Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Feb 8, 2012, 6:30 pm
... . But not a birder's remembrance of a cherished bird. The story of me and the Blue-capped Rock Thrush involves God, Darwin and Salim Ali -- playing significant bit-parts. Back in the day when I believed that God... To read more, v...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Feb 2, 2012, 8:00 pm
My love of owls has made me peer into abandoned quarries, tree hollows, rafters of old barns, and dilapidated houses. Last year, I watched three Indian Eagle Owl chicks grow from featherballs to subadults. We waited a whole year to publish this report, assured that they are now relatively... T...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Feb 1, 2012, 11:19 pm
Make this picture your desktop wallpaper-calendar for February 2012. To download, click the link below or the picture above. file storage online Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor) Photograph: Sandeep SomasekharanThe Green Ogre - Birds, Wildlif...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Feb 1, 2012, 8:31 am
Journeying in another Green Ogre's footsteps, this wild crane chase off the beaten track culminated in an immensely rewarding avian spectacle. The Demoiselles of Khichan are alive and well, and numerous and beautiful as ever! The Demoiselles of Kh...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Jan 24, 2012, 11:07 pm
Photo: Sandeep Somasekharan Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays, when we Ogres get picturesque speechless! ;) The Green Ogre - Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India. To read more, visit The Green Ogre in his den.
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Jan 24, 2012, 8:46 am
Silent in life -- and in death While critiquing a book by his contemporary Stephen Jay Gould, the noted writer on evolutionary theory Richard Dawkins refutes his contention that the idea of progress in evolutionary history of life is an artifact of our anthropocentric bias, and evolution...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Jan 15, 2012, 9:34 pm
Concluding Anand Yegnaswami's sojourn in Alaska, this episode sees him face to face with a Grizzly and learning something new about the gender of Santa's red-nosed reindeer Refreshed from a rather uneventful third day of our trip we emerged from our slumber gu...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Jan 12, 2012, 11:37 pm
On broad soaring wings, the mighty White-bellied Sea Eagle patrols the coastline, plunging every now and then into the ocean for fish or sea snakes. Its aerobatic displays can make test pilots envious. If you see one, stop and watch. I reme...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Jan 11, 2012, 10:11 pm
When the dim, shadowy silence of the leaf-litter suddenly takes wing, it's either a ghost or a nightjar that sets your heart racing. Our search that began in the hunt for a peacock feather took us to the adorable Large-tailed Nightjar The Large Tailed Nightjar wrapped up in si...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Jan 9, 2012, 9:07 pm
Our quick, packed trip to Masinagudi and Ooty yielded few lifers, but it gave us plenty of top-quality sightings We stood at the junction of two worlds in Bangalore City Railway station. The arched stone buildings on Platform 6 were relics of a distant past and across th...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Jan 4, 2012, 11:10 am
First off, Happy New Year! Sorry for the delay, but the cyclone that hit Pondicherry threw our plans out of gear a bit. That said, the events that unfolded last Friday reminded us a bit of the butterfly effect. Putting the past gently behind us, we offer you a keepsake of that...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Jan 2, 2012, 11:35 am
Statistically, 35 people perished in the carnage essayed by Cyclone Thane. Yet, the obituaries that will never be written are of Pondicherry's beautiful avenue trees, many of which we have celebrated on The Green Ogre. In the funereal streets of this old French enclave, their limbs are being hacked....
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Dec 30, 2011, 12:51 am
To those of us sitting in Bangalore, Cyclone Thane is just a cold, wet day to grumble about. Or perhaps even enjoy as we huddle (or perhaps cuddle - but don't let us give you any ideas) amid cups of tea. But out on the east coast of India, the cyclone's fury was at its peak early this morning. In......
