (the National Butterfly of Costa Rica)

Now you know why this is called the Blue Morpho, such a beauty!

Mating or courtship perhaps...

Couple of great places to see this butterfly and also observe, learn about its entire lifecycle are the SpirogyrA butterfly garden in San Jose and the La Paz Waterfall Garden

Tiger longwing

Julia heliconian

Tiger longwing

Malachite

Zebra longwing

Competition...

Enticing the partner for courtship..., Tiger longwings

Great Owl Butterfly

The one above, the Great Owl Butterfly is the largest butterfly found in Costa Rica with wingspans ranging from 11 cm to 18 cm.

ID to be determined...

Red postman

An interesting tidbit about why the name, Postman - ‘These butterflies seem to follow the same daily routes to visit specific flower patches, much like a postal worker on a delivery route’.

Another interesting thing about these butterflies is that unlike most butterflies that live for only a few weeks, these can live up to six months. This is due to their rare ability to digest pollen as well as nectar, providing them with essential amino acids, a more protein rich diet!

one of the leafwing butterflies perhaps, from the genus Anaea?...

Another Skipper?, Dorantes longtail perhaps...

Skipper ?...

Orange-spotted tiger clearwing

Next up is a very, very striking butterfly, one that I had been wanting to see for a long time! During the trip to Costa Rica, this species was eluding me for a long time. When, I finally chanced upon it, I was truly elated!

Greta Oto, the glasswing butterfly

As the name gives it away, this butterfly has glass like, completely transparent wings. Can there be anything more exotic ?!

These glasswing butterflies have developed this transparency as a way of camouflage, enabling them to disappear into their surroundings, thus evading predators.

Look how the flowers on the others side are seen through the butterfly’s wings, just amazing!

For many of the exotic miniature creations, the rain forest habitat is full of hungry predators. Some species use ‘aposematism’ - using striking bright colors to signal the prey of their toxicity.

While others use ‘cryptic coloration’, which helps them camouflage in with their surroundings. Their strategies may prove effective, but only if they stay on a matching background.

Glasswings are different. They have some special tricks up their sleeves that help them hide from their predators in the dense rain forest.

These evolved acts include having an anti-glare and nano pillar coating that alerts the predators and the “glass panes” that give them the transparent effect; thus allowing them to blend in with the background.

How cool is that! Wouldn’t we all love to have the ability of becoming invisible ?, am sure there were those moments when we wished for that 😉

Long-tailed Skipper?...

The butterfly in the image below is the one I saw on a bird feeder set up at Laguna Lagarto Lodge, sucking up the juices from the bananas installed there for the birds.

Gray Cracker

While waiting for the lovely Snow-capped hummingbird to show up, noticed a few beautiful butterflies flying about.

Banded peacock

Green-celled Cattleheart (need to be confirmed, but feel that it is one of the Cattleheart butterflies)

Green-celled Cattleheart

ID to be determined...

That was just a little glimpse into the world of butterflies from the tropical rainforests and cloud forests of Costa Rica. There is so much more to explore in that country, hopefully next time 😅

To close, let me leave you with an image of the amazing wing pattern on the Great Owl Butterfly. It is truly mesmerising!!

Wonderful wing pattern of the Great Owl Butterfly

Hope you enjoyed the post. Please do share your thoughts by dropping in a comment below.

See you on the next one.

Costa Rica - Pura Vida

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

“Pura Vida” - a deeply ingrained Costa Rican phrase means “Pure Life”. A philosophy representing a relaxed, positive and grateful approach to life.

It is used as a greeting, farewell, thank you and to mean “everything is good”, embodying the nation’s commitment to happiness, simplicity and a deep connection to nature.

I wouldn’t be far off in saying that we experienced all these emotions on our recent trip to Costa Rica. The trip was relaxed (as relaxed as wildlife trips can be 😉), fun, alongwith ofcourse, a strong connection with nature.

Here’s the customary group pic.

The amazing group...

As I always say, on any trip, the group you travel with matters a lot. What a fun group we were part of! The companions made the trip all the more memorable.

Our guide on this outing was Toni (Antonio Tsay), first from the left in the pic above, a wonderful person and a great friend. His immense knowledge of the various birding hotspots & beautiful locales with good sighting and photographic opportunities were invaluable. If you ever plan a trip to Costa Rica, I wholeheartedly recommend that you travel with Toni. You can reach him here - @tonitsay

Now, lets begin the journey. Just a heads up that this is going to be a long read. It was a long trip and there is so much to cover. If I don’t do so, it wouldn’t be doing justice. I will try to make it as concise as possible. Grab your favourite beverage and read on.

Quick note : All the images below are either phone shots or screenshots of images shot on camera. Haven’t had time to process them yet 😀. Please click on the smaller images in the gallery to view them bigger.

A quick geographical overview. Costa Rica is a small, rainforested country in Central America with coastlines on the Caribbean and Pacific side. It has a population of around 5 million in a land area of around 51,000 sq.km ( compare this to Bangalore, India - which has around 15 million people in a land area of 750 sq.km ), WOW, right !! No wonder Costa Ricans live a fulfilling life, Pura Vida 😅

Costa Rica is a biodiversity hotspot. Costa Rica holds nearly 5% of the world’s estimated biodiversity, with over 500,000 species, including 12,000 plant species, 800 bird species and 650 mammal/reptile/amphibian species. This high concentration is due to its location, bridging North and South America, tropical climate and diverse habitats, such as rainforests, cloud forests, and coral reefs.

As indicated Costa Rica is a birder’s paradise and had been on my list of places to visit for quite sometime. Our journey to San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica began with a flight to Delhi, followed by Delhi to Amsterdam and then from Amsterdam to San Jose. It was a long one for sure, traveling literally to the other side of the world.

