Saandip Nandagudi

Valley of Flowers

Dec 182015

The Valley of Flowers is a hidden jewel in its true habitat, an world heritage site and a part of The famous Nanda Devi Biosphere. This national park is spread over 88sq kms & more of Garhwal Himalayan region, Uttarakhand. Many endemic varieties of alpine flowers, plants, trees can be seen here & beautiful alpine meadows. This valley is at an altitude of 3250mts and above. This region also plays home to many rare & endangered species of animals like Asiatic black bear, brown bear, snow leopard, blue sheep and many more.

Over the years many nature lovers from across the globe have been visiting the valley only to be left spell bound by its beauty.

One has to leave Ghangaria by 6:00am with packed food & water with less baggage to Valley of Flowers NP as it takes 4-5hrs for slow assent with photography. There is no permission or place to halt at night in the valley & have to return to Ghangaria within 5:00pm, So one will have to start back the descend by 2:30pm from NP. I know its very less time to enjoy the beauty.

From Ghangaria around 400mtrs there is diversion & to its left is the entrance / checkpoint leading to Valley of flowers NP & to the right leads to Hemkunth Sahib. The trek route with dotted lines can be seen from the sign map displayed near the ticket counter.

One cannot miss the awesome Lakshman Ganga falls which is 300Mtr at this diversion before Valley of flowers entrance.

Lakshman Ganga

Lakshman Ganga river makes its origin from Lokpal or Hemkunth Sahib which is steep ascent of 6Kms, There is a small shrine of Lord Lakshman (younger brother of Lord Rama). One can see many Bramha Kamala flowers around Lokpal river at Hemkunth Sahib.The story dates back to Gods & its is believed to be here Lord Lakshman was brought when he was seriously injured in the battle with Ravana & Lord Hanuman brought the Sanjeevi Parvat which was full of Medicinal herbs as administered by Sushena(Father in law of Sugreeva). After Lord Lakshman was healed from the wound & came to consciousness, The god above showered flowers & hence the place Valley of flowers.

At the entrance of the Valley stands the snow-clad peak of Ratban Parvat, towards the left is Nar Parvat, which separates the Badrinath valley from this valley, and to the right is dense Birch forest on the hillsides.

The valley even has stories from Mahabaratha also, When all the Pandavas were in their final journey to swargarohana , They saw colorful flowers floating on the river & hence the river Pushpawathi.

River Pushpawati

After 2013 North India floods the ascent path is changed now & it is bit steeper ascent compared to earlier path which was next to river all way to summit.

Bhojpatra trees can be seen all the way to summit & Bhojpatra tree saps were used for writing purposes as paper during the ancient times.

Bhojptra Tree

Before reaching the summit, there is a small stream & the actual main Valley of Flowers starts from here.

Main Valley of Flowers starting point

From here there is no ascending & one can see gorgeous mountains & beautiful colorful meadows with lots of different flower species & nothing is similar here.

I was juggling with macro & wide angle sometimes mobile too to capture the beauty.

Anaphalis Royleana

Anemone Tetrasepala

Bistorta vaccinifolia

Campanula Latifolia

Cicerbita macrorhiza

Codonopsis rotundifolia

Cuscuta reflexa

Cyananthus lobatus

Epilobium laxum

Erigeron multiradiatus

Eritrichium canum

Geranium wallichianum

Heracleum Candicans

Impatiens Sulcata

Morina longifolia

Nepeta Erecta

Oxyria Digyna

Oxytropis lapponica

Parnassia nubicola

Polygonum Polystachyum

Prenanthes brunoniana

Saussurea costus

Selinum wallichianum

Senecio Laetus

Silene indica

Silene vulgaris

Solidago virgaurea

Vajardanti(Potentilla)

Valeriana hardwickii

Managed to identify some species & some are still not, I hope someone leave a comment down be it critic or idying.

The drive back was very somber. The backseat occupants were fast asleep as we made our journey from Joshimath to Haridwar & one cannot miss reading road signs in between, best of them were.. On my Curves watch your Nerves, Do not be Rash & end in Crash, All can wait better be late, If you are married then Divorce speed, Road is hilly don’t be silly & many more..

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Devabhumi

Aug 302015

Visiting DEVABHUMI was on my top priority of to do for a longtime. When my friend Hari Somashekar of WWF came up with the tour to Valley of Flowers, said YES on the first thought itself.

