Endo Valley, CO
Bird of the Day: Great Horned Owl
Endo Valley, CO
The Black Sea Nettle (Chrysaora achlyos)
Photo Courtesy: http://www.MontereyBayAquarium.org
Continuing my exhibition of exotic animals, I present a prime example of the bizarre and awe-inspiring ability for the ocean to produce truly alien creatures. The Black Sea Nettle (Chrysaora achlyos), otherwise known as the Sarlacc or Black Jellyfish is found in the Pacific Ocean. A fairly massive specimen, its bell can reach diameters of 1 meter in length and its tentacles 6 meters. Displaying a vividly contrasting maroon hue against the ocean’s blue/green backdrop, Chrysaora achlyos preys upon zooplankton, and are often found en masse during red tide phenomenons in which zooplankton are responsible. Continue reading
Wild Periyar – Indian Gaur
Bos gaurus
Wild Gaur is one of the Periyar’s top 10 mammals. The tropical climate, rich and productive banks of the Periyar reservoir attracts Gaur that gather in large numbers to graze on fresh fodder and drink and bathe in the waters of the famous lake . Continue reading
Photography Tips: Wait for it!
I often say that wildlife photography is not just about Tigers or Leopards. Spend time with common subjects and you will be rewarded with photo worthy lighting and action.
Understanding animal behaviour and previsualizing your images is the key to making good images. In the case above we waited patiently with the herd of spotted deer since the lighting was good. We aimed at this spotted deer with velvet antlers and hoped to get images of it in isolation…we waited for the right moment and this one posed for us. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Dusky-capped Flycatcher (Los Cedros Reserve, Ecuador)
Wildlife Sanctuaries of India–Bandhavgarh National Park
Sita, National Geographic
If you are really, really desperate to see tigers in their natural habitat, maybe you should try visiting Bandhavgarh National Park in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh since it has the highest concentration of tigers among all the national parks in India! With an area of 105 sq km open to tourists and a buffer zone of 427 sq km, Bandhavgarh National Park is home to almost 50 Bengal tigers.
A female tiger named Sita, who also appeared on the cover of National Geographic and is the most photographed tiger in the world, also lived in Banhavgarh. In fact, most tigers in the reserve today are thought to be descendants of her and a male tiger named Charger. Continue reading
Greater Cat Ears – Wild Flowers
Cyanotis tuberosa
Native of peninsular India and Sri Lanka,this stocky succulent herb is seen among the rocks in gravelly and sandy soil growing up to 1200 meters. The plants blooms during September, October and November. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Lesser Whistling Duck
Bharatpur, Rajasthan
My Animal of the Day – Pfeffer’s Flamboyant Cuttlefish
After much deliberation (1 day), I decided that I did not want to limit myself to just one particular group of animals to enthusiastically promote to the Raxa Family; instead, from now on I will be sticking my hand in a hat and pulling a name out with whatever insanely awesome or obnoxiously exotic organism I have chosen and posting it. Truthfully, my love and admiration for certain organisms extends well beyond those of just reptiles and amphibians; so why constrain myself to just those?
Photo Courtesy Diverosa.com
Wildlife Santuaries of India–Kanha National Park
Who doesn’t love the Jungle Book? image © Disney
If you ever feel nostalgic and would like to relive your childhood years, you should consider visiting Kanha National Park in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh; it inspired the Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling and served as a setting for The Jungle Book!
A sloth bear!
Photograph by Zigmund Leszczynski/Animals Animals-Earth Scenes; National Geographic
Kanha is a Tiger Reserve in the Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh, India
This park is known for its abundant population of royal Bengal tiger, leopards, sloth bear, swamp deer, and Indian wild dog. The park’s main flora consists of lush saal, bamboo forests, lakes, streams, and open grasslands. Continue reading
Margam Kali
Photo credit : Sindhu J
Margam Kali is one of the traditional group dances of Kerala practiced by Syrian Christians. The dancers wear the traditional Kerala Christian dress (white dhoti and blouse) while singing, dancing and rhythmically clapping around a lighted lamp. The dance form dates back to the 16th century during the Portuguese era, telling the story of the arrival of St. Thomas to the Malabar coast. Continue reading
What Else is Out There?