Three of us from the group decided to land up in San Jose couple of days before our actual trip start date. We wanted to cover some of the local highlights and must do’s.

First check was at the lovely SpiroGyra Butterfly Garden , a well maintained and very active ecosystem. Here, we got our first exposure to the wonderful wildlife of Costa Rica. We got to see some of the beautiful butterflies like the national butterfly of Costa Rica, the Blue Morpho and one of the largest butterflies in Costa Rica, the Owl butterfly too, among many others.

Next up was a quick day outing to Manuel Antonio National Park.

Enroute breakfast, little did we know that this rice & beans combo, locally called ‘Gallo Pinto’ would become our staple breakfast in the days to come, we being vegetarians and all :-)

We booked ourselves on a local day tour. On reaching Maneul Antonio, we hired a local guide to take us through the park and its wild inhabitants.

Have to say, this was a good decision and we were able to see quite a lot of the local wildlife. Our guide helped us with capturing some images on our phones held close to the viewing scope. The results weren’t bad at all. Our first encounter with the sloths was here too.

Manuel Antonio is also known for its beautiful beaches. By the beach, we came across iguanas, so many of them.

Quite a bit of effort went into getting the shots 😀

We then, bit adieu to Manuel Antonio.

Ending the day with a lovely sunset.

The following day was a trip to the Poas Volcano, an active volcano which had last erupted as recently as in 2019!

It was a amazing experience. The strong sulphur in the air was very evident from quite a distance away. It became stronger and stronger as we got close to the crater of the volcano. I had not expected to see the crater so up close, was taken by surprise when we reached the viewing deck.

Along with the volcano, we covered the tour of a beautiful Coffee estate, Doka and a magnificently curated La Paaz waterfall garden, a vast expanse of private property which has been converted into a complete wilderness experience, with an entire zoo of mammals, birds, a butterfly garden and a muli-level waterfall and more. Was amazing.

Now, it was time for us to wait for the rest of the group to arrive to begin our birding adventure.

Once we had all gathered together, we headed to a lovely bird feeder to get our cameras warmed up and alongside make our first introductions to the birds of Costa Rica. A few tanagers, honeycreepers, woodpeckers and an inquisitive mammal, the Coati showed up to enthral us.

After making some lovely images we headed to our first major stop, Laguna Lagarto Lodge in Boca Tapada.

The Laguna Lagarto Lodge is situated surrounded by a small lagoon. The entire dining area is on an elevated deck surrounded by bird feeders, a true birders/bird photographer’s paradise.

With so much vegetation and water around, the place is unsurprisingly humid. You could feel the humidity in the air. There could be sun at one moment and there could be a heavy downpour the next, no telling, humidity was the constant factor.

The unpredictable weather was the charm of the place. Sitting around, sipping nice coffee and observing a multitude of species come to the feeders and flutter by, it was like birding, imperial style.

Costa Rica is known to have 12 microclimates as Toni kept reminding us. It is something unbelievable until you have experienced it. Within a distance of 10kms, the climate is dramatically different. Heavy rain at one place and you travel for a few kms and you are at a dry and hot location, it was mindboggling really!

We spent good amount of time in and around Boca Tapada. A densely packed itinerary through the day and the night.

Our first exposure to macro photography was there too and also night photography with the long tounged bats. We sat in a hide watching and photographing different vultures like the Black vulture and the King vulture.

The experince observing and photographing the Red-capped manakin was astounding to say the least, what a bird that is!!. It is called the Michael Jackson bird for a reason and it is so accurate. It literally moonwalks on a tree branch as a part of its courtship display!!

The adventure in pouring rain to photograph the Royal flycatcher was something else, man!, my gear hadn’t gotten that wet in a long time!

After Boca Tapada, we headed to Selva Verde in Sarapiqui. Another magnificent lodge built around 500 acres of pristine rainforest, it was more of a rainforest reserve than a lodge I should say, the scale was unimaginable, at least for me. A completely self contained habitat with so much on offer to the avid nature lover to explore and embrace.

The evening we checked into Selva Verde, we spent some time at their bird feeder. Post dinner, a few of us did a quick macro walk in the night to get some lovely frogs which were active around the lodge.

Morning of the next day we went to a nice, little family farm for a bird feeder and hummingbird feeder to catch some good species. Following that we headed to Cope’s place to get the Spectacled Owl and the Honduran white bats, very important targets in our list.

Cope is an amazing naturalist, photographer and a magnificent painter. It was a honor meeting with him and enjoying his company. We also bought a few of his paintings and got it signed by him, was wonderful. We had a great time at his place.

From Cope, we left to catchup with Kenneth for a true world macro photography session, in the real wilderness at night. After a sumptuous and yummy dinner prepared by Kenneth’s mom, we donned our gum boots and headed off with Kenneth. It was an amazing experience.

Post that long day, we headed back to Selva Verde to retire for the night.

Next morning, post breakfast, we packed up and headed towards Cartago to meet one of our main target species of the trip, the Resplendent Quetzal. En-route, we stopped over at a lovely waterfall too.

Our place of stay, the Paraiso Quetzal had a lovely hummingbird feeder deck. We had a good time there. And, ofcourse, we spent good time with the famed Quetzal too, couple of mornings in a row.

All setup early in the morning for the Quetzal…

After good time with the Quetzal, we headed towards the Pacific side to take a boat ride at Tarcoles. Good time with the shore and water birds, closing the day with a lovely sunset over the river.

With the heat getting intense through the day, our customary refreshments were the fresh juice of the Guanabana fruit during lunch and an Ice cream post lunch 😉

Our stay for the night was at Cerro lodge. This place is known across Costa Rica for its Pizza. The Chef, who also happens to own the lodge is a famous Pizza chef, having won many awards across Costa Rica.

