Hey Guys! Wishing all my fellow readers a Merry Christmas and a Splendid New Year! Before the New Year starts, I'd like to announce that I'll be changing my blog's name from 'Creatures in the Wild' to 'Photography & Me'. The contents published on my blog will also have a slight change. All this while, for 4 years, I've been posting mainly about wildlife, nature and animals. However, Photography & Me won't be a blog just about these; I'll be posting and talking about all kinds of photos that I take, instead of sticking to one particular type. In addition to that, I may also be talking about my life- something that still remains a secret to all of you guys.
In short, Photography and Me will be a blog about my photographs and myself. I hope you guys enjoy it!
I was looking through my old photos of Singapore when I realized there were some shots of Lakeside that I hadn't uploaded. These photographs were taken from Lakeside in April 2011, during my summer break.
A stretch of condominiums by the lake... It must be a beautiful view for the residents living in there!
Can you spot the MRTs (trains)?
A random shot of the wide canal along which I walked home.
Oh God, I just miss Singapore! :( Anyway, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everyone!
Sorry for not posting anything for quite a while! There was nothing much to post about either, until a few days earlier, when I found this dead snake on a rock along the road. It was a small snake, only about 20cm in length. The large eyes, and the white patches near its mouth parts tell that it is probably a juvenile rat snake or racer, but definitely not a venomous species. It had evidently been hit to death by humans, as there was a large wound on its neck.
So another snake had been killed, this one too a harmless one. I just don't get the people here! How could they be so heartless to kill such a harmless and innocent creature! Ugh! I buried the snake nearby and left feeling hopeless for these poor snakes, because the attitude of these local, illiterate people won't change.
Yep, like the title says, there was a peacock in my backyard! I was sitting down on my balcony when I noticed a large bird walking through my backyard. I initially thought it was my neighbor's pet turkey, but no, it was a peacock!
I ran after the big bird with my camera. Pity I wasn't holding on to my zoom lens, so I couldn't manage to snap any decent shots. The peacock started running off upon seeing me, and I got a mug shot of it flying up on to the top of my neighbor's house.
I was extremely surprised to have seen a peacock (this one is probably a female; peahen) in my area. Well yes, the peacock is the national bird of India, but they were never found in these areas. But upon asking my parents, I figured out that this particular individual was probably one that sneaked out from the nearby Hindu temple, where they grow peacocks. So you can't really call it 'wild'!
I went for a small walk around my house at night hoping to spot some nocturnal creatures. I hadn't done any hunting for weeks. I came across a cute little tree frog on a really nice green fern.
While the amphibians and other nocturnal animals got up, several diurnal creatures had settled down to sleep, like this Changeable Lizard with a really, really long tail.
Sorry for the delay! I had been busy with school work and stuff. I haven't been shooting much recently, and my camera rarely exits the cupboard nowadays. However, there is just one shot I took of a dragonfly as it rested on a metal wire. I've been inspired by Vera to do black & white photography as well.
I might not post any photos for a while, but I will be back before long! Have a great weekend guys!
I spotted these tiny frogs one wet morning on the leaves of the plant where I had released the green tree frog. I believe they are young frogs that just lost their tails as they were that tiny!
A few had a slightly different pattern and colour.
I thought that perhaps it was possible for these froglets to be the young of the Malabar Flying Frog I had released here. But there wasn't any water body nearby. Whatever they are, or wherever they came from, I was glad I could spot and photograph such tiny and cute frogs in front of my house.
Don't you just love squirrels? Watching them scurry along, doing their funny businesses is an absolute delight. Several 3-striped squirrels came close to us while we were at the Mysore zoo, and since I never really got to take any good shots of wild mammals, I decided to photograph some of these cheeky creatures.
Unlike the squirrels in my area, these were much more used to human interference and didn't mind if we came too close.
I'll be posting some landscape shots I took while in Mysore. Well, for most of the journey, it was just a plain straight road with green on either sides.
I took this shot while passing a paddy field.
The Mysore palace, a huge palace with thousands of ancient articles and rich history.
A big, old church.
Vrindavan Gardens, a stretch of land planted with various trees and flowering plants, right next to a huge dam.
I didn't really enjoy the trip, but well, it's still better than sitting home the entire weekend.
PS Thank You blog viewers for 50,000 Page views!!!
I was on my way to Mysore, a popular tourist destination in the Karnataka state of India. I was travelling by coach and on the way, we drive through a protected forest. I kept my eyes open, eager to spot and photograph and wild animals. And not too soon later did a group of Spotted Deer appear by the side of the road.
I quickly grabbed as many shots as I could with my 50-200mm zoom lens. This was the first time I was photographing wild deer, although I have seen them before when I was young. Here are a few individuals.
Apparently it seems like these animals were used to seeing cars and people, as they didn't flee the scene. They ignored us and continued grazing by the road.
