Posted in Nature Notes on Apr 5th, 2013 6 Comments »
Every day that I have walked into my office building this week, I have been welcomed by a mild, enjoyable and a heavenly aroma. Out of curiosity my eyes wandered and espied the tiny white flowers borne on long spikes. I remember noticing that this tree, near the entrance, was almost bare just a month [...]
Posted in Nature Notes on Mar 1st, 2013 19 Comments »
The sun slowly disappeared behind the hills. The colour of the sky changed hues by the minute. I was at the banks of the Cauvery at Galibore sitting under a gigantic Arjuna tree Terminalia arjuna, soaking in the lovely evening. Soon it became dark and was now the time for the stars to adorn the [...]
Posted in Nature Notes on Feb 7th, 2013 15 Comments »
It was during the latter half of the eighties that I witnessed an extraordinary event; an event that even to this day leaves me marvelling when I think about it! Seeing a tarantula is an exciting experience in itself; but witnessing one moulting is even more so! I had the fortune of witnessing a tarantula [...]
Posted in Nature Notes on Dec 4th, 2012 14 Comments »
It was several years ago, on the outskirts of Bangalore, that I first chanced upon a flower; it was hardly like any other flower I had seen before! I was very curious to find out what it was and also understand why the flowers were so differently shaped. There were no answers coming by for [...]
Posted in Nature Notes on Nov 1st, 2012 17 Comments »
Fungi are found all around us! They perform an extremely crucial role in the environment – much more than what meets the eye. We often do not realise this because we don’t see them often. Apart from being nature’s recyclers, fungi also nurture life. To be able to do this, they need to reproduce and [...]
Posted in Nature Notes on Oct 1st, 2012 19 Comments »
Bees are very active insects as we all are aware. Be it while on their hive or when they are visiting a flower, they are abuzz with activity. However, on one occasion, I saw a bee sitting on a flower for a protracted period of time without signs of any activity. This inactivity on part [...]
Posted in Nature Notes on Sep 4th, 2012 18 Comments »
Life in urban areas, for that matter, anywhere, can never be boring if you so choose. Well, I am not referring to the innumerable choices for recreation that are available. One fascinating pastime could be to start looking for the myriad organisms that share the space with us; we often don’t even pay heed to [...]
Posted in Nature Notes on Aug 1st, 2012 20 Comments »
I chanced upon a very weird insect up in the tree some 10 ft from the ground. I managed to get a record shot before I even tried to get closer to it. I slowly pulled the drooping lower end of the branch down as much as it would yield to get some close-up shots [...]
Posted in Nature Notes on Jul 3rd, 2012 21 Comments »
A creature that breathes with its ‘tail’?! Yes, there is one such – the Waterscorpion. The name is misleading. As it suggests, it is not a scorpion that lives in water; but, an insect, a bug that lives in water! Waterscorpions get their name due to their superficial appearance of some members to scorpions. Adult [...]
Posted in Nature Notes on Jun 4th, 2012 20 Comments »
Orchids are a very diverse family with about 25000 species, making them one of the largest families of flowering plants in the world! This being the case, one should expect an amazing variety and also several interesting and unique adaptations among orchids. I encountered this very interesting orchid, on the same on the same trip [...]