Lifescapes Gallery

He may be the monarch of all he surveys, but this is one member of the avian royalty who’d much rather avoid the spotlight, thank you! No flashbulbs, no glitzy ‘coming out’ balls, and definitely no obliging those pesky jungle paparazzi, no matter how noble their intentions. If you want a glimpse, much less a Read more >>

Black-naped Monarch, Coorg | Posted in Birds, Coorg | 25 Comments »

There’s nothing undercover about this sting operation. It’s all above board, very public, and cruelly exposes the pretentions of dangerous denizens like Messrs. Bee, Wasp & Hornet, and the limitations of their supposedly invincible weaponry. The main theatre of operation is the lush expanse of Kabini, where the Blue-tailed Bee-eaters are the designated super sleuths Read more >>

Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Kabini | Posted in Birds, Kabini | 24 Comments »

You are looking at a picture of Kabini’s most prized cows. Now, now…hold your horses! Before you think we’ve been grazing on a different kind of ‘grass’, allow us to clarify. Goats, in much of rural India, are considered the ‘poor man’s cow’, and Kabini is no exception to this belief. A herd of just Read more >>

Goats, Kabini | Posted in Kabini, Mammals | 32 Comments »

If the marketing whiz kids at those multinational companies could just brand and sell them, the Small Pratincoles of Kabini would probably be their No.1 bestsellers, at least with harassed housewives looking for deliverance from termites and bugs. These grey little shore birds are perhaps the most efficient insect hunters around, and are so confident Read more >>

Small Pratincole, Kabini | Posted in Birds, Kabini | 11 Comments »

Very few people have seen this sleek, green beauty up close. Those who do manage it haven’t seen her again. Or seen again, if one were to go by a popular myth in southern India. For the green vine snake is reckoned to strike you blind with her arrow-like head if you poke your nose, Read more >>

Green Vine Snake, Coorg | Posted in Coorg, Reptiles | 25 Comments »

It could be an affirmation of the old adage that barking dogs never bite, for the Dhole, or wild dogs of Kabini, are examples of the converse being true, and are never known to bark. But then, why would one want to bark when you have over five caller tunes to stay in touch? The Read more >>

Dhole, Kabini | Posted in Kabini, Mammals | 16 Comments »

How does one tell the men from the boys? The good from the bad? The villains from the heroes? Simple! A Coorg paddy farmer would tell you to just get them all together, and give them a good thrashing (or ‘threshing’ as the politically correct term goes). This will cause the straw to stalk off, Read more >>

Winnowing, Coorg | Posted in Coorg, Plantation | 42 Comments »

A leopard can’t change colour. Period. And we’ve always been told he can’t change his spots. Yet he qualifies as the Chameleon of the Big Cat family. The reason isn’t hard to see…he is! Trying to spot a leopard, when he doesn’t want to be seen, is like looking for one particular needle in a Read more >>

Leopard, Kabini | Posted in Kabini, Mammals | 37 Comments »

All work and no play makes Jill a good bee. And a ‘live’ bee. For it’s not unknown for the hive bosses, to knock off Worker Bees suspected to be sleeping on the job. No sir… it just won’t do. There’s a lot of work to be done. Hives to be built, honey to be Read more >>

Worker Bee, Coorg | Posted in Coorg, Insects | 19 Comments »

He’s small. Very small. But, size apart, there’s nothing little about this plover. This low flying sentinel of the wetlands is a lot of bird in a small frame, with a large bag of tricks up his sleeve. Consider, for starters, the patented ‘Broken Wing Feint’. When danger threatens his nest, he pretends to have Read more >>

Little Ringed Plover, Kabini | Posted in Birds, Kabini | 21 Comments »