When The Rains Arrive

The rains arrived after a few months. It wasn't the monsoons or anything but it is usual for it to rain once in a few weeks. And there one night, it finally did. Well, rains can be exciting since it causes many other creatures to come out from hiding. I was walking home one night after a heavy rain and spotted this tiny guy hopping across the road.

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It was a really tiny frog, less than an inch in length. It had been a long time since I saw frogs here, all I could find were toads. I spotted many more on the roadside, but it was really late so I had to rush home. But I didn't miss any chances with the little frogs. There were a lot more in my front yard!
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Some were even found on low shrubs, and sometimes on plants about a metre high!
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This one looks like he's boozed up after a can of beer.
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The next morning, several frogs were still to be seen around. Here's a shot I took from below a banana leaf.

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Hoppers

Hoppers. That one word can bring many creatures into your mind. There is such a big variety of hoppers around, you can't finish counting the different types. These hoppers love the long, grassy scrubs and bushes around my area and are hence abundant. Here's a collection of the different types. A green grasshopper, with tiny specks and spots of red, white and black.

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Another two different species of grasshoppers.
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A tiny juvenile, maybe of a grasshopper or locust.
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Here are two slightly different hoppers. I'm not sure what they're called, but they are definitely some sort of insect related to locusts or crickets. Here's a juvenile, followed by an adult.
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A Sunbird's Visit

You don't get visitors like these to your house everyday. This little bird somehow ended up lost in my house. I've got no idea how or why it got in, perhaps by mistake. It struggled to find its way out, knocking into windows and doors. The poor thing even got surprised and startled upon seeing itself in the mirror. Eventually, it found its way out through the balcony door.

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Mantis Mayhem

Yeah, mantid mayhem indeed. Here's a collection of the various species of mantids I spotted during December. These insects are really common around vegetation as there's ample amount of food sources around. All these individuals were spotted around my home. Here are two common ones with different shades of colour around their body.

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And another two little green ones that are also commonly seen around bushes. These seem to love flying around.
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And one of the tiny little weaver-ant-mimic mantis. This one seems to be a juvenile that's mimicking the weaver ants to avoid predators.
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Black Dragons in a Holy Place

It was a Sunday Morning and right after attending mass at church, I went over to a small pond that was built beside the church. My word, it was full of black-coloured dragonflies. It was surprising to see that almost all of them were black or dark blue. I sort of wondered what these 'black dragons' could be doing by the church? Something fishy going on maybe?

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Home, Creepy Home

Here are a couple of critters I found in my home during my stay in December 2009. A spotted house gecko at night.

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Another nocturnal creature, a katydid. This one's brown in colour, unlike the green ones I commonly see around here.
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And right outside near the porch was a rather big, black and shiny earwig.
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Have another look at its large hind pincers.
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Weaver Ants and the Mimic

So once again, I was back home and started my routine checks around the bushes by my house. I spotted a few of these large weaver ant nests, some high and some low among the trees.

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These ants sure are fearsome creatures and their bites are nasty. However, not far away I managed to find another 'weaver ant'- just that this one had 8 legs.
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Now here we have a weaver-ant-mimic-spider (thats a long name), a mimic of the common weaver ant. These spiders tend to act like weaver ants and use the opportunity to snatch away and feed on unaware weaver ants. Since they look really alike, most ants may not easily recognize them. And many predators, at one look may think they're one of those fierce ants and hence decide to leave them alone. As you can see, this spider seemed to have already feasted on a weaver ant when I took the picture.
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Dazzling Dragon

Up in the hills, it was tough to spot wildlife. Even if you do get a chance to spot a nice creature, there isn't a guarantee you'll get to photograph it. I'll end off with some pretty shots of a dragonfly. This yellow one was found near one of the dams.

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It flew off but I spotted another dragon close by, and this one looked stunning. It was much more rewarding than the previous dragonfly. I just love the crisp, golden-orange colour of the wings.
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I tried a few shots with flash when the clouds took over the sky. Nope, sunlight still beats the artificial light of the camera flash.
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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.