It was an awesome 11 member team from different fields & with same mindset of Been there Did that.

Karishma Handa(Capt),Hari Somashekar(Vice Capt),Nagaraj Bhat, Hiran Valluri, Kannika Jindal, Venkateshwaran, Yoganand Thandra, Bhaskar Babu, Prashanth Jayanna, Rahul & myself.

Our Journey to The Valley of flowers (Lord Indira’s Flowering garden) started at Haridwar.

Haridwar is the entry to Dev Bhoomi & also one of the first towns where river Ganga emerges from the mountains to touch the plains.

According to Hindu legends, earth was unable to bear the force of the Ganga when it started descending to earth. To control its force, Ganga was divided into 12 channels & down their confluences at different places with other head rivers. These confluences are considered as holy places or prayags.In India there are many prayags, but these five are considered to be important – Vishnuprayag (where river Alaknanda meet river Dhauli Ganga), Nandprayag(where river Alaknanda meet river Nandakini), Karnaprayag(where river Alaknanda meet river Pinder), Rudraprayag (where river Alaknanda meet river Mandakini) & finally meet the Bhagirathi river at Devprayag, the fifth Prayag, to form the Ganga, Holy river of India that has brought salvation to this land.

Every evening Ganga Aarti takes places here at Haridwar and is considered as the most sacred place at Brahmakund. This is considered to be the spot where drops of Amrit fell over from the sky, while being carried in a pitcher by the celestial bird Garuda after the Samudra Manthan.

The Khumb Mela every 12 Years & Ardha Khumbmela every six years also happens here where large number of pilgrims in thousands come to take dip in holy Ganga.

Day-1

Our journey on road started from Haridwar at 11:45am & to reach Joshimath by same evening.

Driver Schumacher Manish loaded our baggage’s on top of our tempo traveler & whizzed through hot humid buzzing roads of Haridwar. First half of the trip was flat, straight roads, and high speed. Once we reached Devprayag, the landscape changed dramatically with too much green all round and not too wide rivers with crisp cool air. The mood changes from Led Zepplin to Uptown Girl of Billy Joel as the journey moves on with small breaks for Lunch & tea on highway dhabhas.

Flanked by Shivalik hills of the Himalayas passing Kumaon regions towards gharwal regions, One can witness the beauty of hills, power of rivers, mighty mountains & crazy landslides all along the journey. Our cameras & Mobiles peeped frequented towards window to take back memories.

Reached Joshimath around 10PM & our stay was at GMVN (Garwal Mandal Vikas Nigam). The manager of GMVN woke up from his bed with a bed above him as blanket 😀 . Stay was pleasant with neat beds & toilets.

Day-2
The view from the Garwal Mandal lodge was simply awesome, Early morning we rose to see this still sleeping lady of mountains from our Balcony.

Got freshen up & had sumptuous breakfast of aloo parathas & tea. Army officers greeted us with serious smile watching every single person moving around as the next part of our journey to Govinghat belong to them & yes it is.

Govindghat is a small town located in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand. It is roughly 22 kms from Joshimath on NH58 Highway & at an altitude of 6,000 feet (1,800 metres). Road head further from Govindghat leads to Badrinath & Mana.

Govindghat is also the starting point of trekking to Hemkund Sahib and Valley of Flowers.Hundreds of Hindu pilgrims to Sri Badrinath and Sikh pilgrims on way to the holy shrine of Sri Hemkund Sahib and occasional Trekkers/tourists to the Valley of Flowers arrive here every day during their recommended seasons.

From Govindghat its 14Km to our base point Ghangaria. Possible ways to reach base are by Trek which would take around 6-8hrs by pathway/cobble stones/ no paths at all/ small steams/stairways with stops in between or Hire a horse/mule(3-5hrs) costs around Rs.650-700 depending on how you negotiate with Ghodawallas.

Some of us chose the Mackenna’s Gold way 😛 as we had baggage’s & cameras weighing like mule which was impossible to carry on our back while trekking :O (Four of us joined from our trip to Dehradun & Dhanaulti, obviously so is the big baggage).

Reached our base Ghangaria, docked our horses at the entrance of GMVN ..stretched our legs & cranking backs.

Our stay was at GMVN Ghangaria was neat & good, Rooms & Dorms are available here & are pretty decent with comfortable beds & thick blankets are provided to keep warm from the chilling breeze.

Fortunately we dint had rain showers during our stay at Ghangaria & while trekking to Valley of Flowers.