We had the pleasure of feasting on one of the best Pizzas that I have ever had, by far!!

Following day, we spent some time at the bird deck in Cerro lodge to catch the Scarlet macaws that were known to visit. We were in luck. The magnificent birds did show up.

Post that session, we headed to meet our birding guide for the day, Alvaro. We got some amazing sightings and photography opportunities of the Fiery-billed Aracari, a few of the Owl species, Scarlet Macaws and Trogons. Alvaro is an amazing individual who is so well versed in the locales and the avian friends that inhabit them. It is like the birds listen to him and respond to his call. We had a very good time with him.

The one with the binocs is Alvaro...

Then, we headed towards the San Ramon area to retire for the night. Early morning was spent at a bird feeder in place that we had stayed. After a quick session at the feeder, we went to a different property looking for the Long-tailed manakin and the Sunbittern.

Soon, it was time for our next priority targets of the trip, the Bellbird and the Snow-capped hummingbird. Though we had to spend a long time waiting for the Bellbird to show up, it was absolutely worth the time. The Bellbird indeed put on a show for us, not one but two of them, males, vocalising and displaying as they usually do. They were wonderful to watch.

We were able to get good photography opportunities of the Snow-capped hummingbird at the Tapir Valley Nature Reserve, in Bijagua. A lovely trail taking us deep into the reserve. We had an encounter with a Tapir too, that was like an icing on the cake.

Our long, adventurous journey was finally heading towards its last leg.

One boat ride at Cano Negro in that intense heat brought forth a consensus from the group about not going for a second boat ride the following morning 😅

Based on discussions, we headed to an estate where they had setup a hide for the White-collared manakin. After spending some time there, we went to see a family of the Spectacled Owl which had been nesting and rearing chicks in a private property since the last 9 years! It was wonderful to watch the entire family of these beautiful owls.

Post that we headed back to San Jose to rest for the night and catch our flights back home the following day thus bringing the curtains down on our oh!, so, WOW! ‘COSTA RICAN ADVENTURE! PURA VIDA!’

Words cannot truly explain the wonderful experience we had! Loads of memories that will be etched in all our minds for a long time to come. Thanks once again to Toni for all the arrangements and guiding us through.

Watch out for more in-detail accounts of my experiences, coming up very soon here.

Hope you enjoyed reading through. Please let me know your thoughts by dropping a comment below. Adios until the next time.

Giant Otters of Pantanal

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Largest member of the Weasel (Mustelid) family, the Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) can grow to a length of 180 cm (including the tail) and can weigh up to 34 kgs.

Giant River Otter

They have a dark brown, water repellent fur with white patches on the chest, neck and throat that are unique to each individual. Their short legs with webbed feet and a long powerful tail help propel them through the water.

Those large eyes and long whiskers aid in detecting prey in the water.

The Giant otters are distributed across the north-central South America where they live mostly in and along the Amazon River and in the Pantanal.

Unlike other Mustelids, Giant Otters are highly social beings, living in family groups of between five and eight individuals, sometimes going up to a 20. The groups are centered on a dominant breeding pair and are extremely cohesive and cooperative.

These family groups consist of a male and female, which mate for life and offspring from previous years. The female has up to five cubs in an underground burrow which stay with their parents until the birth of the next litter or even longer, usually leaving the parents when they are sexually mature at around two years.

These Otters are diurnal (active during the day) and rest in their burrows at night. Feeding is variable depending on seasonal migrations of food supply. They are predominanlty piscivores (prefer to eat fish), but when fish supplies are low they will also hunt crustaceans, small snakes and small caiman.

Giant Otter is also considered the noisiest of all otter species and have distinct vocalizations that indicate alarm, aggression, and reassurance.

These gregarious creatures are hard to miss in the Pantanal. You will invariably come across groups of these Giant Otters mostly swimming around in the river, playing or fishing and occasionally lazying around on the river banks, perhaps after a hearty meal, just getting some sun.

While these otters are out and about, swimming around, there is a high chance that you will get to see them catch a fish and devour it. These otters are master hunters. They keep moving around in small groups amidst the thick Pantanal vegetation, flushing out fish that try to stay hidden.

Giant Otters

Always watchful and aware…

Once the fish is flushed out from its hideout, it is a matter of chance as to which of the otters gets the prize. The one who is lucky grabs the tasty meal with both hands, forelimbs in this case and begins enjoying the treat.

Holding the fish with both their forelimbs, the otter uses its powerful jaws and teeth to carve the fish open to feed.

Tremendous power in them, the sound of crunching bone can be so evidently heard when you observe them feeding!

From a rocking boat, low and close to the water’s surface, it was sheer adrenaline rush watching these magnificent mammals of the Pantanal in action.

Estimates of how many Giant Otters remain in the wild vary between 1,000 and 5,000. Giant Otters suffer many threats albeit being protected throughout their areas of distribution. They have very few predators although cubs may be eaten by caimans and jaguars.

Humans are the largest threat and hunt Giant Otters illegally for their fur and meat or capture them alive for the pet trade. Habitat destruction followed by humans moving into their habitat is believed to have the potential to reduce Giant Otter population by 50 per cent over the next 20 years.

Every effort made towards saving this amazing species is highly imperative. Really hope that their population grows and thrives in the years to come.

Hope you enjoyed the post. Please do share your thoughts by dropping in a comment below.

See you on the next one.

Night life of Kinabatangan

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Kinabatangan (Pekan Kinabatangan, in Malay) is the capital of the Kinabatangan district in the Sandakan division of Sabah, Malaysia.

