Experts - What is going on here? This male American Kestrel sure did seem to have the hots for this female Merlin. He kept trying to get close to her and even brought her a few treats (insects?) from the grass beneath the fence. She accepted the treats but didn't seem thrilled with the attention. However, when he flew off, she followed him...
While I am uploading more pictures to the post, some error occurred and I have accidently deleted the post. This is the new updated post
Golden-backed Frog
Mushroom grown on frog body
A parent Purple-rumped Sunbird,has an Unique way of keeping the nest clean of Feacal droppings of the chicks. On a Vocal signal from the parent, the chick, turns backward and projects out of the nest-entrance and defecates, for the waiting parent to pick it up with her beak and dispose the dropping away from the nest. This perhaps prevents fungal & other microbial infestation inside the humid nest.
A Common Myna-Acredotheres tristis, with an unusually long & curved beak.The only one in the flock of Mynas in the locality.
Blyth's Reed Warbler with Fowl Pox.
prey -observation
flying fox with pup
pups are carried by the mother for the first few weeks of life, with weaning occurring around 5 months of age. Males do not participate in parental care. Young bats learn to fly at approximately 11 weeks of age.
Pseudoscorpion & its babies !
These tiny creatures are really amazing to watch. Other day I posted how these false scorpions carry their eggs, like a bunch of grapes on its back.
Here i got continuation of that , Where Mother pseudoscorpion is carrying its juvenile on dorsum of abdomen & few more are there on its ventral side.
I was not able to capture better than this as pseudoscorpions are restless creatures & they never sit when exposed to sunlight. They always move in search of the dark. These Arachnids have the unique strength of moving both forward & backward.
This makes us very difficult to capture . I am sharing three record photos,to showcase its maternal care.
ಹುಸಿಚೇಳಿನ ಬಗೆಗೆ ನಾನು ಈ ಹಿಂದೆ ನಿಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯೊಳಗೆ , ಜೇನ್ನೊಣದ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಇವು ಜೀವನ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ರಕೃತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇವು ಮರದ ತೊಗಟೆಯ ಅಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸುತ್ತವೆಯಾದ್ದರಿಂದ ಇವು ಹೊರಜಗತ್ತಿಗೆ ಕಾಣುವುದೇ ಇಲ್ಲ.
ಈ ಅಷ್ಟಪದಿಯ ಅಧ್ಯಯನಕ್ಕೆ ಒಂದು ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯೇ ಸೂಕ್ತ .
ತಿಂಗಳಿಗೊಮ್ಮೆ ನಾನು ನಮ್ಮ ತೋಟದಲ್ಲಿನ ಜೇನುಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯ ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಕೈ ಹಾಕಿದಾಗ ನನಗೆ ಈ ಹುಸಿಚೇಳುಗಳ ದರ್ಶನವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಕ್ಯಾಮೆರಾ ಸದಾ ಜೊತೆಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಇವು ಸದಾ ಕತ್ತಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬದುಕುವ ಜೀವಿಗಳು. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ನಾವು ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಯನ್ನು ತೆಗೆದೊಡನೆ, ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಸೆರೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಅಡಗಿಬಿಡುತ್ತವೆ.
ಮೊನ್ನೆಯೂ ಹಾಗೆ ಆಯ್ತು.
ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯ ಒಳಗೆ ಹುಸಿಚೇಳೊಂದು ಈಗ ತಾನೇ ಮೊಟ್ಟೆಯಿಂದ ಹೊರ ಬಂದ ಮರಿಯನ್ನು ಬೆನ್ನ ಮೇಲೆ ಕುರಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿತ್ತು. ಹೊಟ್ಟೆಯ ಕೆಳಗೆ, ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ ಗೊಂಚಲಿನಂತೆ ಮೊಟ್ಟೆಗಳಿದ್ದವು ಮತ್ತು ಆ ಮೊಟ್ಟೆಗಳಿಂದ ಮರಿಗಳು ಹೊರಬರಲು ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದ್ದವು.
ಈ ಅಪರೂಪದ ಕ್ಷಣಗಳನ್ನು ದಾಖಲಿಸಲು ಅನೇಕ ಸವಾಲುಗಳು.
ಹುಸಿಚೇಳು ಕತ್ತಲೆಯನ್ನು ಹುಡಿಕಿಕೊಂಡು, ವೇಗವಾಗಿ ಚಲಿಸುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಇವುಗಳು ಹಿಂದೆ, ಮುಂದೆ ಅಡ್ಡಡ್ಡ ಚಲಿಸುವ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಥ್ಯ ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಇದನ್ನು ಫೋಕಸ್ಪೆ ಮಾಡುವುದು ಬಲು ಕಷ್ಟ. ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಯೊಳಗಣ ಜೇನ್ನೊಣಗಳು ನನ್ನ ಸುತ್ತ ಹಾರುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು. ಯಾವಾಗ ಚುಚ್ಚುವುದೋ ಎಂಬ ಭಯ ಒಂದು ಕಡೆಯಾದರೆ, ಕಾಲಿಗೆ ಕುತ್ತುವ ಸೊಳ್ಳೆಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಕಚ್ಚುವ ಕೆಂಜುಗಗಳು ಇನ್ನೊಂದುಕಡೆ .
ಇವೆಲ್ಲದರ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ನನಗೆ ಮೂರೇ ಮೂರೂ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು ಸಿಕ್ಕವು. ಅಷ್ಟು ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ಈ ಹುಸಿ ಚೇಳು ತನ್ನ ಮಕ್ಕಳೊಡನೆ ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯ ಸೆರೆಯೊಳಗೆ ಅವಿತುಬಿಟ್ಟಿತ್ತು.
ಚಿತ್ರೀಕರಿಸಿದ ಆ ಮೂರೂ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು ಇದೋ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಿಮಗಾಗಿ.
May 2021
Indraprastha
Mysuru.
The contrasting pictures, three days apart. The caterpillar while pupating showed unhealthy signs and few days later the parasite wasp larva(?) emerged and seems to have died too before pupating! Wonder why and what caused this.
The ants kept troubling the spider, but it gave a damn and shoo them off, at one point few of them gripped it, but it got rid off them in no time
On a leaf near an artificial pond... No of individuals spotted are 2..4 of R.malabaricus also spotted
in the absence of a trunk or stone to lean on, a capybara may be an option;
I have observed these two individuals do this twice;
see also
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/nelson_wisnik/21258-the-friendly-capybara
Picture taken by my uncle of a colony of Dholes which are part of a small population in the Ooty area. This picture was taken somewhere in sholur. Not sure of the
exact location.
Spiders have tendency to mimic ants :)
Here is one which is mimicking Mutillidae .
Mutillidae wasp family are known as velvet ants,because females are wingless and they resembles large hairy ants.
Wasp itself looks like an ant and here is a spider mimicking that wingless wasp!
Here is
Velvet-ant Mimicking Spider
Coenoptychus pulcher
From grasslands of Mysuru.
January 2023.
The spadix had an up twisted spathe. The corm seems to be underground and the leaves weren't visible.
Photo by local guide Sudheesh, who was with myself and Heidi Doman