Hike To An Incredibly Surreal Monastery

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As close as you can get of this gregarious bird!

As close as you can get of this gregarious bird!, a photo by arunkumud on Flickr.

Not a particularly beauteous bird, but I was lucky to get sharp details. Clicked this one in Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan

Perched on a jeep!

Perched on a jeep!, a photo by arunkumud on Flickr.

A great thing about Rajasthan is the birds here are habituated to humans. I could not have clicked this in Manipal or anywhere nearby.

Thirthahalli Visit - Sakrebyle Elephant Camp

Indian Peafowl (female) - Pavo cristatus

Monsoon is a lean time for bird photography. All the avian creatures seem to vanish God knows where. But luck favored me the other day when the torrential rains stopped for a welcome breather. Not that I do not enjoy monsoon, in fact rains here are an awesome sight fit for Gods....and for ordinary mortals like me! Besides, I also heard that Arabs love coming to coastal Karnataka just to watch the cascading rain drops. Not surprising at all ..with 4000 mm annual rainfall, coastal Karnataka is a nature lover's paradise. I do hope it stays that way and does not get polluted. You never know what will happen with the mining mafia and the builder mafia marauding this lovely part of the earth.

Anyways back to my focus. Looking out of the window is a common trait we all have, but more often than not we look more and see less. But here is what I saw out of my bedroom window the other day. A female peafowl, our own national bird perched on a tree. It is quite common to watch  peacocks foraging on the ground but rarely do we get to see them perched on a tree top.

Monsoon special!

You see butterflies all the time, ordinary ones and exotic ones. Frankly, and in my opinion all butterflies are exotic. But getting one of them in your camera frame is a different story altogether. I am amazed how people click these lovely little creatures that never stay still. Nevertheless I was lucky I could get one in my frame this monsoon. This one is called Yellow Orange Tip ,  or Ixias pyrene by scientific name. To be more precise this butterfly of the Family Pieridae is the wet-season form. Dry season ones look more colorful. Hope I will be lucky enough to catch one soon!!