The lifeline of the place, if I may say so, is the majestic Kinabatangan river. The river, known as Sungai Kinabatangan in Malay is the second longest river in Malaysia, traversing a length of approximately 560 km.

The area around this river is known for its amazing biodiversity providing a wide variety of habitats like the dryland forests, riverine forests, freshwater swamps and salty mangrove forests towards the coast.

Bornean orangutans, Proboscis monkeys, Borneo elephants and Sunda clouded leopards are some of the most remarkable mammals that can be found along the river. There are also many bird species, highlight among them being the 8 different species of hornbills: Black hornbill, Wrinkled hornbill, Bushy-crested hornbill, White-crowned hornbill, Helmeted hornbill, Wreathed hornbill, Rhinoceros hornbill, and the Oriental pied hornbill.

The best way to enjoy observing the rich wildlife in Kinabatangan is by going on a river cruise or more of a safari, really. Every nature enthusiast who visits Borneo would have atleast a couple of river safaris on their itinerary. So, did we.

The forests around Kinabatangan are lively during the day owing to the multitude of different wildlife that thrive there. Not only that, the forests are quite busy during the night as well when the many nocturnal creatures come out of their slumber to get on with their chores.

Hence, along with morning & noon river cruises, there were night safaris available too and we had planned for a couple of the night ones.

On the D-Day or should I say D-Night, our sighting began even before we boarded our boat, right within the property where we were staying. It was the Brown wood owl.

Brown wood owl

Having made some good images of the Brown wood owl, we were on our way into the forest seated on our boat.

Wading through the river in complete darkness, the chill, soothing breeze hitting your face & almost putting you to sleep, the splashing of water left by the wake of the boat being the only sound you hear apart from the crackles of the myriad crickets, frogs and other insects around sounding like a lullaby, as we explore the little creeks looking for any movement is something to be experienced.

Very soon we came by our second owl for the night, the beautiful Buffy fish owl.

Buffy fish owl

Next up was the Large frogmouth, another interesting nocturnal bird. True to its name, it was indeed quite large for a frogmouth, compared to the ones that I have seen in India at least.

Large frogmouth

Our guide Razis soon found some movement on a large fig tree along the river bank. He pointed to it with his spotting light and what we saw was a lovely Civet, the Three-striped palm civet.

The Three-striped palm civet also known as the Small-toothed palm civet (Arctogalidia trivirgata) is an arboreal (tree dwelling), nocturnal mammal.

Three striped palm civet

This civet is widespread, found in dense forests of southeast Asia, from Assam in India to Indochina, the Malay Peninsula and on Sumatra, Bangka, Java, Borneo, and numerous small nearby islands of Indonesia.

Three striped palm civet

The three-striped palm civet is quite elusive albeit having a very good distribution due to its primarily nocturnal and arboreal behaviour. It is said that spotlighting at night at the high canopies is a better method for seeing this than ground-based camera traps.

Three striped palm civet

When the fig trees are fruting, there is indeed a bountiful buffet spread out for the civet to snack on, something colorful & juicy.

Three striped palm civet - Fig bounty

Three striped palm civet - stuffed with a juicy fig

Having spent some good time with the lovely civet, we moved on from there.

Within a short span of time, Razis once again called out pointing at another tree and its dense canopy. With the spotting light moving across the tree, we could see the slow, ambling movement of an animal. It was a loris, another nocturnal mammal, more specifially the Philippine slow loris.

I can’t even begin to fathom how Razis was able to spot it! The loris was completely hidden by the leaves and the branches of the tree, dully colored and pretty much invisible in its setting.

Philippine slow loris

The Philippine slow loris (Nycticebus menagensis) is a primate and a species of slow loris that is native to the north and east coastal areas of the island of Borneo, as well as the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines.

This loris is arboreal, nocturnal and occurs in low numbers, making it difficult to locate. It is also said to be the least studied of Indonesia’s slow lorises. The loris is predominantly insectivorous, also feeding heavily on tree sap.

Quoting some interesting facts that I read about the Slow loris online, few things that took me by surprise really!

(Have mentioned the source at the end of this post for your further reading)

Being a tree dweller, the slow loris has limbs uniquely adapted for this lifestyle. Her hands and feet all have opposable digits that enable her to keep a firm grip at all times.

Her style of locomotion closely resembles crawling; bringing one hand forward as her opposing foot follows. Her pace is slow and her movements methodical.

While other arboreal primates typically swing and leap to cover gaps in the foliage, her own method is far less dramatic, still exceptionally acrobatic!

With only her feet latched to their perch, she reaches toward the next with her entire body, holding herself aloft with incredible balance and poise. When her two hands are wrapped firmly around the target branch, she hoists herself onto it, continuing on her way without skipping a beat.

Philippine slow loris

Some researchers have theorized that a slow loris’s markings have evolved to mimic the form of a cobra. Though in no way a perfect imitation, it is perhaps just close enough to make a predator wary of getting close lest it is a deadly cobra in the end.

Oddly enough, like cobras, a slow loris is venomous. Specialized glands hidden in her underarms secrete a special oil. When this oil mixes with her saliva, a toxin is created.

She may spread the toxin through her fur with her tongue. This not only renders her an unsavory snack for larger predators, but also helps to manage and kill pesky infectious parasites.

If actively under attack, she uses her extremely powerful bite to inject the venom into her attacker. When given, a slow loris bite is powerful enough to send a grown human into anaphylactic shock!

Post the loris, we came by many sleeping Blue-eared kingfishers, Proboscis monkeys, many Fruit bats (the Flying foxes) and a baby salt water crocodile which just dashed into the water at the sight of our boat.

The baby croc was quite shy and didn’t give us much of a chance while the huge adult that we encountered just a shortwhile after was nothing but bold.

