Bharal the "Blue Sheep"

Bharal the "Blue Sheep" from Sikkim. On the way to Gurudongmar Lake from Lachen, at around 5000 mt above the sea level; saw these animals. They merge with the background excellently and thus are hard to see; but some males were fighting and that's why we could spot them. Females were nicely enjoying the warmth of sun, but males had something else on their mind.

Hodgson's flying squirrel (Petaurista magnificus)

A really rare image. Hodgson's flying squirrel (Petaurista magnificus). On the way back to Gangtok from Lachen (Sikkim) at around 9.30 PM, saw something like a flying squirrel on the edge of the road. First we thought it is injured, but when looked through the binocs it was clear that its a flying squirrel and is not injured but is licking the ground.It was there for about 3 minutes. Then it went to the other side of the road, facing the valley..... got ready to glide.........then................vanished in the dark.
The main identification character is the reddish-orange tail with black tip. This was an amazing sighting of this elusive animal.

Eurasian Spoonbill

Ant-Mimic Spider (Myrmarachne plataleoides)

Ant- mimic spider (Myrmarachne plataleoides).
This spider mimics the weaver ants.

Birds of Nagpur

Hermit crabs from South Andamans

Hermit crabs, amazing variety of shells can be seen and even the hermit crabs too

These guys utilize shells of snails to protect their soft abdomen from predators. Not only abdomen but whole body is retracted inside the shell.

As the hermits grow in size, they change the shells, the abdomen is flexible enough to grip the shell on inner side. And they have amazing shells and even hermits themselves come in variety of colours.

Hermit crab from South Andamans.

Hermit crab from South Andamans.

Bay island forest lizard

Bay island forest lizard (Coryphophylax subcristatus)from South Andamans.

Sarus Cranes !

Sarus Cranes from Navegaon NP. The one with a Brownish orange head is a Sub-adult. These are amazing birds, but the habitat in which they live is heavily modified, even the eggs are stolen as they are believed to have some So called "Medicinal properties". The future of these cranes is really uncertain in this area.

Bar-headed Geese

Collared Bar-headed goose photographed near Nagpur city, Maharashtra, India

Mr. Martin Gilbert of WCS, successfully captured and marked several waterfowl species while sampling for avian influenza in wild waterbirds in Mongolia during July 2007. It says during the course of this fieldwork in summer, a subsample of 30 Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus, 50 Bar-headed Geese and 21 Bean Geese Anser fabalis have been fitted with coloured neck collars in Hovsgol (Khuvsgul) aimag (province) in northern Mongolia.

One of these collared Bar-headed goose came near Nagpur, Maharashtra (First Photograph).Due to this photograph of collared Bar-headed goose, the migration of these birds was revealed.

These birds come every winter season near Nagpur. These are amazing birds migrating large distances away from there breeding grounds in winter and then return back as the winter withdraws.

Stream Glory (Neurobasis chinensis) - a Damselfly

Stream Glory - Female. These are really wonderfull. Females of this species are with brownish- semi-transparent wings. The body is greenish metallic in colour. But the males are just Superb.

Stream Glory - Male, This one is a male, normally when it is in the resting position the outer wing colouration are blackish with metallic sheen on it.

click on the image to enlarge
But the vibrant colour is displayed when inner side of the wing is exposed.

Blue bottle

Got this beautiful Blue bottle when it was mud puddling. Took this image at Top Slip.

Indian Vulture........ Soaring.......

`~ Gyps indicus ...followed by a Black Kite.....~'

Went to Ramnagar near Bangalore, superb rocky area.Some of the sightings were wonderfull. Saw some black kites following the vultures, some juveniles practicing their flying skills.


But the best part was looking at these beauties soaring right above us while we were resting on top of a hillock.

Elliot's forest lizard (Calotes ellioti)

Elliot's forest lizard (Calotes ellioti) is endemic to western Ghats. This is an Arboreal lizard. It has dorsal keeled scales and black angular mark on the side.

In breeding season the male changes its colouration, it is somewhat blackish in colour with patches.

Grey Francolins roosting (Francolinus pondicerianus)

Grey Francolins roosting (Francolinus pondicerianus)


When i started birdwatching, I use to wonder whether these birds can ever sit on a tree like most of the others do? Although I got the answer but never saw them roosting. Early morning in State Forestry College campus , Coimbatore, we went for searching Slender Loris with AJT Johnsing Sir and came across this roosintg group. It was a superb experience.

Indian Pitta (Pitta brachyura)

Indian Pitta (Pitta brachyura)

Short - nosed fruit bat

Short - nosed fruit bat

They live in small colonies. Their diurnal roosts generally consist of shed of large surface trees, like palm, and even man made structures made of natural resources ex. huts. Diet generally consists of fruits, flowers, etc.

Bengal Monitor (Varanus bengalensis)

Bengal Monitor (Varanus bengalensis)

The Formadible Lizard. There are stories which say people use to climb forts using Monitors !!!! But these lizards have really very powerfull claws. Their diet consists of small mammals, lizards, snakes, birds, eggs, etc.
Sad part is that they are hunted for meat and as most of the other wildlife, for "medicinal properties".

Indian Rock Python (Python molurus)

Indian Rock Python

(Python molurus)
It is an amazing experience to see these massive creatures while swimming.

The another one on the move, is around 9 feet and really massive.

Diving flying fox

Diving flying fox (Taken in low light), these beautiful bats just touch the surface of water and wet the fur, then just hang in their upside down position, then due to gravitational force the water starts driping downwards and they just enjoy drinking with their fur. sometimes they directly dive with open mouth.

Cinnamon Bittern (Ixobrychus cinnamomeus)

Cinnamon Bittern
(Ixobrychus cinnamomeus)

Collared Scops Owl (Otus bakkamoena)

Collared Scops Owl
(Otus bakkamoena)

A bird with very well Camouflage. When it closes it's eyes, the bird completely merges with the bark of the tree. Very mysterious bird.

Termite Hill gecko (Hemidactylus triedrus)

Termite Hill gecko
(Hemidactylus triedrus)

This is a beautiful gecko. Nocturnal and terrestrial in nature. Mainly found in open region and scrublands. Diet mainly consits of termites, beetles, etc.

Golden Backed Ant (Camponotus sericeus)

Golden Backed Ant
(Camponotus sericeus)
The golden part is really shiny. In this species the major workers measure around 8-10 mm, median 5-7 mm.

On mountains they build chimney like nests to prevent water from rushing in, on flat lands the nest openings are on level with ground layer.

In evergreen forest they nest in soil under leaf litter.

Red pierrot

Red pierrot (Talicada nyseus)


A mating pair of Red pierrot (Talicada nyseus) .

Pheasant tailed jacana

Took this photo of Pheasant tailed jacana (breeding plumage)from Ambazhari lake

Clear-winged Forest Glory

Beautiful Damselfly, a Clear-winged Forest Glory (Vestalis gracilis) from Indira Gandhi National Park Anamalais. This damselfly has briliant colours. In sunlight the body colouration is like mettalic/ shining green, in shade it's a bit less shiny. The wings look clear/transparent but at particular angle you can see a bluish shade on the wings.

Six spotted tiger beetle

Six spotted tiger beetle
(Anthia sexguttata)
A Six spotted tiger beetle (Anthia sexguttata) feeding on a dead Squirrel. These beetles are highly active. As they are always on move, it's really hard to photograph one. They have large mandibles (Insight: Closeup) This was a nice chance to have a close look at it and to capture this moment.