Tiny Birds in Idukki

During the 3-4 days we had in Idukki, I spotted a couple of birds near the guest house we were staying. Of course, with my camera with a mere optical zoom of 3 times, it was really tough capturing decent shots of these birds. All I managed were some shots that are maybe, just enough for identification. I've identified some as the Red-Whiskered Bulbul.

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Poop!
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This is one species I've yet to identify. Well, not such a birder anyway!
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Night Surprise - Stick Insect

The night at our guest house was a great night, however. It was really cool and we all had to stay inside to avoid catching a cold. However, before getting back indoors, I found something that made me do otherwise.

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On the front porch was this long stick insect, one of the biggest I've seen so far in India. I started photographing it as it stay still on the porch, ignoring me and my camera flashes.

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Soon, I decided to get it onto my hand and let it crawl over me. I got my cousin to take some pictures of it on me. Once I got it onto my palm, it became active and started walking around my hand. Guess it was 'day dreaming' all the while. I let go of the stick insect onto some nearby plants, and then went indoors to sleep.

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A Big Family Trip to the Hills of Idukki

Just a few days after coming back from Calicut, our family, together with two other relatives and their families decided to go for a trip to the wild and hilly areas in the Idukki district. To be honest, I really didn't like the fact that even our parents were coming, together with small kids that were only about 3 years old. This meant trouble, and that's exactly what happened. Some of the adults and kids started vomiting while the mini-bus climbed the mountains. By the end of the day, we reached a guest house and stayed there for the night. Here are some shots that I took during the ride. This is a view from the guest house we stayed.

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Some shots that I took from one of the mountains we climbed.

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While travelling in the coach, we could see many tea plantations by the sides, all looking great in green. Many tea pickers were also at work.

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Here's a shot I took while crossing a dam. Mountains surrounded by shimmering water, with low clouds floating above them. We are not allowed to take photographs of the dam, however. Photographs would have looked much better if I had a Digital SLR Camera, but I'll have to wait for long to get one.

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Generally the trip was okay, except the fact that all we did was just travel. We didn't get out into the forests much, and hence hardly any wildlife was spotted. Many of us were feeling sick by the end of the trip. So from then I have decided that if I were to go for a wildlife trip, I'd only go with someone who's not too young or not too old.

Other Findings from Sarovaram

Here are the rest of the creatures I spotted in Sarovaram Bio-Park. This tiny spider was on its web, waiting for prey.

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Somewhere in the middle of the 'forest' where these small, hairy caterpillars, munching on the leaves of the plant they reside on.

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This butterfly really attracted me. It looked similar in shape and size to the common pygmy grass blues we see everyday. However, the colour really caught my eye and I didn't want to miss it. I spent a few minutes trying to shoot the little butterfly, but didn't get the shots I wanted. Here are two of my best shots.

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Well that's it for the findings during our great adventure into the scrubs and forests of Sarovaram. Many other animals like squirrels, changeable lizards and birds like Pittas were spotted, but I didn't get to photograph them. To be honest, I would have stayed till night to watch frogs and other insects but I had two sisters with me, so I'd rather forget about it. I'm also done with Part 1 of this trip to India. Now comes Part 2.

Shy Little Mantis

From about a metre away, I saw a light green stick above a leaf swaying like a twig, slowly moving to the underside of the leaf. My initial thought was a stick insect, but upon a closer look, I figured out it was a small, thin mantis.

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It's body was so thin that it became difficult for me to take a photograph of it. It moved really swiftly and slowly too, trying as much as possible to avoid the camera. I had never seen the exact species of mantis before in my area, so it very much shows that this species prefers slightly forested areas.

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It sure was a great find, but I couldn't take all the shots I wanted. Time was running short and we had to go. One more post to round up all my findings in the park.

Finally Some Frogs

While walking through the scrub, I spotted a tiny frog hopping around in the leaf litter. However, I couldn't capture it in camera since it kept disappearing into the undergrowth. I left him and moved on, but luckily spotted another one at the edge of the water of one of the swamps.

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Sure was a pretty frog, but I realized I had to use flash in order to see the whole body. It had been quite a while since I last spotted a frog in India. They used to be really common in our areas but now have disappeared due to urbanisation. This frog was really tiny, about 2 cm in total body length. Luckily it didn't swim away and let me take the shots I wanted.

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Soon, there was another frog in another swamp, but this one was further away and it was pretty tough to photograph it. It was much bigger than the previous one; it measured about 10 cm. However, I only managed one good shot before it decided to swim away.

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Flash vs Non-Flash

Here are a pair of insects, a Bush Brown Butterfly and a Pied Paddy Skimmer, both found during the 'forest' walk. The first time I shot each of them, I noticed that it looked pretty dark, so I thought I should turn on the flash. I took two shots of each insect, at almost the same position. Here's the Bush Brown Dragonfly. Without flash:

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With flash:

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Here's the Pied Paddy Skimmer, without flash.

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Now with flash:

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