The adult croc seemed to be least bit bothered by our boat. It just lay still on the surface of the water for a while before disappearing into the depths.

Saltwater crocodile

These night outings were quite exciting, refreshing and very productive too. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Night life in Kinabatangan is indeed so happening.

By day or by night, there is so much to see and experience. I am sure the mighty Kinabatangan river plays a very crucial role in supporting such amazing diversity.

Hope you enjoyed the post. Please do share your thoughts by dropping in a comment below.

See you on the next one.

[ References on loris for further reading - New England Primate Conservancy ]

Macro Magic from Borneo

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The island of Borneo is one of the largest islands in Southeast Asia. In fact, it is the third largest island in the world. Only Greenland and New Guinea are larger. Its land area is approximately 743,330 sq.km. Borneo has the distinction of being the only island in the world that is shared by three countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.

The southern two thirds of the island is controlled by Indonesia and is known as Kalimantan, which translates as “diamond river”. Two of Malaysia’s states, Sabah (“the land below the wind”) and Sarawak (“antimony”), are situated on the northern coast of Borneo. Borneo is well-known for its rainforests, its multiethnic population, and its abundant natural resources.

Once completely covered by dense tropical jungle, Borneo went through massive scales of deforestation during the 1980s and the 90s owing to intensive logging and diversion of large tracts of forest for oil palm plantations. Albeit this, the tropical forests do exist today as they cling on to survive by a tender thread. The expanse though, is just about a fraction of what existed.

Nevertheless, the forests of Borneo are still among the most biodiverse on the planet. Some of the types of forests in Borneo are the tropical rainforests, mangroves swamp forests, peat swamp forests, montane forests, heath forests and dipterocarp forests.

These physically diverse habitats provide different conditions for different organisms to thrive thus supporting around 15,000 plant species, more than 1400 species of amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, reptiles & unknown varieties of insects.

According to WWF, the island is estimated to have at least 222 species of mammals (44 of which are endemic), 420 resident birds (37 endemic), 100 amphibians, 394 fish (19 endemic), and 15,000 plants (6,000 endemic) — more than 400 of which have been discovered since 1994. Surveys have found more than 700 species of trees in a 10 hectare plot — a number equal to the total number of trees in Canada and the United States combined.

-WWF

Borneo had been sitting on my list of places to visit for a long time. It finally came to fruition early this month.

Having got back from an amazing trip, I do have a lot of experiences and images to share 😃. This post is an attempt of mine at showcasing my first contact, my first experience with the legendary rainforests of Borneo and a few of its denizens. Most definitely, this is but just a tip of the iceberg.

First off, a big shout out & thank you to our amazing guides, turned good friends, Razis and Nisha. They run “RN Empire Travel & Tours” out of Sandakan, Malaysia. They are very good at what they do. The entire tour was so exceptionally well managed that I wouldn’t be far off saying that this trip to Borneo ranks very high among the best experiences that I have had so far. And, I have traveled quite a bit, so trust me when I am saying so 😃. If you ever want to travel to Malaysia, be it wildlife or otherwise, please get in touch with them.

Though this trip to Borneo was predominantly focused on birds, having ventured that far, we had to try and soak in as much of the biodiversity on offer as possible. Hence the reason to include a couple of sessions dedicated to exploring the lesser fauna of the Bornean rainforests.

In a tropical rainforest, there is life every step of the way, right from high up in the canopies to the dense undergrowth on the forest floor. In fact, the undergrowth supports a huge diversity of creatures that are otherwise hidden from the eyes of a casual observer, secreted on the tall tree barks or among the leaf litter. Once you start observing keenly, things begin to unravel.

Our first exploration was a night walk at the Kinabalu National Park. A beautiful high elevation rainforest, very reminescent of our own Western Ghats.

As we set out on a chilly night there was a bit of a drizzle here and there but nothing overly concerning. A local forest Ranger had accompanied us on the trail. The night walk began with a bang!

First sighting was that of a beautiful pit viper, the Kinabalu brown pit viper.

Kinabalu brown pit viper

After having our fill of some good images of the pit viper, we moved on and came by many frog species. Horned frogs among them were the highlight. Such unique extensions above their eyes akin to horn like structures. There are many species of horned frogs in Borneo.

Some of the lovely frogs that we could photograph :

Mountain litter frog

Kinabalu torrent frog

Kinabalu sticky frog

Kobayashi's horned frog

Kinabalu horned frog

Kobayashi's horned frog

We came across another beautiful snake called the ‘Steubing slug snake`, a snake that feeds on slugs. These non-venomous snakes have specialized fangs on their lower jaw to extract snails from their shells. Wonderfully colored and patterned.

Steubing slug snake

We were coming to the end of our walk. It was a pretty productive one for sure. As we were heading back and were close to boarding our vehicle, the Ranger called out in sheer excitement saying that he had found another snake. Our guide Razis was super excited too.

The snake that we were looking at was a Krait, the Red-headed Krait!! What a catch that was! Brilliantly colored for a krait I would say. At first glance, I thought it was some kind of a coral snake. Lovely individual. Both Razis and the Ranger were saying that this one was very special & quite rare to come by. They themselves hadn’t seen one in a long time.

Red headed krait

After that very happening night exploration we went back to our rooms, to check for any leeches, wash up and hit the sack.

The next night’s walk was going to be at another place called the Poring Hot Springs. It is a large tract of private forest.

We were all set to head out and the rain started to come down, was quite relentless showing no signs of abating at all. It was to be a true tropical rainforest experience this time around. Pretty apt to the name of the place, Poring, it was pouring indeed.

Albeit the rain, the walk was quite fruitful. Life just thrives in the undergrowth, such amazing diversity. We got to see some lovely frogs, lizards, geckos, sleeping birds, a snake too, high up in the canopy. We also got one very interesting toad.

