Oriental Magpie Robin

Oriental Magpie Robin

Monsoon this year has been quite vigorous here with hardly any gap between the incessant rain. This is quite troublesome for birds and insects. That afternoon there was a little respite from the rain. I saw our resident male oriental magpie robin (Copsychus saularis) drying himself on a curved twig in our kitchen garden. Behind … Read more

Mating Trouble

After photographing Female Plain Tiger, I was in the hunt for the Male Plain Tiger. As the Plain Tiger is known to be parasitized at least occasionally by Spiroplasma bacteria which selectively kill off male hosts, a subsequent scarcity of Plain Tiger males might have led to this hybridization and the evolution of the new … Read more

Elliot’s Forest Lizard

That Sunday evening I was returning back home I noticed a slender lizard peeking out from the rainwater drain of my garage entrance. I quickly parked my car and pulled out Canon EOS 1D Mark IV fitted with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM. My house has Mangalore tiled roof. I have fitted it with … Read more

Female Plain Tiger

Female Plain Tiger Under Side View

I had written long back on Plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus) butterfly. At that time I was using Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM with 36mm of extension tube to photograph this Plain Tiger butterfly. Soon after the Scarlet Skimmer dragonfly photograph session which I published last week, I spotted a female plain tiger butterfly nearby. … Read more

Male Scarlet Skimmer

Male Scarlet Skimmer

Photographing dragonflies is very rewarding experience. They exhibit a wide range of bright colors and present a challenge to photograph, at rest or in-flight. My favorite dragonfly photography lens was Canon EF 300mm f/4L telephoto lens as it had minimum focusing distance among all the large telephoto lenses I possessed. Now since I sold that … Read more

Monkey Puzzle

Monkey Puzzle

Monkey Puzzle I am referring to, is neither the political game which our politicians play, nor any other game I am trying to promote. That afternoon I was teaching my 10 year old daughter Neethi few basics of photography when she spotted a small butterfly with several tail filaments sitting on a crape jasmine bush. … Read more