We had few drizzle the other day and a visitor to our garden the Rufous Treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda). I wanted to catch both the drizzle as well as the bird in a single shot. So I used a slow shutterspeed of 1/200 the second. You can see some streaks of rain drops in the picture. … Read more
The Common Mime (Chilasa clytia) is a Swallowtail butterfly found in South and South-east Asia. The butterfly belongs to the Chilasa group or the Black-bodied Swallowtails. It serves an excellent example of a Batesian mimic among the Indian butterflies. Wingspan of 90-105 mm. This is butterfly has dimorphism for both sexes – there are two … Read more
I found this male Loten’s Sunbird in my garden the other day with spider in its mouth. The Loten’s Sunbird or Long-billed Sunbird, Cinnyris lotenius (formerly placed in the genus Nectarinia), is one of a group of very small Old World passerine birds which feed largely on nectar. Sunbirds will also take insects, especially when … Read more
The Grey-breasted Prinia, Prinia hodgsonii, is a small warbler. This prinia is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka and southeast Asia. This skulking passerine bird is typically found in open woodland, scrub jungle, and other open areas with some grass. Grey-breasted Prinia builds its nest in tall grass and lays 3-4 eggs. … Read more
Black and Yellow Mud Dauber (Sceliphron caementarium) like all sphecids are more closely related to bees than to the vespid wasps. They are solitary insects that build nests out of mud in sheltered locations, frequently on man-made structures. These nests are not aggressively defended, and stings are rare. Mud daubers make use of spiders to … Read more