A few metres ahead, were several more deer, and some had tall and pointed horns, with a frosty covering. I presume those were males. However, I couldn't take any shots as the bus didn't stop.
I happened to spot another green tree frog in my front yard, one that looked exactly like the previous one I spotted in my house. I was walking by some green shrubs when I noticed, across the leaves, a green frog with its eyes closed and dozing off.
I really like this shot!
There is a possibility that it was the same individual I spotted before, as it looked very much the same. I decided to do some research and managed to identify it as the Malabar Flying Frog. They are a common species of tree frog found mainly in the Western Ghats of India. The term flying frog is derived from the ability to break their fall in leaps by stretching the webbing between their toes.
As it became dark, he opened its eyes and became active. He hopped onto the nearby leaves while I snapped a couple of shots.
I actually got to handle this frog as it hopped onto my shoulder while I was shooting it. As I placed him back on the leaf, I realized his right front leg was holding onto my finger, as if he didn't want to let go! I saw this as a great opportunity for a fantastic photograph, and immediately grabbed a shot.
I really enjoyed this fella. He's beautiful, elegant, and not so commonly seen in these areas. Although I've met him twice already, I sure wish to see him again.
I write this blog post in memory of Steve Jobs. As we all know, Steve Jobs passed away on the 5th of October due to cancer. He was such an inspiration for me; his rags to riches story fascinated me. His death is a huge loss for all of us. I had been a big fan of Jobs and his revolutionary Apple products ever since I was 11. Although he is no more, he will live on in our memories, and the apple logo will always remind us of the brave, bold and skilled man he was. In tribute, I have decided to post a picture of my iPod and iPhone.
Yes, it's another snake. But this time, a live one! My dad brought home this weird-looking snake in a bottle from the same plot of land where we spotted the caecilians. As always, everyone thought it was a highly venomous species. But the problem was, I couldn't tell if it was venomous or not, for I was seeing a snake like this for the first time!
You might probably be thinking that the raised end of the snake is its head. That's what I thought as well. But I was wrong! After having touched the snake with a twig, it started slithering 'backwards'. That was when I noticed a tiny white tongue appear from its 'tail'. At that moment I knew this was a form of defense- the blunt tail appeared to be the head and the narrow head appeared as a tail! Here's a video of the snake. We might have frightened the snake, but don't worry, it was not harmed!
After doing some research, I figured it out that this was a species of Shield-Tailed Snake, a nocturnal, burrowing snake rarely encountered as it spends most of its life underground. They are non-venomous, so I went up close and took some shots, as I didn't have to fear about dying if I get bitten. A shot of the snake slithering out of the bottle.
The blunt tail. These tails are strong and built as a 'shield' to absorb attacks from predators, as they usually mistake the tail for the head. That's how they get their name- Shield-Tailed Snakes.
Close-up of the narrow head. It seemed like it was about time for the snake to shed its skin.
I had a hard time photographing this snake as it wouldn't always stay still. The flash always got reflected by the shiny skin as well. Hence I couldn't manage any shots I was completely satisfied with.
I got the snake into my aquarium and let it dig into the moist soil. As evening drew near, I got snake out and released it into ditch a few hundred metres away from my house. I was glad I got to see a snake I hadn't seen before, and not dead!
I had gone out of town for a while and when I returned, I was greeted with probably the worst thing I wanted to see- A DEAD SNAKE!!!! I looked into the bucket in which a neighbour placed the snake after killing it. Upon seeing it, I got into a fit of fury. I was mad angry at the neighbour, for what he killed was a HARMLESS and BEAUTIFUL FLYING TREE SNAKE!!!
It was such a gorgeous snake, with an incredible ability of gliding from tree to tree, hence called 'flying snake'. I had spotted and photographed a similar species in Singapore. But why the hell did it have to be killed? I questioned my neighbour sternly and he said that he had no idea what snake it was as he had never seen one like that before, and that the red spots that occurred along its body gave him the idea that it was venomous. He admitted trying to catch the snake into a tube, but failed, and therefore killed the snake, not wanting it to escape and possibly hurt anyone. Well, that's what everyone says here: 'I thought it was venomous so I killed it.' A perfect excuse, except that it brings no cure to the dead snakes.
I returned to the snake and took several photographs. It seemed more beautiful and elegant than the previous sub-species I spotted in Singapore. I think I'm right in identifying it as an Ornate Flying Tree Snake, as this species is known to be common in India. However, I never knew the species existed here. The first time it showed up proved to be its last.
Here's a shot of the flattened body, which I gently pressed down to observe and take a photograph. These snakes 'fly' be flattening their body, similar to the shape of a Frisbee, allowing them to glide through the air.
I took the poor snake and buried it in my backyard. I can't even recall how many dead snakes I've already buried in these yards.