Thanks to the World Wildlife Fund, 441 new species of plants and animals have been discovered in the Amazonian rainforest, including a truly bizarre looking monkey that apparently purrs like a cat when content, as well as a… vegetarian piranha.
Newly discovered Titi Monkey. Photo Courtesy World Wildlife Fund
It is a good feeling in any naturalist’s gut, amateur or professional, too know that undiscovered species still remain in today’s world — where technology and advancements in various facets of our lives thanks to 21st century progressivism don’t leave much to the imagination; it seems as though the mystique of discovery still remains just as true to many of us as it did when we were children. Unfortunately this is not the case for absolutely everyone, but for those who are still amazed by the world, discoveries such as this are a blessing.
Focus: From Near to Infinity
The concept of hyperfocal distance is well-know to landscape photographers where they use this technique to get amazing images due to the increased depth of field.
The hyperfocal distance is the closest distance at which a lens can be focused on while maintaining objects at “infinity” acceptably sharp. When the lens is focused on the foreground, all objects at distances from half of the hyperfocal distance out to infinity will be well-defined.
Here is the steps I followed to get the results as shown: Continue reading
Woody@101
Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Last year we were a bit “off calendar” in honoring one of our favorite American Masters, this year less so. The good news is that his music and his relentless work on behalf of less fortunate people and the communities they were part of is so vast that, luckily for us, it will take some time to exhaust the full measure of his recordings.
For decades, we’ve had the Smithsonian recordings (with the help of Alan Lomax and Moe Asch) to thank for preserving both the musical and oral history of the nation. In honor of this less symmetrical birthday Rounder Records has released additional works from the archives, this time focusing on the part of Guthrie’s canon that was written for the American government.
In the Library of Congress recordings, the young musicologist and historian Alan Lomax made recordings of songs and stories in the 1940s of many of the country’s most colorful and important musicians, including Guthrie.
Along with John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” it is one of the single greatest resources for understanding Depression-era Oklahoma: how the pioneer spirit reacted when confronted with crushing poverty. Continue reading
Ek Balam, Mexico
Bird of the Day: Ferruginous Pygmy Owl
Common Floss Flower – Eupatorium odoratum
Common Floss Flower is frequently found along road sides and on hills up to 1200 meters. Native to tropical South America and naturalized in India, it is an aggressive invader. The flowers of the plant attracts butterflies.
Rainforests, Primary And Otherwise
Thanks to the Guardian for bringing this to our attention:
At an age when freedom passes allow pensioners to take on the challenge of clambering to the top deck of a bus, Dr Francis Hallé is more likely to be found perched at the top of a tree.
The retired professor of botany is 75 and has just completed his first film. In it he can be seen standing, without a safety rope, on a branch of a massive moabi tree 230 feet above the forest floor. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Barred Becard
Los Quetzales, Panama
Reptile of the Day – Thorny Dragon
Today’s reptile is the Thorny Dragon, Moloch horridus (Australia) — as its name suggests, this Australian lizard’s body is dominated by intimidating spikes in order to look unappealing and fend off predators.
Occupying scrublands and deserts primarily, the Thorny Dragon’s coloration is perfect for blending in and feasting on ants, its main source of nutrition.
Photo Courtesy: statravel.co.uk
^ The face says it all ^
Photo courtesy: australiangeographic.com.au
New Biography Of Gandhi
There was an uproar, just around the time that Raxa Collective was forming, over Joseph Lelyveld’s biography of Gandhi. Many of us were new to India then, and had not understood just how much, how deeply and in how many ways Gandhi meant more than just history to all Indians. The international news coverage seemed as surprised as some of us, but generally did what they were supposed to do in reporting. This newspaper in particular seemed as objective as possible in reporting about the impact of a book that one of its own former editors had authored. Now, another biography, and we look forward to it. Thanks to the New York Times and their India Ink news service:
Ramachandra Guha is one of India’s foremost public intellectuals and historians. “Gandhi Before India,” his first volume of a two-part biography of Mohandas K. Gandhi, was published in India earlier this month. India Ink spoke to Mr. Guha about his decision to work on a biography of Mr. Gandhi, his choice to make Mr. Gandhi’s years in South Africa as the first volume of the biography, and Mr. Gandhi’s journey from a boy in the western state of Gujarat to his return to India as a major political figure. Continue reading
Organikos 