SIDEBAR

Ballerina of the Grassland!

0 comments
Mar 08 2019
Post's featued image.

The first light rays from the rising sun held a lot of promise. The clouds that had covered the skies for the past few days were slowly making way for clear skies. With an African Wild Cat sighting the previous morning, we sure had our hopes flying high as we drove out of the gates of Satara Rest Camp in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Sunrise brought a golden glow upon the grasslands. The glorious landscape, with vast open spaces and just a couple of trees, called for the first photographs of the morning. Something caught my eye at the […]

READ MORE

The World’s Smallest Eagle!

9 comments
Jul 30 2015
Great Nicobar Serpent Eagle (Spilornis klossi) - The world's smallest eagle

The few endemic birds of the Nicobar islands are very charismatic. And they were the biggest motivation for me to make the journey to the remote island of Great Nicobar in March this year. The world’s smallest eagle made the trip special!

READ MORE

Can scratching look cute?

8 comments
Nov 12 2013
Common Kestrel - PortraitCommon Kestrel Scratching - 1Kestrel Scratching - 2Common Kestrel Scratching - 3Common Kestrel Scratching - 4Common Kestrel Scratching - 5

    You think NO!! Take a look at the following series… (Click on any of the images to view them large. Navigate using the buttons below the image.)     I repeat the question again – Can scratching look cute? 🙂

READ MORE

A “Sociable” winter

8 comments
May 04 2011

Ever since I’d gone to Tal Chapar in August 2009, it was a place that I wished I could go back to more often. Eventually, decided that I would go there in November 2010. The news that Sociable Lapwings were being seen there was double the enticement. So, after an 18-hour multiple-bus journey from Chambal to Chapar, I met the legendary Mr.S.S.Poonia, who’s the Range Officer of the Tal Chapar Wildlife Sanctuary. He’s played a major role in creating a disturbance-free sanctuary for grassland fauna. Not to mention the 10-20 unrecorded bird species that he reports from the place every […]

READ MORE

Grey Hypocolius

5 comments
May 02 2011

The Grey Hypocolius (or simply the Hypocolius) is a monotypic bird in the family Hypocoliidae; there are no other bird species in its genus and family. It breeds towards West Asia (including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan). The winter range extends from the Persian Gulf to India. Fulay, in the Greater Rann of Kutch, is one of the very few places in India where one can see this beautiful winter migrant. [singlepic id=475 w=500] On Darter Photography’s Wild Wild West tour to Greater Rann of Kutch this February, this bird was high on our list. We reached Fulay, bordering […]

READ MORE

Other birds at National Chambal Sanctuary

3 comments
Dec 04 2010

The National Chambal Sanctuary is a nature-watching treat. I’ve already written about the Indian Skimmer and the Gharials. [singlepic id=441 w=500] The other rare bird that I was hoping to see was the Black-bellied Tern (Sterna acuticauda). Although I’d seen it flying near a lake on Kanakpura road earlier this year, I’ve wanted to see it sitting and (may be) fishing. Chambal didn’t disappoint on this account too. I got to see at least 6 different individuals during the day-long boat ride. [singlepic id=454 w=500] [singlepic id=443 w=500] [singlepic id=442 w=500] The Black-bellied Tern is a small tern (about the […]

READ MORE

A “Grizzled” day at Bheemeshwari

5 comments
Jul 14 2010

All my previous visits to the fishing camps in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (Galibore and Doddamakkali) had been total fun. So, as we set off to Bheemeshwari, there was an apprehension of the record being broken. Well it was ISO 800 light even at 7:30AM, with heavy rains all night. Then, the sky miraculously started clearing up. The air was rent with the symphony of frogs calling out to their potential mates. Birds in their nesting season, like these Tawny-bellied Babblers, flitted in and out of the undergrowth. [singlepic id=363 w=400] After the welcome drink at Bheemeshwari, we set out […]

READ MORE

Desert Coursers at Zainabad

1 comment
Apr 17 2010

Join us on Wild West – Bird photography tour of Kutch from February 05 to 13, 2011. More details here. I’ve mentioned Mr.Dhanraj Malik in my previous posts on LRK. Well, he runs Desert Coursers at Zainabad and is a fabulous host. His knowledge of the Rann is superb; he knows the place like the back of his hand. And the night safari for the Syke’s Nightjar is an experience of a lifetime. Desert Coursers supports a host of social projects around Zainabad, including running a school. You can see the sense of achievement in Mr.Dhanraj’s eyes when he talks […]

READ MORE

Wolf…Wolf…

2 comments
Mar 12 2010

Join us on Wild West – Bird photography tour of Kutch from February 05 to 13, 2011. More details here. Thanks for waiting for so long for this post. I know I

READ MORE

Sunset with the harriers

8 comments
Feb 16 2010

Join us on Wild West – Bird photography tour of Kutch from February 05 to 13, 2011. More details here. One of the most common genus of birds that we encountered were harriers. They were all over the place, from farms to lakes to grasslands to the open Rann. [singlepic id=281 w=300] [singlepic id=277 w=300] Younus (a driver at Desert Coursers, also fantastic with locations) kept mentioning a place where harriers come to roost at sunset. It was only on the last evening of my trip that I could make it to this place. We first drove up to the […]

READ MORE