Was mesmerized to witness the cloud formations atop gorgeous mountains while sipping hot tea.

Ghangaria is the last human settlements & this village is open only during May to September as rest of the months is covered with snow. Garhwali villagers & Bhotia (Indo-Tibetan) ancestry from neighboring valleys live here. The Bhotia Dogs live in temp of minus 20-30 degrees & protect Sheep from Leopards & are also known as Shepard/Gaddi Dogs.

The villagers here at the fringes shut their doors, windows & tie their live stock including their dogs inside before sunsets as they have encountered leopards which roam around at night, prey on their pets & livestock. Bears also seems to visit at night from valleys & come to village in search of beehives near the entrance of village.

Few shops, hotels, Tourist information center, GMVN Rest house & a Gurudwara are the very few permanent structures one could see at Ghangaria.

Day-3 Photo blog – Valley of Flower National Park

Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary

Dec 272014

Pulicat is a small seashore township. Situated on the barricade island of Sriharikota which divides the Pulicat Lake from the Bay of Bengal, it is located at a distance of 18km from Sullurupeta, It is the second leading brackish lagoon in India–covering a total area of 720 sq km of which 84% comes in Andhra Pradesh and 16% in Tamil Nadu.

The major attractions of Pulicat is the bird sanctuary. Every year between October and March, thousands of migratory birds can be observed here which turns into their dwelling place. Amongst these migrants, greater flamingos come in a large number and at that time is the main point of attraction.

They cover the swampy region of the lake, giving it a touch of pink colour. Other birds which can be seen are pin tailed ducks, pelicans, herons, cranes and painted storks. In mid-December or the start of January, the Flamingo festival is organized by the Tourism Development Board every year. This is why, this place, also known as a haven for bird watching, with its captivating and magnificent views allures visitors from all over.

On SHAR Road you will get only one junction to both right & left leading to small village, on this road near the 3km milestone to Sriharikota if one takes a right turn towards village can see lots of others birds like raptors , swallows, starlings & many more birds. The same road leads to a watch tower on the right side.

Other place to see near Sullurupet is the Nelapattu bird sanctuary which is approx 10kms from Sullurupet & was founded in 1976. It is at a distance of 20 km from the Pulicat Bird Sanctuary. The huge fresh water tank and the ‘Barringtonia acutangula’ trees in a large number make this sanctuary a shelter for a huge number of varieties of birds that migrate here for breeding and roosting, including over 1,500 pelicans, Several endangered species of birds including open-billed storks, grey pelicans, white ibis, little cormorants and night herons come here to breed.

Besides this, wide range of birds such as ducks, egrets, tern, waders, etc. can also be spotted here easily. Another thrilling experience is provided by the forest region of the sanctuary which has mammals such as slender loris, jackals, spotted deer and reptiles including tortoise, snakes and monitor lizards.

Thus, Pulicat and the places around it makes it a natural beauty. The weather was overcast through the whole day & absolutely no sunshine when we were there & had bump up ISO above 3000.

During march the water level dries up & flamingos can be best seen near Annamalaicheri .

Hotel I stayed : Kinnera Comforts

Driving route from Bangalore to Sullurupet

Woodpecker facts

Mar 212014

Hear about ‘Woodpecker’, we always think of a tough beak.

The woodpecker can move its beak up to 16 times per second as it strikes a tree(depends on species), creating an immense force of 1,000 G’s – 250 more times than astronauts are subjected to. Once it’s broken through the tree bark, it uses its long tongue to seek out an insect meal inside. This is equivalent to the force of coming to a complete halt from a speed of 26,000 km/hour!. But with the help of some pretty unbelievable adaptations, woodpeckers pull this off without any injury at all. Not only are these birds equipped with a strong, sturdy chisel-shaped beak, their brains are protected by a tight-fitting, thick, spongy skull that absorbs the impact of their repeated drilling into solid wood.

White-Bellied Woodpecker (Dryocopus javensis)

AN EYE-POPPING GOOD TIME!
If an ordinary bird hammered into a tree as hard as a woodpecker, its eyes would pop out of its head from the impact. Woodpeckers have special membranes on their eyes that prevent them from popping out of their sockets.

White-Bellied Woodpecker (Dryocopus javensis)

But the amazing fact is its tongue!
Probably the most unbelievable feature of the woodpecker is its tongue. The tongue is coated with sticky saliva to help capture insects. The tongue of a woodpecker is also very long & can extend to 2/3 of its entire body length, since it must stick its tongue out through its beak and into tree cavities to lick up insects.

