Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #indiasnature, aggregated by home.social.
Having lived, for more than half my life, across high himalayan peaks with their moody, spectacular play of light on the sky it has been a revelation to see equally spectacular sunsets, sunrises near a non mountain coastal region (Chennai)
The monsoon season - skittish and half hearted over Chennai means multiple types of clouds are always doing something resulting in awesome long fantabulous sunsets.
#indiasnature #sunsets #sunsetphotography #chennai #sunsetsky #clouds
A friend posted a photo of a book "Bird Tales From The Himalayas".
Apart from sharing a folklore, I & the group I work with organized a book launch
Apart from the eye catching cover & an association with the book I also just happen to live across from the peaks in the cover.
So photo of the book caught my eye & Iit had to be followed up.
https://www.sanctuarynaturefoundation.org/article/book-review%3A-bird-tales-from-the-himalayas
#himalayas #indiasnature #Books #TitliTrust #kalpavriksh #hHimalayanMonal #Panchachuli #Darma #Munsiari #bookCover
Day 5 of Monsoon Beauty
After a few lean days, in the city, work, & life, it was a delight to see this Ocellated Shield Bug (Cantao ocellatus) generically in Family Scutelleridae - jewel bugs & or shield-backed bugs.
My big eyes were draw to the black and yellow "ocellus" on a bright orange top.
Presence of many of these bugs indicates monsoons, so 1 bug means what ? just clouds.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantao_ocellatus
#MonsoonBeauty #IndiasNature #Nature #bugs #jewelbugs #entomology #insects
## Day 2 Monsoon Beauty 26
On day 1 i was in a nice garden, surrounded by a larg area of green gardens. After a bit of patience saw a good number of insects, some spiders, cultivated & (a few)wild plants.
2 highlights are here https://mastodon.social/@ramkay/116925261277078107
Today was harder, different place less plants - so took some searching to find something. Eventually got a restng butterfly ?
#monsoonbeauty #indiasnature #butterfly #emigrant #peablueflower #nature #communityscience #plants #flowers
Today is the start of the 6th edition of Monsoon Beauty, an annual Community Science programme to learn about biodiversity , document, share & be part of a community. The event is 61 days long .
This year we are leaning further into a quieter, more contemplative spirit, taking things slow, and remembering always that we are people and nature, not data.
Two of my highlights are shared here.
#IndiasNature #MonsoonBeauty #entomology #paperwasp #cranefly #nature #monsoons #community
🧵1/ 2
A few days ago, on a walk in South India, a close friend & awesome naturalist, casually pointed out 2 species of carnivorous plants, Sundews
Drosera indica (Indian Sundew) , & D burmanii (Tropical sundew)
For me, this was a big natural history moment, my first ever look at wild carnivorous plants.
Just so awesome & beautiful
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosera_indica
&
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosera_burmanni
#carnivorousplants #IndiasNature #botany #plants #evolution #naturewalks #drosera #droseraindica #droseraburmanii
An Azure Sapphire butterfly seen basking in the sun.
The iridescent azure blue visible on the wings plays differently when viewed from different angles.
When seen from the front, both the upper fore & hind wings show the reflecting iridescence, when viewed from another angle only a part of the iridescence is seen
Currently no wikipedia page for this beautiful being
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/504426-Heliophorus-moorei
#butterflies #lepidoptera #Azure #Sapphire #IndiasNature #entomology #basking
Found a female firefly, in a typical larval looking form.
The pictures don't capture the glow we saw , originating from the bottom. Dull flourescent green
On reading, it seems the females are the more influential half of the night twinkling that happens, controlling reproduction, mistresses of chemistry, & even being femmes fatales.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly
#firefly #glowworm #beetles #beetlemania #IndiasNature #entomology #nature #bioluminescence
*As seen on an a4 sheet with a printed table
There are benches and then there are benches.
Never seen one like this, at charming roadside tea shop, with (shockingly) parking for a dozen vehicles
Among the more interesting furniture was this absolutely delight of a bench made from straight wooden branches, not sure the species , initially thought Chir Pine (Pinux roxburghii) but maybe not.
#art #craft #furniture #himalayas #india #IndiasNature #teashop #wood #bench
Contemplative weather, and a comtemplative Spotted Dove. Clouds are at play with the mountains.
