caravahan

#ruins #clouds

#butterfly #butterflies

In capturing this Ox-eye Daisy, M1 realised how hard it is to bend over with a phone and get the right angle and depth.

Yes yes yes! Finally captured a Khalij Pheasant, तीतर.

A Black-headed Jay with a grub in its mouth

Dahlia?

Flutterfly

All fruits

M1 calls this Big Chungus Burdus. Mind it.

#Mantis. Yes this pic is about the last moments of a mantis. The #Black-headed #Jay is incidental.

Obligatory abstract Insta travel pic. With filter.

Asked M2 to choose the filter. He is now super stressed. Eyes twitching and all.

The lesser yellownape woodpecker. कठफोड़वा.

See how beautiful the feathers are, of a yellownape woodpecker (कठफोड़वा)

When wet in the rain, all birds resemble a chicken 😂

Lesser yellownape woodpecker, कठफोड़वा

See, bite, gobble.

These pictures of the lesser yellowpane were taken at what is called a "hide". After all the traipsing through rainy Uttarakhand forests with leeches and bugs harassing us, we thought it would be nice to just sit back and have the birds come to us.

A hide operates by offering food to birds. The birds flock to the food and you can observe them from up close. Its what we do in our backyards all the time, and think nothing of. But when you do it commercially, next to a forest, you risk turning wild birds into feral ones.

Not an experience I'd repeat again, most probably. Even though the food offered was just fruit and बाजरा.

You have been #mooned

Not your ordinary crow. This is the Grey Treepie.

Le Plum-headed Parakeet, तोता. Who refused to eat the plums I offered it, eating बाजरा (millet) instead.

I'll be walking.
Walking in the rain.

The Oriental Turtle Dove. Who names these things? Isn't कबूतर enough?

La Plum-headed Parakeet. तोता.

A Plum-headed Parakeet couple, om nom nomming. Repeat after me - awwwwwwwww

Excuse me while I puff up my chest to thwart any other birds trying to get at this buffet.

The Red-billed Blue Magpie, y'all. Wait till you see its tail in the next post.

Behold the long tail of the Red-billed Blue Magpie

Did you think I'm done with his majesty the Magpie? You thought wrong.

My face isn't just stuffed full of food. My face is stuffed IN food. Nom yum yum.

The mooning continues. This time by a White-throated Laughingthrush.

Ei! Freddie! Are we doing this or what?

See boss, the thing is, it's the little one's birthday today, and I don't wanna get home all wet and mottled.

Ninja. I'm a ninja girl. Hai-ya!

Just hanging about. Doing my thing. Being plump.

Are you having trouble spotting me on the tree? That's the whole point genius. Its called camouflage.

Blue Whisting-thrush. Again, not a crow as you might assume.

Binge watch the entire series, they said. What could go wrong, they said. Now look at me eyes.

Guess where is this place

[This was at Sanjay Van, Delhi. We visit again on Wednesday morning. Care to join us?]

Black Kite. चील। This one was really close - so close that I had trouble taking a picture.

It was scavenging from a garbage bin - which is sad.

तोता। Rose-ringed Parakeet. Just look at the details on the feathers.

The Jacobin Cuckoo. In India it is considered to be the harbinger of rain. Indeed it had rained in Gurgaon the night before I captured this pic.

Would you mind if I posted another couple of pics of the Jacobin Cuckoo. This is the first time I've seen this bird and it is indeed spectacular.

And the cuckoo flies away

The Purple Sunbird, female. I've always only photographed the male before, with its striking colours.

"I have the goods. In my mouth."

This Indian Robin flitted about for a very long time, from branch to branch, tree to tree, with its catch in its mouth. Was it trying to impress someone?

"Sharing is caring". "No, you're the wrong species, dimwit. Birds of a feather flock together. Look at yours and look at mine."

Actually the Robin did not reply to the Sunbird. If it opened its mouth, the insect would be gone.

Black Drongo. Contemplative.

Rufous Treepie.

Can you identify the trickery involved in this photograph.

The Greater Coucal.

"Whaddaya say buddy. Do we go in?"

We were lucky to come across a hoard of birds and animals, clustered around the foliage under a tree. I suppose an animal had died there, and they were all having a morning feast. We saw what we thought was a dog, but @upcycling.artist identified to be a jackal. What luck!

Sind Sparrow. गौरैया।

The Himalayan Blackvein butterfly.

The Oriental Magpie-robin

Icarus

Sunday was spent sailing on the Chapora River

The boys had a lot of fun ❤️

Someone actually took a pic of me... although it isn't a flattering pic at all.

The changing light at sunset time meant that each photograph has come out applied with its own unique filter.

The sunset was gorgeous. Such colours in the sky. The photographs do not do justice.

We went kayaking to an island that appears and disappears with the tide.

My prior experience with kayaking 🛶 was a bad one 20 years ago. This was definitely a lot of fun, and something I'd like to do over and over again.

So, you know, we could do this if you come visit us.

Although it might appear from this pic that he is being towed, M1 did kayak back and forth quite independently.

Most of these pics haven't been taken by me. Which explains how they've turned out so beautiful.

Random gorgeousness

The high point was definitely jumping into the river while the boat was anchored. The fast flowing current whisked us away as soon as we hit the water.