Some images that I could manage :

Green-spotted foot-flagging frog

Malaysian cat gecko

Borneo anglehead lizard

Borneo anglehead lizard - a creative take of the spiny back

A colorful toad

The highlight of the trail was the lovely bio-luminescent mushrooms. The kind of mushrooms that glow in the dark, a process referred to as bio-luminescence. Thanks to Razis for identifying them. With all our torches turned off, in complete darkness, we could see the lovely, iridescent green glow emanating from the mushrooms. Nature’s magical wonder!

Without proper gear it was going to be a tough task to capture images of them. I tried my best to steady myself against a fallen log and managed a couple of images, all in pouring rain which was making things all the more difficult.

Bio-luminescent mushrooms

However, as you might have guessed, I wasn’t completely satisfied :-) My mind was racing about a possibility of coming back here the next night to capture this beauty in its truest sense. With the support of Razis, we worked out a plan to come down the following night. It seemed like a far fetched idea looking at the heavy downpour that we had just experienced. But, we decided to take a chance.

The next night, we landed up at Poring Hot Springs praying to the heavens. Luck seemed to be with us. A light drizzle at times but no downpour, nothing close to what we experienced the previous night there. The skies were pretty calm :-)

We reached the spot of the mushrooms and took our time making some nice images. Nothing can match the wonder of Nature, the sheer magnificence of her creation.

Bio-luminescent mushrooms

Though it was just a few sessions for the lesser fauna that we could squeeze into our itinerary, the sessions were so highly engaging & bountiful. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and also the process of sharing the same with you via this post.

Hope you enjoyed reading through as well. Please do share your thoughts by dropping in a comment below.

See you on the next one.

Hampi Diaries

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hampi is a town located in the eastern part of central Karnataka along the Tungabhadra river. It was the capital of the erstwhile Vijayanagar empire and played a very signficant role for close to two centuries.

Hampi is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. The unearthed ruins at Hampi serve as a testament to the exemplary skill, exceptional planning and amazing grandeur of those times. A place that was very prosperous, wealthy and a major trading hub attracting people from far and beyond.

Hampi-Vijayanagara is estimated to be the world’s second-largest city by 1500 CE, after Beijing and probably India’s richest at that time, attracting traders from Persia and Portugal.

-Wikipedia

Hampi has been fascinating me ever since I first visited the place back in 2015. Post that, I have had multiple opportunties to visit the place and have had some amazing encounters and experiences that are etched in my memory. Hampi still has its calling for me. There is so much more of the place that I am yet to revel in.

This post is an attempt of mine at showcasing the inimitable beauty of the place and a few of its wonderful denizens (the wildlife).

First off, a big thank you to my friend good friend and guide, Pompayya Malemath, for his unlimited energy and support during all my travels there. Pompayya is more like one in my family. His place, a beautiful Eco farm, where I stay everytime I visit Hampi is a little oasis amidst the vast expanse of the rocky outcrop.

Disclaimer: Have to confess that during my many visits to Hampi my focus has been predominantly on Wildlife, more specifically, Birding. Hence, you might notice that this post is quite heavy on bird images. Haven’t been able to spend the required amount of time on the other aspects for which Hampi has a lot to offer, namely, landscapes, architecture, people & culture. May be sometime in the future 😃

Some Landscapes

The very unique rocky landscape dotted with rivers, streams and lakes make for some wonderful imagery.

The temples and the ruins take you back in time…

A different take of the Virupaksha Gopura viewed from inside the temple.

View of the Virupaksha temple from atop the Mathanga hill at dawn...

Lit up for the Independence Day

Togetherness at sunrise atop the Mathanga hill

Hampi is well known for its amazing sunrise and sunsets. It is almost a ritual for everyone visiting Hampi to be at any of the multitude of spots to enjoy a mesmerizing sight. Mathanga and Hemakoota hills are few of the crowd favourites.

Sunrise from the Mathanga hill

Sunset from the Hemakoota hill

Magical colors of twilight...

Every once in a while the sunsets turn out to be magical and dramatic with some amazing play of colors in the sky. I got very lucky on one such instance. A canvas splashed across with a motley of hues by the setting sun.

Across the Kamalapura canal...

By the University lake...

Evenings are a great time to catch people in action too, an opportunity to make some lovely images.

Harvesting Ground nuts...

Wildlife

Hampi is very rich in its biodiversity as well. It’s rocky hills, scrub jungle, mighty Tungabhadra river, lakes, irrigation canals and fertile farmlands are home to more than 230 species of resident and migratory birds – making it a great birding destination. It has also been recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA).

Apart from the wonderful avian life, Hampi and the adjoining Daroji Wildlife Sanctuary is home a wide variety of mammals namely, the Sloth bears, Jackals and Leopards too.

Birds

Starting with the unmissable candidates, the Asian Koel and the Indian Peafowl.

Asian Koel (male)

Dramatic colors on a peacock

Ashy-crowned sparrow lark with its chick

White-breasted waterhen

Rufous-tailed lark

Common hoopoe

The unmistakable calls of the Grey francolins echo through the rocky and scrubby terrain.

Grey francolins

Painted spurfowls are one of the flagship species of Hampi. Beautiful birds that move around in pairs. You have a lovely couple in the image below.

Painted spurfowl couple...(male on the left)

Close up of the Painted spurfowl male...

Yellow-eyed babbler having a refreshing bath...

Quails & Sandgrouses thrive in the habitat. Painted Sandgrouse is another of the flagship species of Hampi.

Barred button quail

Painted sandgrouse

Chestnut-bellied sandgrouse

Coppersmith barbet enjoying a juicy fig

Yellow-throated bulbuls are also a highlight of Hampi, mostly sighted around the rocky ruins.