#SpottedDove #Birds #himalayas #IndiasNature #Clouds #mountains #SpilopeliaChinensis
Just a bit over 24 hours ago was on a mixed forest mountain trail.
The opposite of modern dystopia - no jostling, quiet, can't say cool but not boiling hot either. Plenty of - flowers & some fruting plants; arthropods (butterflies, bees, beetles, cockroaches, spiders etc) ; & birds singing, calling, foraging silently, some harassed by baby duties. & Even the call of a less seen / heard Grey-bellied Tesia.
#NotDystopia #Forests #Nature #Birding #bloomscrolling #IndiasNature #Himalayas #ferns
Birding, & eating what the birds eat
A very nice bird walk in a village near Mukteshwar.
Highlights many - the special one was the song of a Grey-bellied Tesia.
End of main walk break consisted of peaches (cultivated) and the round fruit of wild Myrica esculenta, locally Kaaphal.
The Indian Cuckoo sings Kaaphal Paako..., Kaaphal Pakiyo. (& not surprisingly the local name is simply "Kaphaal Paako")
#Wildberries #fruits #birding #nature #naturewalks #IndiasNature #Himalayas #Uttarakhand
Over the past week I traveled over some side roads - day time & even later in the nights. Narrow but good road, low traffic, & very kind people.
Stopped a few times to get photos or just take a break. Almost always had friendly chats with people &. almost always they just handed me large delicious Peaches. Unbidden.
In one case a man gave me the fruit from under an almost closed shutter.
#kindness #fruits #nature #people #uttarakhand #peaches #india #indiasNature #himalayas #travel
Barberry flower, locally called Kilmoda (apochryphally the origins of the name for Almora town)
Flowers are edible, along with the berries as well.
Berberis spp.
#bloomscrolling #flowers #nature #yellowflowers #himalayas #IndiasNature
A Cobra lily flower & plant (Arisaema propinquum | Wallach's Cobra Lily), in the dense undergrowth of a Cold Temperate Forest (altitude 2200 m asl)
#CobraLily #bloomscrolling #Flowers #Nature #forest #Himalayas #wildflowers #IndiasNature
#Uttarakhand
PS i think it is A propinquum ( cannot find my book to verify)
Scenes from the Himalayas
A short video of the Ramganga (East ) river. With the sound of a thunderstorm in the background.
#rivers #RamgangaEast #himalayas #IndiasNature #landscape #video #mountains #thunderstorm #ecology #geography #nature
Scenes from the Himalayas
A short video showing the first rise of the "Greater Himalayas" and also a double rainbow emerging just after a short thundershower
#Himalayas #Rainbow #Mountains #GreaterHimalayas #Geography #IndiasNature #Forests #Landscape #Clouds #Video
9th May 26 was Endemic Bird day & also Himalayan Bird Count Day
Normally our group would have gone crazy - with birding events in 3 or 4 locations. This year subdued - people on assignment & in different locations. So took the opportunity to slow walk through a village forest
Bird List https://tinyurl.com/HBC26
Bird Highlight - Long-billed Thrush
#nature #birding #himalayas #india #endemicBirdDay #HimalayaBirdCount #IndiasNature #Forests #Uttarakhand #Munsiari #Sarmoli #Shankhdhura #ebird
1/🧵
Just laid hands on this beautiful hard cover book
*India’s Forests* : Revisiting Nature and History
A compilation of essays from some very cool researchers & writers with a foreword by an amazing historian Dr Shekhar Pathak, while the editors, Arupjyoti Saikia & Mahesh Rangarajan have a rich history of great writing as well.
Looking forward to reading this
https://www.penguin.co.in/book/indias-forests
#books #IndiasNature #Forests #Essays #history #environment #Communities #Ecology #PenguinBooks #Culture
A Blue whistling thrush (Myophonus caeruleus), from my bird photo archives (March 2019)
A Very beautiful, happy bird in the Himalayas, It's melodic and regular morning songs are a joy in themselves.
Location : Front yard of my home in the Himalayas circa 2200 metres about sea level.
#birds #nature #IndiasNature #BirdsOfMastodon #Himalayas #BlueWhistlingThrush #MyophonusCaeruleus #SongBird #Passerine
A Mango tree in full bloom, 5th March 2026, in Delhi
Meanwhile in South India mango fruit are being sold by fruit sellers both boutique and normal (meaning to say easily available) (see linked post)
#IndiasNature #trees #aam #mango #MangiferaIndica #Trees #Plants #flowering #Delhi #nature #phenology #seasonwatch
Called nāga Lingam maram or poo (flower ) in Tamil.