Woodpecker with its tongue put to pull out the insect

Depending on the species of woodpecker, the tongue can be anywhere between three to five times the length of its beak.

Illustration from external source (for reference only)

To store a tongue that long, woodpeckers , Sunbirds & hummingbirds possess a specialized structure in the neck and head called the hyoid apparatus consisting of bones, cartilage and muscles that allows the tongue to be drawn in through the throat, around the back of the head and even around the eye sockets in some species.

Leaf-nosed Bat

Mar 062014

Leaf-nosed Bat (Hipposideros sp) species is endemic to South Asia where it is widely distributed. It has been recorded from sea level to an elevation of around 1,000 m asl. Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

It occurs in southern dry zone, lower foothills and wet zone hills of Sri Lanka (Phillips 1980). It is an early and high flyer, and feeds on large beetles (coleopterans) and other large and hard bodied insects. This species breeds once a year and gives birth to a single young after a gestation period of 260 days.

This species is threatened by habitat loss, largely through commercial logging and the conversion of land for agricultural use, for plantation of cash crops and for human settlements.

It is very sensitive to disturbance to roosting sites and is hunted for local consumption and medicinal purposes

Magadi Bird Sanctuary – Bar-Headed Goose

Mar 012014

A quick plan along with Santosh, Yoganand , Avinash & me to visit Magadi lake, Lakshmeshwar, Gadag on 1st march 2014 to see Bar-headed goose which has come all the way from Mongolia & Tibet.

Magadi Lake is in a small village Magadi of Shirahatti taluk, Gadag District, Karnataka. It is located 11Kms from Lakshmeshwar & 26Kms from Gadag (on the Gadag-Bangalore Road (SH-6) ) . Its around 350+ kms from Bangalore. Magadi lake/ tank is considered as one of the biodiversity hot spot of Karnataka spread over a 140 acres maintained by Forest department of Karnataka.

Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) visit every year during November & can be seen till first week of March. This bird has a robust gray body and long neck. The short tapered beak create an elegant S-shaped structure for best flight. Adults weigh about 2.2 Kilos and stand about two feet high. Two horizontal black stripes on the back of the bird’s white head gives the species its name ” Bar-Headed Goose”.

Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus)

Flocks of bar-headed geese,the world’s highest altitude migrants fly from their winter feeding grounds to the lowlands of India through the Himalayan range, sometimes even directly above Mount Everest on their way to nesting grounds in Tibet.

Every year these birds retrace their route to India with a little help from tailwinds. They are capable of covering more than 1,000 miles in a single stretch.

The honking of bar-headed goose during flight may convey messages that help flocks stay together and may also create orienting echoes.

Speculations that the species had originally settled in India before collisions between the tectonic plates under the Himalayas had pushed the range up.Watered by melting ice-age glaciers and without the shadow later cast by the Himalayas, ancient Tibet may have been a land of green valleys and summer lakes and streams, according to Lawrence Swan’s theory. Such a landscape could have drawn bar-headed goose for seasonal visits. The mountains presumably rose slowly enough to accommodate evolution, so these geese could have continued to fly their customary routes while adapting to the altitude. Each new generation probably learned the route by traveling in flocks with their elders during its first year and then taught it to its own offspring in later years.

Bar Headed Goose usually spend night in big groups at the Lake center where water depth is more and inaccessible to stray dogs & other predators. First hit of the sun rays, they all fly to near & even far off places up to 100 Kms to feed on Groundnut, corn , rice in the cultivating fields.

They start coming back to the Lake around 8:30am .They can easily be noticed with their honking noise in air & they spend the entire day in the Lake.

Forest department has done a commendable job in creating awareness to locals about the long distance migrants & in turn receiving support from the locals by letting the birds feed on their crops during the peak seasons.

Ruddy Shelduck also known as Brahminy Duck– Considered as sacred in Mongolia & Tibet

The lake plays host to these long distance migrants & resident birds in large numbers, other birds like Ruddy Shelduck, Comb ducks, Sandpipers, Moorhens, Egrets Ibis, Kingfisher & many more can be seen here.

Ruddy Shelduck

Purple Swamphen

Northern Shoveler- Female

Magadi Lake has now been legally protected by forest department. Fencing is made on the village side & a 3 storied watchtower with field scope for bird watching , monitoring the collared birds & keeping a vigil at the Lake.