Yellow-throated bulblul

Red avadavat (Red munia)

The scrub jungle and the rocky embankments along the Tungabhdra canals are home to the majestic Indian Eagle Owls, the Indian Nightjars among many others.

Indian Eagle Owl

Indian nightjar

A short drive away from Hampi lies the Magadi lake which attracts the beautiful and the high-flying migratory birds, the Bar-headed geese. Every year, these amazing birds descend to the place in thousands, nothing short of a true spectacle.

Little Grebe

Bar-headed goose

Water dancer...

Bar-headed geese, a spectacle indeed...

Reptiles

Diverse reptilian life also thrive in this scrubby, dry landscape.

Monitor lizard

Indian Chameleon

The eyes of a chameleon (able to rotate individually!)

Checkered keelback

Large-eyed bronzeback tree snake

Mammals

A wide variety of mammalian life call Hampi and the surrounding jungle their home.

Smooth-coated otters

Sloth bear (mom with her cubs on a piggyback)

Leave you with a few images of the omnipresent characters of Hampi, the Bonnet Macaques & the Gray Langurs.

Hampi has so many dimensions to it, catering to Architecture & History lovers, Landscape photography enthusiasts, those interested in People & Culture and no less, those passionate about Wildlife & Wildife photography.

Hampi should definitely be high on your list of places to visit. Plan your next trip there 😃

You can find more of my Hampi posts here - Posts from Hampi

Hope you enjoyed reading through. Please do share your thoughts by dropping in a comment below. See you on the next one.

Andaman Diaries

Sun, 12 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The archipelago of Andaman & Nicobar comprises of 572 islands of which 37 are inhabited. Made up of two island groups, the Andaman Islands to the North and the Nicobar Islands to the South, these islands have a tropical rainforest canopy and are very rich in bio-diversity.

Over 2200 varieties of plants have been recorded across the islands out of which 200 are endemic (found nowhere else in the world) and 1300 of them do not occur in mainland India.

View from the flight as you land into Port Blair

The Andaman & Nicobar islands are one of the 218 Endemic Bird Areas of the world as identified by Birdlife International. There are close to 270 species of birds found across the Andaman islands of which more than 30 species are endemic to the islands.

Also, every once in a while, some vagrants land up on one of the islands, like the Mandarin duck which was spotted in Little Andaman very recently. In short, birding in Andaman is a must do for any bird lover.

Add to that the lovely beaches, the serene landscape, the ship rides between islands, all make for a wonderful and a wholesome experience for any nature enthusiast.

There is a lot of historical significance associated with the Andaman & Nicobar islands as well. Many of these historical sites have been turned into amazing tourist destinations. The islands around the capital, that is Port Blair, namely the Ross island, Havelock Island, Neil Island and many others offer a lot of activities for the regular tourists.

The Cellular Jail

The beautiful Radhanagar beach in Havelock

The turquoise waters of Radhanagar beach

A private strip of beach in Havelock

And so on… There are a lot of activites to keep the tourists occupied.

Now, getting back to my post 😃

Here, I will be primarily focusing on the amazing bio-diversity and the natural wonders that Andamans has to offer.

Before I begin, use this opportunity to share my gratitude and appreciation to my good friend and guide, Vikram Shill, for all his support.

Here goes my attempt at giving you a glimpse into the Andamans.

Port Blair, the capital city of Andaman & Nicobar, has many birding hotspots. One among them is Chidiya tapu. True to its name, which translates to ‘Bird Island’, this place is a haven for birds. The Bilogical park at Chidiya tapu is a great place for birding.

Chidiya tapu is also favoured by a lot of tourists as a sunset destination, offering amazing views of the sunset over a beautiful lake.

Chidiyatapu sunset

Spending a couple of days around Port Blair can yield you a good number of species, many endemics included.

White-headed starlings

Long-tailed parakeet

Andaman teal

Andaman woodpecker

Andaman cuckooshrike

Andaman coucal

Andaman treepie

White-breasted wood swallow

Watercock

Asian fairy bluebird

Collared kingfishers

Stork-billed kingfisher

Ruddy kingfisher

White bellied sea eagle with a kill

Birding doesn’t end with sundown. That is the time to catch the nocturnal species, the nightjars and the owls before they get on with their daily (or should I say nightly) chores.

Andaman nightjar

Walden's scops owl

Andaman hawk owl

Andaman scops owl

Hume's hawk owl

After a good time at Port Blair, the next destination would be the beautiful island of Little Andaman.

Little Andaman is an 8-10 hr travel by ship from Port Blair and is totally worth the time. Hutbay, the capital of Little Andaman is the port of entry to the island. I just love going there for the true rustic experience that I get. A laid back place with little or no crowd whatsoever, great beaches and lovely birding trails too.

The birding trails run through pristine rainforests interspersed with thick mangroves along the beautiful, white-sandy beaches - sheer bliss to say the least. Thick undergrowth and high canopies do make for challenging and limited photographic opportunties, however the experience is highly memorable.

Andaman cuckoo dove

Nicobar pigeon

Andaman masked owls (Andaman barn owls)

Sometimes rarities too give amazing image making opportunties…

Beach thick-knee with a crab catch

And at other times, vagrants (birds which are not regular to the place or are very, very rarely recorded from the place) show up in Little Andaman. I got lucky one time when I got to see this beautiful bird which had landed up in Little Andaman.

Mandarin duck

Breaking away from birding, there is always time to enjoy the magical beauty of the landscapes, crafted by the changing tides.

A beautiful sunrise in Little Andaman

A quiet day in Andaman...

One of the trails in Little Andaman...

A beautiful pond in Little Andaman...

