A viper in my garden!
Ah! The daily excitement of living in a place like Sevagram! A Russell’s viper appears in our garden. Thanks to ‘Sarpamitra’ Jeetendra for catching it and releasing it into the wild. Russell’s vipers are one of the most venomous species of…
Walk through the woods: Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary
It was a misty morning when we started for Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary. It was strange to walk with an armed forest guard for company. We had hoped that by the time we started walking through the woods,…
The greater adjutant stork: Scavenger in chief
This huge bird, standing over five feet tall, is not considered pretty and was often an object of revulsion. One ornithologist went as far as to call it “a prodigy of ugliness”. This is the greater adjutant…
My marathon bird watching session!
What a glorious day of bird watching today has been! Ten hours of watching a whole cavalcade of birds, and all from within the comfort of my bedroom. How was that possible you might ask? Here is…
Oriental Magpie-Robins: A black and white romance!
Romance is in the air! And the colour of romance is not red- it is black and white! First it was the Asian koels with their jugalbandi which stole the show. But these days in Sevagram, the…
The peacock’s honk
It was getting warmer and I was planning to leave Arogyadham when I heard a loud noise. It was loud and ugly: like a donkey’s bray. I ignored it. But then I heard it again. It was…
Wooing your woman: Parakeet style
This Sunday, it was fun to witness the courtship display of a pair of plum headed parakeets. The male preened and tried to snuggle closer to its partner, but she fended off all his overtures. Sometimes indifferent,…
The dance of the peacock
We were at Telia lake at Tadoba National Park. It was almost sunset, and I was told it was futile to capture any shots as the light wasn’t good enough. But I couldn’t take my eyes off…
The Indian Pitta
Spotted this very colourful bird- the Indian Pitta in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in 2016. It is called nauranga in Hindi in apparent reference to its many colours. It has a buff coloured crown stripe, black coronal stripes, a…