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Dec 22, 2011, 9:42 pm
In Valparai the endangered Lion-tailed Macaque inhabits tracts of dense evergreen forest hemmed in by tea plantations. It lives, literally and alarmingly, on the edge We were driving down from Valparai along one of the remaining patches of tropical ever...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Nov 1, 2011, 10:00 pm
A misty morning in Dandeli revealed this surreal spiderscape. Bring it alive on your desktop. Yours, with our compliments. Happy November! DOWNLOAD THIS WALLPAPER FOR YOUR DESKTOP >> Photo: Sandeep Somasekharan in Dand...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 30, 2011, 11:40 pm
Horsley Hills, where I had started birding five years ago, beckoned again early this year. And rewarded me with an enriching morning On the last weekend of March this year, after almost five years, I revisited the place of my first ever birding trip - Horsley Hills near Madan...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 29, 2011, 5:01 am
Distances in the Himalaya can be tricky, especially when pointed out desultorily by a guide deprived of his liquor. Thus captained, we descended the bleak slopes of Bedni toward the village of Wan. Jennifer Nandi's spellbinding Bedni Bugyal travelogue continues... The descent from B...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 25, 2011, 12:07 am
As a child they were the stuff of nightmares. My spider sense still tingles, but no longer in fear I remember having always kept my distance from Arachnids as a child. Quite often have tarantulas turned up in the toilet, and quite often have I persuaded my parents to sma...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 24, 2011, 12:19 am
At Exit Glacier, not far from the top of the world as the puffin flies, we stayed at a historic hotel and stayed clear of bears We were drained from the previous day’s drive to the Arctic that ended only at 3 AM on Day 3 of our trip at Seward, Alaska. Seward is a tiny ...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 22, 2011, 1:57 am
In the charming alpine meadow of Bedni Bugyal life goes on as if on another planet, though Jennifer Nandi notes that our inexorable worldliness has preceded our arrival here  Life's symmetry, reflected in Bedni Kund Trishul peeks fleetingly behind scudding cloud and the ...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 19, 2011, 11:03 pm
Dandeli, post-monsoon, is a completely different forest. Quieter, darker, denser, and offering a whole new birding experience that left us unsatisfied A misty morning welcomed us as we got down at the VRL bus stand at Dandeli and through the veil of vap...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 18, 2011, 10:37 pm
The polka dots had thinned into the skin. The blacks had greyed into sallower shades. But the red-rimmed eyes still gleamed like rubies. Here was the Bicoloured Frog again, dressed for its wedding party Bi-coloured Frog (Clinotarsus curtipes). In early June this yea...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 15, 2011, 2:14 am
We arrive at Bedni Bugyal, but only barely. Food, shelter and rest are in pitifully short supply. Add to that the prospect of two long, cold, terrifying nights at 11,000 feet. Continuing Jennifer Nandi's riveting account of an unforgettable trek An hour later, Bijoy comes up to us to beg a sip...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 11, 2011, 12:09 pm
From left to right: Arun Menon, Sahastrarashmi, Sandeep Somasekharan, Bijoy Venugopal, Jennifer Nandi, Anand Yegnaswami and Jagadeesh Seshadri  The Green Ogre - Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India. To read more, visit The Green Ogre in his den.
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 10, 2011, 10:04 pm
If coochicooable was a word, it would fit the Indian Silverbill My first memories of fellow Ogre Sahastra are is tied to a photograph posted in the Infosys photography club. The first was of a group of tiny, brown birds with beautiful conical beaks shining like metal, pe...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 9, 2011, 10:31 pm
Leaving Mt Denali behind we left with optimism for the Arctic Circle, into the ragged latitude of the midnight sun Disappointed with the weather at Denali National Park that denied us a view of Mt Denali on the first day of our trip to Alaska, we looked for an suit...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 4, 2011, 8:58 pm
It takes more than eco-tourism or tokenism to save the tiger. Improving the lot of conservation's foot-soldiers can be a good start. Forest officer Prabhu Swamy at one of the best-maintained anti-poaching camps in Bandipur. It is a permanent masonry structure equipped with sol...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 4, 2011, 12:35 pm
DOWNLOAD THIS IMAGE AND SET IT AS YOUR CALENDAR WALLPAPER The Green Ogre - Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India. To read more, visit The Green Ogre in his den.
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Oct 1, 2011, 3:00 am
Pressed to ascend an indefinite distance to the alpine meadow of Ali Bugyal, Jennifer Nandi's mind fastens to thoughts of self-preservation and meditations on the Zen of climbing Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we set off from Didana the next day on what we’ve been told is roughly an... &...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 29, 2011, 10:49 pm
Carl Safina’s mellifluous prose evokes the beauty and mystery of the sea and its ancient denizen, the Leatherback turtle Voyage Of The Turtle: In Pursuit Of The Earth's Last Dinosaur by Carl Safina Published by Henry Holt and Co.; 1st edit...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 26, 2011, 10:53 pm
Seeing eye to eye with the Sarus Crane evokes a host of questions and the answers aren't exactly simple Shashwat and I were driving along a small arterial road in Rae Bareli, checking out the pairs of Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) among the paddy fields on either side. It was th...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 24, 2011, 5:23 am
To derive joy from the simple act of birdwatching, all you need to do is wait, watch and listen. Jennifer Nandi reveals the Birding 101 in the third episode of her travelogue on Bedni Bugyal A Blue Whistling Thrush, ever the skulker, trails us as we walk its wooded paths ...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 21, 2011, 10:42 pm
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov might have feted the Bumblebee in music but it is the domestic life of the Carpenter Bee that inspires a fitting paean. How about one by the Carpenters? My wife and I had seen the Carpenter Bee buzz past us as we stole a furtive smoke on the balcony, bu...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 19, 2011, 11:35 pm
While walking in the Nilgiris, listen closely for the guffaw of the Nilgiri Laughingthrush. And treasure it, for you'll hear it nowhere else on earthWhen I had first laid my hands on a Sony prosumer camera I found I could photograph birds within reach, and the target of one of my first attempts was....
