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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Other Dragonflies From Sarovaram Bio-Park

Apart from the Pied Paddy Skimmers, there were many other different species that I encountered, but missed some of them as they didn't stay for long. After all the mini-forest walk, it came down to a really rural-like area with may water bodies, shrubs and floating plants. This is what majority of the place looked like.

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Such and environment is sure to have many species of dragonflies, frogs and other little creatures. However as I said, I didn't get to photograph most dragonflies. Here's a small golden one that was hovering above the water in the pond. I took a shot of it as it came to rest on a plant next to the water.

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These two shots look like they've been sharpened, but they aren't. I'm not sure why the photos appear like this, maybe its because of the low light, flash and the water below.

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And further away from the water I noticed a male Asian Pintail Dragonfly resting. It's bright blue colour easily attracted my attention. I hadn't seen this species before and hence I was pretty excited. The dragonfly was co-operative and din't move when I took my shots.

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Pied Paddy Skimmers

One of the most common creature observed during the walk through the mini-forest were these dragonflies, called Pied Paddy Skimmers. They are generally common in sub-urban and rural areas in India.

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There were plenty of dragonflies but I can't say that it was really easy photographing them. It was almost evening and hence it wasn't really bright or sunny. The dragonflies weren't that co-operative either. Most of them flew away when I came close to photograph them. Hence, I couldn't get much clear photographs.

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Here are two shots of two different individuals, both taken from the back. I wonder if they are of the opposite sex?

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These dragonflies used to be really common once in my area, but after that, they seemed to have left due to urbanisation. Sadly I won't get to see them that often.

Mating Bugs

I went to a park in Calicut called Sarovaram Bio-Park after the shopping. My sister and my cousin sister, together with one of her friends had come along with us. The park was a normal park, occupied by many people. However, we decided to do something more interesting. There was a path leading into a large scrubland and we followed the path to find ourselves in what looks almost like a forest. One of the most common creatures I encountered there were these red bugs, and almost every pair I saw were a mating pair.

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Happened to spot about 13 pairs altogether. There were hardly any bugs alone, hence it showed that it was mating season for the bugs. Maybe I should have given them some privacy?

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We continued our walk to encounter many more interesting insects. Stay tuned, I'll be right back with more posts.

Kites that Cover the Sky

Travelled to Calicut with my family on a friday evening. Reached my uncle's house the next morning and after some sleep, we headed to the city to do some shopping. Calicut is a district in Kerala, close to the sea. I've posted about the beach before too. Hovering above the busy cities are a numerous number of kites, either Pariah Kites or Brahminy Kites, or both.

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As you can see, the skies are filled with these raptors. They usually fly pretty high but sometimes, they may just come a little low. Whenever one does so, I try to capture them in photo but usually end up only getting some blur, shaky shots.

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Well, I didn't expect any better since my camera's capabilities are limited. However, these birds are plentiful and won't be going away... So I can come back and photograph them again.

Colourful, Tiny, But Deadly

Yet another one of these tiny mantids were spotted by the low shrubs near my old house again. I had spotted one the last time I was in India too. These tiny mantids may look really cute and colourful but they sure are deadly, with fast and steady front legs that snatch any small prey that comes too close.

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The small insect was pretty shy and tried to hide under the leaves of the plant when I came close to photograph it. However, I did get a few clear shots, as well as one where it is walking away.

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Photoshoot with a Red Marsh Hawk

Spent a few minutes shooting a Brown-Backed Red Marsh Hawk Dragonfly that was resting on a tapioca stem that was placed above the water tank outside my home. Surprisingly, it didn't fly away as I approached it. Yes, some animals are really unpredictable.

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It then flies off to the edge of the tank and sits there.

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I managed to get close enough to get a head shot, but this species has a dark head that can't really be captured very nicely on my camera. I tried brightening the image but it just spoils the picture. I did try one shot with flash but it wasn't any better.

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There's a Skink in the Smokehouse

A scream alerted me while I was watching the television inside my house. I easily recognised it as my sister's scream, and it was coming from behind. I rushed to the smokehouse and my sister was backing off in shock. My hopes rose, could it be a snake? But when I went in, I didn't see any creature. Until, a sharp face sitting on the wood greeted me with a nod. Wow, that's a big skink, I thought. I greeted back with a smile and it jumped off to the wall. Surprisingly, it could hold on and stand vertically on the wall!

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Apparently, the skink did not move away and just held on firmly to the wall, without moving a little. I managed to get pretty close to get a few close-up shots.

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These skinks are pretty common here, especially during the November to December period. It's just that you don't get to photograph them that often. Anyway, the skink made its way out of the smokehouse and hid underneath a large rock a few metres away. I tried my best to lift the rock but it was too heavy, but managed to take a shot through a small hole below.

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