A dramtatic tree when budding or flowering. The branches make it look like a climber on a tall host rather than a tree.
A native to lowland tropical rainforests of Central and South America (wikipedia) now Widely grown in South India, esp. in planned landscaped gardens (esp. institutional).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couroupita_guianensis
#IndiasNature #bloomscrolling #flowers #nature #botany #floweraOfMastodon #tree #cannonBallTree #CouroupitaGuianensis
Cool fruits like Melons are back in town. And across town these bullock carts are stationed.
The bulls are beautiful, but seem gaunt and hard at work in the hot unrelenting sun.
In another place I saw a man stand and patiently feed another such bull some overripe fruit.
The cart is a somewhat modern one- equipped with modern tyres.
#bull #BullockCart #street #streetphoto #India #IndiasNature #Chennai #Fruits #fruitcart
I created an account and posted my first observation
A Tree Rhododendron
https://observation.org/observation/389467831/
@amenonsen @aditya_07 @muscicapa
#Trees #RhododendronArboreum #TreeRhododendron #BloomScrolling #IndiasNature #Flowers #Spring #nature
Spring is in the air, it is on the ground, and it is showing up on winter deciduous trees.
This cluster shows a still leafless Himalayan Birch (Betula alnoides) full of yellow catkins, the other taller trees are Himalayan Alder (Alnus nepalensis) which have new leaves & leaf buds. The dark evergreen trees are Tree Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum).
#trees #nature #spring #Hinalayas #IndiasNature #HimalayaSpeaks #HimalayanBirch #Alder #Rhododendron #Phenology #catkins #biology #ecology
We came scouting for bent-toed geckos & huntsmen spiders, & to write a paper in the solitude of the Himalayas — the real reward was this beauty, the hygroscopic or barometer earthstar (Astraeus hygrometricus)! Almost perfect conditions needed: slightly fired, moist, sandy & shady substrate & rain to expose the spore sack. My friend spotted not one but 15-16 of them!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astraeus_hygrometricus
#AstraeusHygrometricus #fungi #mushroom #nature #IndiasNature #AmazingNature #barometricEarthstar #himal
A Red Pierrot (Talicada nyseus) butterfly. Dehradun India.
As per Sanjay Sondhi of Titli Trust, the Red Pierrot was not seen in this region till some years ago. The theory being that this butterfly may have arrived with the boom in Kalanchoe, the host plant, of the Red Pierrot.
Whatever reason this is a beautiful butterfly, both closed wings, or open wings.
#entomology #IndiasNature #butterfly #lepidoptera #TalicudaNyseus #RedPierrot #Himalayas #Dehradun #nature
A Jewel Bug, aka Lychee Shield Bug
Stunning on a natural red background (bracts of a pointsettia plant )
A common roadside, park and garden tree in Chennai.
Many individuals across many size classes.
The trees always have something happening.
New leaves, leaves turning red & then brown and falling
Flowers in upright racemes and only when viewed close up show such delicate arangements. Fruits small to larger green to then hard red brown. A wonderful alive tree, makes the city feel real. Good shade too
#trees #nature #TerminaliaCatappa #india #indiasnature #chennai
On the last day of the 2026 Great Backyard Bird Count i did finally count some birds, in someone elses backyard.
Not sure how to term this
A Murder witnessing a Murder or a Murder Wake
Saw about 30 House Crows (maybe more) very noisy & swirling , & and sitting in a somewhat orderly fashion on roof tops. They were upset. Walked a bit & found a older pup / young dog possessively guarding a dead crow. Pictures attached
#birds #dogs #greatbackyardbirdcount #IndiasNature #nature #crows #corvids
A Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) in the Lesser & Greater Himalayas. Not an easily seen bird but not uncommon in the right habitat or season
The latin Specific name "viscivorus" translates as Mistletoe eater (also the origins of its common english name). I am yet to see it forage on Himalayan mistletoe equivalents.
#birdsofmastodon #birds #nature #himalayaSpeaks #IndiasNature #India #Uttarakhand #birdphotography #WomenInScience #WomenBirders #Rural #GreatBackyardBirdCount