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 18, 2011, 1:48 am
Walking in the Himalaya offers the pleasure of a constant flirtation with epiphany, learns Jennifer Nandi A stream en route to Didana from Loharjung A morning of magic greets us. Arrogant blue skies goad us onwards. The rugged hill road from the village leads us past an a...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 15, 2011, 12:10 am
A bad day of birding need not be a bad day with nature, not when you have a lush green paddy field to adore Another routine morning trip to see if I could catch some birds on the wing took me to a remote corner of Mandya, along a paddy field. Skies were clear from the rain that had clea...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 12, 2011, 11:03 am
Thoughtlessly constructed and idiotically placed dustbins in a tiger reserve can turn a well-intended sanitation initiative into a howling travesty. How do you keep wild boar from scattering the trash you've conscientiously thrown away? It was a beautiful afternoon...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 10, 2011, 4:05 am
Traipsing in Lord Curzon's footsteps, we embarked for Bedni Bugyal knowing little of what to expect, and least expecting what was in store for us... Editor's Note: In April-May 2007, six of us made a trek to the Garhwal Himalaya. Sahastrarashmi, Sunita, Jennifer, S...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 9, 2011, 10:58 am
Someone once told not to look a gift horse in the mouth checked the dental signature of a Moose instead and discovered 12 molars, 12 premolars, 6 incisors and 2 canines. Oh dear, a moose is actually a deer, as Ogden Nash evidently knew! Confronted by a mouse or moose, &...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 7, 2011, 12:22 am
Photograph: SahastrarashmiEnjoy all Wordless WednesdaysThe Green Ogre - Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India. To read more, visit The Green Ogre in his den.
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 6, 2011, 12:08 am
The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda may well have been talking of the immersion of Ganesha, thinks Sahastrarashmi as he presents a tableau of pictures from the beach at Pondicherry Let's put all our treasures together -- the clocks, plates, cups cracked by the...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 5, 2011, 9:41 am
Pankil Desai recounts a most amazing and suspenseful encounter between a Green Vine Snake and a Calotes lizard It was a regular sunny day and I was in my hostel room at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal. At around 11:30, I got a call from an...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 2, 2011, 8:24 am
An attractive raptor even while perched, the Black-shouldered Kite is hard to forget once spotted hovering For a long time after I learned to identify this bird, also called the Black-winged Kite to differentiate it from the Australian  Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris),...
...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Sep 2, 2011, 1:00 am
Sandeep Somasekharan presents the September wallpaper. Put this thirsty Purple-rumped Sunbird on your desktop.  Download this file and make it your desktop calendar Disclaimer: This Green Ogre free download is hosted at File Factory, a third-party fil...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Aug 30, 2011, 11:22 pm
Photo: Sandeep SomasekharanSee all Wordless Wednesday postsThe Green Ogre - Birds, Wildlife, Ecology and Nature notes from India. To read more, visit The Green Ogre in his den.
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Aug 30, 2011, 9:34 am
Fluffy and tubby, the Indian Giant Squirrel is a treat to watch anywhere you may wander in the forests of peninsular India from the Western Ghats all the way to Madhya Pradesh The first tell-tale giveaway of its presence is a crashing and rustling of treetop branch...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Aug 29, 2011, 8:30 am
Secularism throbs in Kawardha's historic heart and its pulsing beat invited Jennifer Nandi to be one with it Stretches of evergreen forest flank the western edge of the township of Kawardha. Towards the south flows the river Sankari. Baiga tribals form a significant segment of the dist...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Aug 26, 2011, 11:25 pm
Did that curious crowd know, or care, that the snake we were trying to see off to safety was a harmless albeit aggressive Checkered Keelback? Here's how to tell a Checkered Keelback from its venomous relatives: Round eyes, checkered scale pattern, keele...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Aug 25, 2011, 11:31 pm
The White-cheeked Barbet, earlier known as the Small Green Barbet, just melts into the canopy. But peer into the roof of leaves and you'll see it devouring fruits and figs I saw this green bird for the first time at Polachira, a wetland near Thiruvananthapuram. My friend Rahul...
Comment - Like

Bijoy V. posted an article on The Green Ogre - Aug 25, 2011, 1:26 am
These are not just encounters, but close encounters. In these situations I have either touched or been too close for comfort with certain members of the suborder Serpentes I'd never imagined that such a day would dawn. In 2008, I visited the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station ...
Comment - Like