Moth on a shrivelled nest

The photograph above shows a moth resting on the shrivelled nest of an ashy prinia warbler. The leaves are of the creeper "flaming glory bower'.

I have just written a blog on the caterpillar I found on the leaves of the elephant foot yam plant.

Can some one identify whether the moth has metamorphosed from the caterpillar shown? Or are they from different species?

Hoopoe and Shikra

Birds(and animals) live a life of "high alert" at all times. This hoopoe is busy using its long pointed beak to dig out and eat juicy worms from the freshly mowed lawn. Cars and people are passing by the road nearby and my camera is not far away focusing on him. He is unperturbed. Experience tells him "not to worry".

Suddenly he freezes. I wonder why. Can you guess?. Look at the video below and I have tried to bring the action in the background through the recorded sound.



Listen through the din of cars and wind and you can hear the shrieking of a "shikra" -a raptor, who is circling above the lawn. The hoopoe knows that any movement on the lawn will attract the raptor's attention and he will swoop down for a meal.

As the shikra flies further away, the hoopoe resumes his meal.

Here is the disappointed shikra taking a break

Cat and the pigeon

Mention the domestic cat and the vision is that of a 'purring' furry creature happy to sleep on your bed, slurp milk from a bowl and eat cat food for breakfast and dinner keeping the pet food manufacturers happy.

A very different picture from that of "kitty"-the cat who roams our neighborhood. Her territory consists of the back and front yards of at a least a dozen houses in the neighborhood and loathe she will, to enter a human household.

So we are not surprised when at times we find bird feathers in the yard, remains of kitty's meal. We also know that kitty keeps in check the rodents and garden lizards.

The latest hunt of kitty surprised us though. A full grown pigeon attacked and downed in a jiffy. The pigeons usually avoid the small hedges and lawns in our garden but this one did not and paid with its life.



Kitty Claiming the prize hunt



Kitty the hunter with the pigeon she felled

Climate change and some refugees

The Delhi and NCR region are experiencing climate change first hand. April and May used to be the hottest summer months. In 2008 we had a mild summer. The summer of 2009 seems destined to be the same! The hailstorm in first week of April has brought temperatures down so much, that today, 10th April, Gurgaon feels like a hill station. See the video clip of the hailstorm below.



We also had a surprise visitor(s). Three peafowls inspected our lawn and the neighbourhood for possible roosting points- apparently. They seem to have been displaced by yet another construction coming up in the cleared Aravalii Ranges which surround Gurgaon.

In the photo below, two of them are surveying the neighbourhood from a vantage point.




Below is the photo of the peahen in our backyard.



After going around the house, it seems at home in the frontyard. However, the peafowls did not visit us again; hope they found a better place to call their home.

Visiting the ski slopes of Auli - The Flora

The Flora

The trees and plants one sees above 10,000 feet surprise you with their sturdiness. The trees look majestic and protective. The sturdy bushes and grass support your heels while climbing up. Pretty flowers smile at you lighting up unknown corners. Trekking on foot is the best way to appreciate the terrain and the flora.

Here is a Basant tree with Nanda Devi in the background. The tree is having flower buds in February. Normally at this time it will be covered with snow.



"Blushing unseen"



Blooming in times of global warming




The golden oak trees




The ‘Nahar Bush’ has lovely smelling leaves and is an insect repellent. Here is Rakesh, our guide with the Nahar Bush




We are fascinated by the pink white flowers of Basnt tree. Here is a pic of me holding a bunch in my hand.



We found beautiful flowering trees lining the roads on our way back to Joshimath. We wanted to know the name of the tree. Some Bank officials whom we met, who were posted in the area, could not help. Nor could the hotel owner at the hotel where we had lunch. The most common local tree had no name!

I had seen the same flowers in Mandal (on the way to Kedarnath) a few years back. Here is a photo of the tree in Mandal. The flowers resemble cherry blossoms.



But we saw ‘bottle brushes’ and ‘gulmohars’ being planted on the roadside by PWD (or Forest dept) to make up for trees cut down during widening of roads. The question which came to us was, why are we not propagating the local trees?

The most majestic of all the trees in Auli? The Golden Oak, no doubt. Two hundred of these more than hundred year old trees, are slated to be mowed down for the ski slope. More on that in the next blog!

Ikebana-Flower arrangement

Ikebana arrangement follows a rigidly fixed pattern – a triangle
of three points representing Heaven, Earth and Man. Emphasis
is placed on linear perfection, colour harmony, space and form.

The slideshow below has pictures taken at the annual exhibition of Ohara School of Ikebana at Lodhi Road, New Delhi held on 14 and 15 November, 2008. The theme for the exhibition is "Vasudaiva Kutumbakam' (The world is one family).

Indianwildlifeclub.com was one of the sponsors for the exhibition.

We have made a number of videos on Ikebana exhibitions.  See them at our playlist below

https://youtu.be/Hj8LpaRCuO4

Back-yard wildlife

If you observe carefully, nature provides enough surprises in our own back yard. Have a look at the slide show I have put together.

http://www.wildbytes.in/backyard-wildlife/index.html#0.0

Urban wildlife

We are fortunate to be in India where national parks are always within manageable distances. While following pugmarks to track a tiger or looking out for wild elephants capture the imagination of most wildlife lovers, we often neglect nature around us and closest to us. Feeling connected to life around us make us realise that we are part of a habitat. The more you are fascinated by forests, the more you learn to observe nature around us.

Read more on backyard wildlife at

http://www.indianwildlifeclub.com/blog/Topic.asp?id_top=28