A foggy morning in Port Blair

Nature's art by the beach...

The trails also reveal a lot of interesting creatures apart from birds.

One of the Calotes lizards

Leaf insect

Lantern bug

Andaman day gecko (Emerald gecko)

Andaman keelback

Art by a crab...

The art and the creator, you see a tiny crab poking out of its burrow...

Little Andaman is so blissfully silent and pollution free with inky-black skies at night that one would be amiss to not enjoy the view of the amazing star-studded night skies and also give a shot at some night-sky photography.

A place called Kalapathar in Little Andaman

Along a birding trail, we went back to at night...

A short timelapse..

Sitting by the beach and endeavouring in night-sky photography is not always uneventful. Curious creatures came around to perhaps have a look at what we were sitting and doing in complete darkness.

Hermit crab ….

Then, came the Yellow-lipped sea krait, OMG!, was our reaction and we had to thank our stars. This is perhaps one of the most venomous of snakes in the world.

The ship ride from Port Blair to Little Andaman and back, is a wonderful experience too. Along the journey, one can encounter the Bottle-nosed dolphins. Sometimes a pod of these dolphins could come swimming up close to the ship.

Bottle-nosed dolphin

We also get to see plenty of those amazing flying fish, which, so skilfully skim over the water’s surface in multiple hops before disappearing into the depths.

Flying fish...

The islands of Andaman & Nicobar is a treasure trove for a nature lover and should be high on the list of places to visit. Plan your next trip there 😃

Hope you enjoyed the post. See you on the next one.

Sundarbans - Jungle's day off

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Sundarbans was the place we (a small group of family friends) had zeroed in on, for a quick year-end jaunt. All the plans set in motion, we finally landed up there.

Like all working parents with school/college-going kids who plan their vacations around weekends, typically including a Friday to make it a long weekend, we had done the same too. Our plan was to begin on a Wednesday and end on the Sunday.

Then came the twist! The FD (Forest Department) in West Bengal, after much deliberation as it seems, decided to close the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve for visitors on a Friday. What do you say to that!! I do not understand as to who comes up with such ideas and based on what logic, completely beats me!!

Anyways, whats done was done. Friday was going to be the Jungle’s day off.

We had to figure out a way to spend that day, while we were there. As per the discussion we had with our wonderful boatman, Gouranga, the plan was to visit an island called the Bird island which was known for attracting a lot of migratory birds.

The D-Day, the Friday, had finally arrived. We were ready to board our boats by around 6:30AM.

As we headed to the jetty, I caught sight of these domesticated geese which were up and about. A nice frame with the breaking dawn.

Just as I boarded our boat, our guide, Chinmoy and boatman Gouranga called out to me and asked me to join them as they headed towards the path leading towards the island village. Crossing a thin log-bridge across a canal, he took me to a dilapidated shed kind of a structure.

There, Gouranga pointed me towards a bunch of netted shelves which looked like the ones you see in a poultry farm, housing the chickens. In one of those racks were a couple of cute-little Jungle cat kittens! That was a wow!

Chinmoy and Gouranga were saying that these kittens seemed to have somehow managed to enter the netted shelves but were unable to find their way out. Their mom was also not to be seen around. In such a situation, the kittens would surely struggle to survive. We decided to rescue them.

Taking out the netted shelf which housed the kittens, we created a small opening at the bottom. We then put the shelf down on the ground, slightly raised at one end, to expose the opening we had created.

With a few pats on the shelf, the kittens started moving around rapidly and finally located the opening. They squeezed themselves out and ran away. Hopefully, they will be able to survive and thrive.

That was a great beginning.

We got back to our boat. Soon as we started, we came across a flock of Ashy wood swallows.

These little birds have a characteristic behaviour of bunching up together in large groups on the tree branches, more so during the winters. The cold, windy morning gets these birds to nestle up to share each others’ warmth perhaps. So amazing to see 😃

Having spent some time with the wood swallows, we moved on.

Within a short while, came by a tree which was home to a family of Spotted owlets. The owlets were using the hollow branches as their refuge and also as tunnels to move around from one part of the tree to the other.

The Spotted owlets, having just returned from their nightly adventures to catchup on a well deserved sleep, weren’t impressed by seeing us there. Couple of curious individuals came out to give us a quick glance before returning back to their slumber.

Once the Spotted owlets had disappeared into the tree trunks, we continued our journey. Soon, we came by a Jungle cat, resting on the thick roots and soaking in the sun.

The individual, upon noticing our boat approaching, got up and walked up to settle down at a different spot.

After making some good images of the Jungle cat, we moved on towards the ‘Bird island’.

Nearing the island, we could observe quite a lot of bird activity. Asian open-bill storks, Black-headed ibis, Pacific golden plovers, Whimbrels, Curlews among many others were in plenty and busy on the open sand banks.

The highlight was the Lesser whistling ducks though. Huge flocks of them dotted the entire landscape.

Having spent good time around the Bird island, we started heading back.

En-route, we encountered a Peregrine falcon, a majestic raptor, the speed daemon.

Peregrine falcon

With the sun beginning to go down, we got back to our place of stay. However, birding wasn’t over yet.

We caught sight of a beautiful little owl, the Collared scops owl on a village path in the island that we were staying in. Good experience observing this bird and also being able to make some good images.

Collared scops owl

That finally brought the day to a close. Overall, it turned out to be a highly fulfilling day. The Jungle, having its day off didn’t really impact us the way I thought it would. We did have a very productive time.

Also, sometimes I feel that, when you are inside the jungle, there is this underlying, unseen pressure of having to sight a big cat. You keep chasing them, thus missing out on a lot of other opportunities.

Hope you enjoyed reading through. Adios until the next time.