Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala
Bird of the Day: Nilgiri Flowerpecker
Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala
Mindo Manakins Video
Here is the video I put together of the manakins in Mindo! I added it to my original post as well.
The video is all of the same branch, but there were at least four or five males in the same 10m radius calling from their own branches, often on the same tree.
Mapping Africa’s Glaciers
The Guardian recently ran this piece, whose surprise starts in the title (glaciers in Africa?) and continues on from there:
Ptolemy thought they were the source of the Nile and called them theMountains of the Moon because of the perpetual mists that covered them; Stanley claimed to be the first non-African to see their icecap; and the many thousands of subsistence farmers who today live on the slopes of the fabled Rwenzori mountains in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo fear that warming temperatures are devastating their harvests.
Wild Periyar: June 10, 2012
We recently met Mr. Manoj, a tourist escort who is a regularly visitor at Cardamom County. He was happy to share some photographs from his most recent trip to Thekkady.
I visited Periyar Tiger Reserve along with my some of my business friends. We were really pleased to have such good sightings. We saw elephants, bisons and many birds, but the main attraction was the natural ambiance of the park which helped us to unwind. – Mr. Manoj
Our Kind Of Photographer
The Cornell Plant Pathology Photo Lab, run by Kent Loeffler, has an archive of photography worthy of a rainy Sunday afternoon…for now just admire this photographer’s discovery and click through (on the image below) to the other eight pictures of the month on the site:
Bird of the Day: Red House Finch Male (Palm Desert, CA)
Lingual Limits & Elegant Etymology
Birding in Ecuador: Trogons, Toucans, and Tanagers!
Until I catch up on my school-posts, I won’t be writing much about Mindo. I do, however, have videos and photos that I took on Mari’s camera, so check them out! The round glare you often see is the lens of the camera reflecting against the scope that provided most of the zoom to capture the images—I discovered the annoying way how difficult it is to perfectly align the two device’s lenses. Thus, some of my footage has required heavy splicing to edit out the seconds spent trying to focus the scope (which in addition had a bad leg) in one hand while keeping the lenses in line with the other hand. Unfortunately, the most evasive bird, the Golden-winged Manakin, was the subject of the most troublesome equipment management.
Continue reading
Being Full of It: A Meaningful Word
Since arriving in Kerala, I have been greeted many ways. I have exchanged many smiles and hellos, and I have been veiled with jasmine garland and pressed with traditional dika. However, the greeting I find most profound lies in a single word: Namaskaram.
Two people, worlds apart, meet with this word. Each of their hands draws together in a prayerful pose in the nest of their individual chests. With a bow of their heads, they utter, “Namaskaram.” At first, it seemed like a simple interaction, yet when I asked the native people for the meaning, I learned that it has a much deeper connotation.
A signal of respect. A promise of hospitality. A notion of putting aside one’s ego. All of these meanings are understood with Namaskaram. I witness and experience them with nearly every interaction among the people here at Cardamom County, but the latter meaning, putting aside one’s ego, has struck a powerful chord in me. Continue reading
Angel’s Trumpet (Datura Suaveolens)
Angel trumpet plant is a shrub very commonly found in the Western Ghats of India. It grows to a height of 3-5 meters with funnel shaped white flowers. The shape and color inspires the flower’s name. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: White-cheeked Barbet
Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala
990…991…The Road to 1,000 World Birds
Long-billed Sunbird
I now have a better understanding of what baseball players mean when they talk about reaching an important milestone and how happy they will be when it’s over. The nerves and anticipation that go along with these symbolic but meaningful round numbers have always captivated people, myself included. I remember being in the stands when Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees hit his 500th home run; the relief and joy on his face were exciting to see. Now, my circumstance is nowhere near as significant, and the media is certainly not following me, but I myself am on the brink of a major milestone here at Cardamom County.
First Few Days at Tomás de Berlanga: Part 1
Snapshot of whiteboard on Friday afternoon
Although I have not yet posted as promised about the birds I saw in Mindo, I have to describe my week so far on Santa Cruz before I forget the details and delay the sequence of more current and relevant events too much.
I arrived at school early Monday morning to start working at the Tomás de Berlanga school (named for the man who first discovered the archipelago). I was to temporarily take the place of an English teacher who was still waiting for her visa renewal on the mainland, or “el Continente,” as Galapageños call it, and teach English to two classes.
For the upper levels of the school, classes are on a block schedule of eighty minutes periods, and my two classes were of intermediate English level 7th-9th graders and 10th-12th graders. Each group was of ten to twelve students that had all been born on one of the islands or el Continente, and some of whose parents speak English.
My goal for this first day was to spend the classes gauging the students’ English proficiency, their interest in birds, and especially their knowledge of Santa Cruz’s avifauna. One of the ways I did the former was via an exercise that one of the other English teachers, Eduardo, recommended: put a sentence on a piece of paper and cut it so each word is separated, mix them up, and give them to groups of students to put back together. I thought this was a great idea, so I took some time to think of sentences that might have several ways to be composed (both to ease the process for students but also to see if there were any trends towards certain structures).
The Four O’Clock Flower (Mirabilis)
The four o’ clock flower is an ornamental, perennial, scented flower found commonly in the high ranges of the Western Ghats of India up to 800-1200m. These flowers will start to open its delicate bud in the afternoon and reach full bloom by 4 o’ clock. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Malabar Parakeet
Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala
Red Bell Flower
Red bell flower is a shrub naturalized in the Western Ghats of India. In Kerala, it is often added to bouquets for added color and texture. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Greater Roadrunner with Lizard (Rancho Mirage, CA)
Yellow Bell Flower (Tecoma Stans)
Yellow bell is an ornamental, perennial plant naturalized in the Western Ghats of India that grows to a height of 10-20 ft . The flowers are yellow and bell shaped when inverted, hence bearing the name Yellow bell flower. Bees, butterflies and humming birds are attracted by the flowers and helping them in pollination. In Kerala, it is widely cultivated as an ornamental as it attracts everyone by its natural beauty. Continue reading
Brazilian Beef & Cornellians In Kerala
Click the image below to go to the story. Brazil, host to the 1992 summit that put the concept of sustainable development into global consciousness, host to its follow up this year, and an erstwhile hotbed of environmentalism, is in recent years also the home of cattle-ranchers and soy farmers who slash and burn the Amazon rainforest in vast swathes to feed a growing global population. What shall we do?
We have already noted our support of beefs with major corporations over irresponsible forestry practices; and we have a beef with US tax code that warps market forces, reduces the incentive for ecologically sound grazing practices and leads to poorer human health outcomes… but here our beef should be with beef itself, since Brazilian political leaders seem ill-equipped to contain the destruction of Amazon rainforest by enforcing that country’s already strong environmental law. May we suggest a simple change in diet?
Raxa Collective sees travelers increasingly mentioning their love of vegetarian options on the menu (e.g. here and here) so we are doubling our bet on vegetarian cuisine. A group of seven amazing Cornellians will be working on this with us, among other green initiatives, for the next few months so the next post(s) will introduce them. Meanwhile, send your favorite veg recipes…
Cattle at an illegal settlement in northern Brazil: such ranches are the leading source of rainforest destruction in the Amazon. Photograph: Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images
Greenpeace’s latest investigations follow a groundbreaking study in 2009 that for the first time established a clear chain of responsibility stretching from Amazonian ranches on land cleared illegally to western companies including luxury brands, supermarkets and a variety of “household name” firms using everything from leather, beef and other cattle byproducts to paper packaging. Continue reading
