Chameleons are those beautiful reptiles which, as all know, have the ability to change their skin colour. Their independently moving eyes are truly a marvel of nature and captivating too. Their slow, bobbing movement is very characteristic as well. It has always been a wish of mine to see one in the wild. It had been eluding me for all this while. Early this December, I was leading a bird photography tour to the fabulous place of Hampi....
Heat, or the warmth, is an imperative element for any living being’s survival on this planet. It is what drives the motors in an animal’s body, aiding it to go on about its worldly agenda, be it feeding, mating, defending oneself or just plain, moving around. Warm blooded animals are able to maintain a constant body temperature, irrespective of their surroundings. This keeps them going even in relatively colder environments. The ones with cold blood, on the other hand, need to gather heat after being in a colder area for a long time and the opposite is true as well....
Made a visit to Amboli, in the last week of July, when what looked like the monsoon was at its peak. It was literally pouring cats and dogs. I had heard about the heavy rains that Amboli receives during the monsoon, but it was beyond what I had envisioned :) Pouring, pouring and relentless pouring. Even when there was a slight reprieve, the place would very quickly get covered in thick mist....
In nature, the predator-prey dynamics is always wonderful to witness, be it a tiger bringing down a sambar or a gaur, a pack of wild dogs chasing down their prey, on a smaller scale, a jumping spider stealthily stalking its prey, or a snake, snapping up its prey with its lightning fast strike. All these are true adrenaline pumping moments. Moments which get etched in the viewer’s mind and stay on for a long time to come....
Southern Flying Lizard, more commonly known as the Draco, are amazing reptiles found across the Western Ghats and other hill forests of southern India. They have this unique ability to glide from tree to tree , something akin to flying, thus getting their name. They are most commonly seen climbing up on tree trunks amidst something like the arecanut plantations. A Draco’s day begins just as the light of morning sun starts streaming in through the canopy....