Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat
Bird of the Day: Crab Plover
Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat
Periyar Sightings: Tiger Trail
View of Periyar Lake
Mr. Mujeeb, tour escort from Kumily, went on the Periyar Tiger Trail hike last month and shared some of his photos with us.
Kerala Culture and Arts – Ranga 2014
Ashtapadi
With the goal of conserving the cultural art of Kerala from extinction, Nilambur Kovilakam recently conducted an event called ‘Ranga 2014’ on the 17th and 18th of January. It was a two day event wherein artists portrayed their talents to a mixed audience of people from the Kovilakam and visitors from farther afield. The major intention of this event was to showcase the cultural heritage of Kerala and demonstrate its art forms to an invited audience from various parts of the world. Continue reading
Starling Murmuration Season
Thanks to the Guardian for this photographic spread on one of our favorite bird phenomena:
From October to March thousands of starlings flock together to perform extraordinary displays across the UK. This gallery captures the murmurations of starlings as they swirl in the sky above reed beds where they roost at night. Some of the pictures were sent to us by our readers via GuardianWitness and via Guardian Environment desk’s Flickr group Green Shoots.
Bridging Art & Science
Detail of the cover of the October 2013 issue of SciArt in America, showing the “Observe” exhibition at Williamson Gallery in Pasadena (photograph by Steven A. Heller/Art Center College of Design)
This is an appropriate follow up, of sorts, to the plea in favor of liberal arts, humanities and the like:
It’s no revelation that science and art have long been linked, the curiosity about the workings of the world aligned with artistic creativity. Recently, however, there seems to be more of a movement towards connecting the two worlds into a tighter community. Continue reading
Solar’s Messy Compromises
BrightSource Energy’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in the Mojave Desert. Photograph: Isaac Brekken/Washington Post
It’s not easy being green. Even seeming no-brainers like this solar initiative requires complicated tradeoffs between one environmental objective and another:
…The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System will send that power across California, the Golden State, early this year, becoming the largest solar plant in the world to concentrate the sun’s rays to produce electricity. Such utility-sized solar plants are beginning to appear across the US, with 232 under construction, in testing or granted permits, many in the south-west and California, says the Edison Electric Institute, which represents utilities. The scale of the largest plants is difficult to imagine in the eastern part of the country, where a relative lack of available open land and unobstructed sunlight have limited solar facilities to perhaps a tenth the size of the West’s plants. In the west, ample sun, wide-open spaces, financial incentives, falling costs and state mandates have made big solar plants possible…
…But even as the largest plants are helping utilities meet state requirements for renewable energy, the appetite for them may be waning, say experts. The next phase of solar development – especially in the east – may feature smaller projects located closer to cities. Environmental groups want regulators to look at sites such as landfills and industrial zones before allowing construction in largely undisturbed environments such as deserts. Continue reading
Jaipur Literature Festival’s Guest From The New Yorker
Courtesy of Sukruti Anah Staneley. Jonathan Shainin.We link to the New Yorker frequently and to The Caravan occasionally, so we are happy to share a link to a story that provides an intersection to both:
We link to the New Yorker frequently and to The Caravan occasionally, so we are happy to share a link to a story that provides an intersection to both:
A Conversation With: Jonathan Shainin, Newyorker.com News Editor
By MAX BEARAK
Jonathan Shainin was the senior editor at The Caravan, an English-language long-form journalism magazine, for three years before leaving India in October to become the news editor at The New Yorker’s website, where he commissions and edits both domestic and international news stories.
Beauty of Kerala – Athirappally Waterfall
Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor
The Athirappally Waterfall is one of the largest in Kerala, situated about 1000 ft above sea-level on the Chalakkudy River, at the entrance to the Sholayar Forest Range of the Western Ghats. Falling from a height of 80 ft, this cataract is a major tourist attraction. Continue reading
From Arctic to Oceania in Eight Days
Migrating Bar Tailed Godwit – Mulki, India
Every autumn the Bar-tailed godwit undertakes an eight-day journey from Alaska to New Zealand. The bird flies non-stop, rarely breaking the whopping 11,000 kilometer journey to rest or eat.
This wading bird is far superior to all aircraft constructed by humans when it comes to the art of flying for a long time without a break; unlike seabirds, they can neither rest on water nor feed at sea. Continue reading
A Drone By Any Other Name
Drones are generally not pleasant news references. Occasionally, however, there are surprises. Thanks to Reuters for this news on nature photography’s latest tech breakthrough:
BeetleCopter, the low-cost alternative for wildlife photography (2:24)
Jan. 16 – A British photographer and entrepreneur has developed drone technology for shooting documentary-quality wildlife footage at extremely low cost. Will Burrard-Lucas has sold models of his earlier invention – the ground-level BeetleCam – to other budding wildlife photographers, and hopes to do the same with his BeetleCopter.
Bird of the Day: Indian Yellow Tit
Ganeshgudi, Karnataka
Watch, Weep, Read, Wonder, Share
A synopsis of this documentary is here:
Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. Along the way, director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry. Continue reading
Performing Arts of Kerala
Photo credit: Abhayan Menon
The rhythm, elegance and finesse of the classical dance of Kerala is a result of the various cultural influences that took place in the state. These classical forms are a delicate fusion of ancient classical texts and folk traditions, often related to religious rituals and mythological stories. Continue reading
Classics-R-Us
PRIVATE COLLECTION/KEN WELSH/THE BRIDGEMAN ART LIBRARY. Fourteenth-century Florentine poet Petrarch so loved the classical authors that he imagined conversations with them.
Among all the topics we survey, link to and write about on this site, the classics are if anything underrepresented relative to their importance in matters of community, collaboration and conservation. History is probably the most visible, thanks to Seth’s recent series on Iceland. Book reviews and shout outs to great professors are also visible with some frequency. Maybe enough, maybe not. Anyway, once more to the trenches, on the side of the humanities but not against practical considerations; the liberal arts matter to our future, not just to our past as this essay reaffirms, so let’s not lose them:
In 2011, the University of California at Los Angeles decimated its English major. Such a development may seem insignificant, compared with, say, the federal takeover of health care. It is not. What happened at UCLA is part of a momentous shift in our culture that bears on our relationship to the past—and to civilization itself. Continue reading
DIY Activism, Food And Health
From one of our favored writers seconded to the world of activists and agriculture thinkers, who also happens to be a professor in his spare time.
Bird of the Day: Eastern Bluebird Chicks (Estabrook Park, Milwaukee)
From Behind the Wheel: Top Tek Chauffeuse
Vytilla Junction, Ernakulam
Windows For Bird Conservation
Thanks to Conservation Magazine‘s weekly newsfeed for this briefing on bird-friendly building practices:
The infrastructure that provides people with essential services sometimes has a surprisingly large side effect on other species. Seemingly benign buildings may be one of the deadliest serial killers.
People have long observed birds collide with windows at their home or office. The cumulative effect of all those collisions across America has previously been estimated to range widely from 100 million to 1 billion birds killed a year. A new study to be published in The Condor analyzed previous studies and datasets for a clearer consensus. The result, even with some uncertainty remaining, was still a whopping 365 to 988 million birds. Continue reading
Thai Pongal – Festival of Tamil Nadu
Photo credits: Renuka Menon
Thai Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu on January 14th every year for four days. Tamilians decorate their homes with sugarcane and leaves from banana and mango trees, and draw on the floor with kolams (decorative patterns made with rice flour). Continue reading
PhotoSingularities: Big Sagebrush in Moonlight (2)
Organikos 