Nilgiri views

Views from the Nilgiris, the blue mountains from a trip earlier this year...

Grasslands and forests in the valleys

Terraced farming and terraced housing, Ooty

A tea plantation set to fire, Kotagiri

Also see

http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/06/longwood-shola-little-jem-of-nilgiris.html

Sunderbans Tiger Reserve

A series of pictures from the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve, November 2004

Paddy harvesting and waiting drongos, Bali Island

Fishing boat, Bali Island

Tourist boats, Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary

Coral uplift - Andaman Islands

These are a series of pictures from February 2005 taken off the west coast of Interview Island in the Middle Andaman Group of islands. It shows the huge uplift of coral following the earthquake of December 2004 that caused the devastating tsunami




For more pictures and details of the impact of the earthquake and the tsunami see
http://pankaj-atcrossroads.blogspot.com/2009/06/earth-shaking-event.html
&
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/11/great-nicobar-coast-tsunami-devastated_27.html

Fisherfolk - Byet Dwarka

From the series of pictures from Byet Dwarka, December 2008

Dudhwa Tiger Reserve 2

Tourist vehicles in the Dudhwa grasslands

Dudhwa is the site of a successful rhino re-introduction program

tiger pugmarks...

Also see
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-post.html

Byet Dwarka - 2

These are a set of pictures of different aspects of Byet Dwarka...

An ibis at sunrise

small patches of mangroves still survive along the coast, thanks in large measure to special conservation measures by residents and groups concerned about the environment

Sea gulls fly along boats in anticipation of the food that pilgrims throw out for the birds

Also see
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/12/birds-of-byet-dwarka-1.html
and
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/12/birds-of-dwarka-reef-heron.html

Watching tourists watching tigers: Ranthambore Tiger Reserve

From a trip to the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in 2006




For more from Ranthambore see
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/10/ranthambore-national-park-and-tiger.html
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/08/ranthambore-national-park.html

Turtles of the A&N - 4: Different threats

While the beaches in the A&N islands have always been used by sea turtles for nesting, they have also been facing serious threats of various kinds. Here is a representative idea of what these are:

Feral dogs are one of the biggest threats to turtles in these islands. They often attack nesting turtles and as seen in this case dig up freshly laid nests. This is a 1998 picture of a dug up nest of the Olive Ridley in the Cuthbert Bay Sanctuary in Middle Andaman Island

Another big threat has been sand mining from the beaches for the construction industry. This has not only had a negative impact on the turtles, but also led to increased erosion and destruction of the coastline. This is a 1998 picture of truck and tractor tyre marks on the beach of Cuthbert Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

Increased mining of sand and destruction of the coastal vegetation leads to the erosion of the beach as seen here in Hut Bay, Little Andaman. The implications are obvious!

For more pics of turtles on the A&N islands please see

http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/11/here-are-few-pictures-of-turtle.html
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/11/turtles-of-a-1.html
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/12/hawksbill-turtles-of-a-3.html

Birds of Dwarka - Reef heron

In the river that flows by the temple in Dwarka, a reef heron in action (Pictures from a trip in January 2009

Wet feet...

and waiting.

Got it, or didn't I?

Also see
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/12/birds-of-byet-dwarka-1.html
&
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/12/byet-dwarka-2.html

Birds of Byet Dwarka - 1

I spent 4 very interesting and hectic days in Byet Dwarka in Jan 2009 along with a children's nature camp of the Pune based Group Pugmarks. Here are some pictures from that very nice trip

Grey heron

Gull at sunrise

White Ibis, also at sunrise

Hawksbill- Turtles of the A&N - 3

The Hawksbill is perhaps the least commonly seen of the 4 sea turtles that come to nest of the beaches of the A&N Islands. In nearly 15 years of travelling in the islands, I have seen them on only a couple of occassions, and not always in very pleasant circumstances...

A hawksbill hatchling on North Cinque Island Wildlife Sanctuary. This little fellow was found trapped in a small pool of water above the high tide line. It scrambled quickly to the sea the moment we picked it up and put it down on the sands of the beach (Winter 2006)

This is an adult that was found on the same beach on North Cinque the same day, but completely entangled in a fishing net. It was only chance that we found it and released it back in to the sea. Would have certainly died of exhaustion, heat and starvation otherwise (North Cinque Island, Winter 2006)

This one was obviously not so lucky (Wandoor, South Andaman, Winter 1998)

For more pics of turtles in the A&N you can look up
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/11/here-are-few-pictures-of-turtle.html
http://3fotosaday.blogspot.com/2009/11/turtles-of-a-1.html