Lifescapes Gallery

He’s very successful at his vocation, but the White-throated Kingfisher of Coorg is definitely not one of those brooding, silent killers so beloved of Hitchcock fans; he prefers to announce his presence with a loud chuckle or a staccato laugh that suggests he’s not short of gallows humour, even if the joke’s lost on his Read more >>

White-throated Kingfisher, Coorg | Posted in Birds, Coorg | 10 Comments »

Being mugged is every traveller’s nightmare. Being mugged and then consumed as the main course in a mugger’s banquet, is the stuff that makes it to the horror movie hall of fame. But being killed and converted into a Smoothie to be slurped at leisure, takes the (dis)honours and is certainly not something you’d like Read more >>

Robber Fly, Coorg | Posted in Coorg, Insects | 8 Comments »

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the prettiest pharmacist of them all? Just meander along the bejeweled emerald aisles of Coorg, and the answer will leave you in no doubt. After all, which other apothecary is so cheerful and inviting, bedecked in brilliant shades of yellow and red, reaching out majestically with wispy green tendrils? Read more >>

Glory Lily, Coorg | Posted in Coorg, Flora | 11 Comments »

You hear a Babbler issuing a shrill warning from behind a bush. Then you hear the sudden alarm call of a Thrush. What follows is a cacophony of vociferous voices in various bird languages, much like a plenary session of the United Nations. Where the lay observer would expect to find an agitated avian congregation, Read more >>

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Coorg | Posted in Birds, Coorg | 11 Comments »

The measure of a good coffee in South India is often a function of the ‘lengths’ to which the coffee maker is prepared to go to mix his concoction. The man seen here, nonchalantly drawing a meter-long string of decoction and milk, from one arm to the other, is a minor celebrity of sorts in Read more >>

Meter Coffee, Coorg | Posted in Coorg, Culture | 9 Comments »

He’s small, cheerful, and is known to be a good singer, often humming a gentle tune under his breath as he goes about his business. What stands out, however, is the audience reaction to his songs, which varies from frustrated sighs, to strangulated oaths and the odd expletive tossed his way. For the paddy farmers Read more >>

Scaly-breasted Munia, Coorg | Posted in Birds, Coorg | 13 Comments »

Meet a very different kind of wolf. This isn’t the two-legged kind that whistles at bus-stops as curvy specimens of the opposite gender pass by. Nor does he make eyes at them, though that would be a bit of an overdose, considering he has eight eyes of varying sizes. And eight legs to beat a Read more >>

Grassland Funnel Web Spider, Coorg | Posted in Arachnids, Coorg | 23 Comments »

Most of us landlubbers, would love the idea of slipping into our trunks and plunging into a pristine pool as an appetite-building precursor to a sumptuous meal. Some of our neighbours, however, like the Common Kingfisher of Coorg, have the habit of dressing for dinner before taking the plunge. The smallest of his species found Read more >>

Common Kingfisher, Coorg | Posted in Birds, Coorg | 14 Comments »

First we invite visitors to throw away their alarm clocks before coming to Coorg, so they could have a totally laid-back holiday. And then we go and provide them with our very own au naturale wake-up call that trills out unfailingly, at the crack of dawn, every day. This mellifluous two-note whistle has a special Read more >>

Indian Pitta, Coorg | Posted in Birds, Coorg | 24 Comments »

If you can’t hear the telltale rat-a-tat of someone drumming on a tree bark, or even if you can’t spot those fashionable heart patterns fluttering amidst the leaves, don’t lose heart. For, if you’re seeking Coorg’s most romantic citizen, you don’t have to look too hard. In fact, very often you don’t have to look Read more >>

Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Coorg | Posted in Birds, Coorg | 22 Comments »