Yellow Wagtail

Wood Sandpiper

Red-wattled lapwing

We were lucky to spot a Indian Courser at a near by field.

Somanna the forest guard / Watcher at Magadi Lake maintains data in his field book on collared goose on first arrival dates for the year & Collard goose .

This year a Bar-headed goose with “Green Collared number F17 with microchip” was seen here.

Somanna is doing a great job at Madagi Lake.Recently he rescued & treated an injured goose with the help of local Vet . It has now joined its group which has made him feel very happy & proud. But on the other hand he also feels sad that his work & dedication is not recognized by the Government or Forest department.

We saw some collard Bar-headed goose ( R1, N1, F5, US & A37)

Bar-Headed Goose with Collar N1

Bar-Headed Goose with Collar F5

Bar-Headed Goose with Collar N1, F5 & US Together

Bar-Headed Goose with Collar A37

We stayed for two days & made two visits per day (morning & evening ).

Our Magadi Lake checklist for two days on below links.

Magadi Bird Sanctuary, Karnataka, IN 1st March Morning

Magadi Bird Sanctuary, Karnataka, IN 1st March Evening

Magadi Bird Sanctuary, Karnataka, IN 2nd Morning

Near Magadi lake, Karnataka, IN 2nd Noon

PS: Any collared Bar-headed Goose seen & photographed can be intimated to Nyambayar Batbayar on his email id: nyambayar@wscc.org.mn

or Tseveenmyadagon : tseveenmyadag@magicnet.mn

Southern Coastal Karnataka – Bird Photography

Nov 112013

It was a last minute decision by me to join the group exploring Birding around Southern Coastal Karnataka.
Our group Santosh Bengaluru, Amith Kumar , Savitha Ravi, Parimala Ranganath & Shankar Sg.

We left Bangalore at 10:30pm & reached Udupi by 6:00am, had a quick fresh & headed to Hoode-Bengare.

Places covered on Day-1 : Hoode-Bengare, Kaup , Mulki

Rufous Treepie

Lesser Goldenback Woodpecker

If planing to visit Mulki , Low tide is the best time & prior check of tide movement for that day would be advisable.

Common Sandpiper Juv

Small Blue Kingfisher

Kentish Plover

Western Reef Egret

Lesser Sand Plover

Curlew Sandpiper

Whimbrel

Eurasian Curlew

Dolphin

Common Sandpiper

Grey Plover

Brown-Headed Gull

Kaup Light House

Ruddy Turnstone

Mulki

When we reached Mulki in evening it was low tide , We could walk around this place & see thousands of crabs emerging out, But next day morning due to high tide the water level was 5 feet submerging this place.

Red Fiddler crab

Hermit Crab

Common Redshank

Lesser Sand Plover

Black-tailed Godwit

Pacific Golden Plover

Terek Sandpiper

Places covered on Day-2 : Sasihithlu, Kapu, Someshwara.

Sasihithlu

Grey Plover

Blue Tailed Bee-Eater

Common Greenshank

Thanks to the wonderful team 🙂 Santosh & Amith for idying the birds & preparing the checklist 🙂 .

Also I would recommend to buy a book on Birds of Southern Coastal Karnataka with Kannada & local names of the birds.

To download our checklist right click on link & save Checklist

Birdwatching around Guwahati – Dipor bil

Nov 032013

Dipor Bil or Deepor Beel is located in the south-west of Guwahati city. It is a permanent freshwater lake in the former south channel of Brahmaputra River.

It is called as a wetland under the Ramsar Convention which has listed the lake for undertaking conservation measures on the basis of its biological and environmental importance in November 2002.

With 219 bird species of which 70 are migratory during winter season, Any new birdwatcher/ photographer is certainly taken aback by the large pile of municipal waste dumped close to a Ramsar site. Yes, it is a potential ecological threat for Deepor Beel. Here the crowd is more of picnickers than serious bird watchers.

Common Stonechat

I would call it a half day birdwatching place, Early morning trip to Deepor Beel and its adjoining areas would yield plenty of birdwatching opportunities.

Lesser Adjutant Stork

Unfortunately my flight was rescheduled to land at Guwahati at 11am instead of 10am & lost some more time in finding the correct spot at Beel.

White Wagtail

Country boats are available at the office for boating within the wetland, Boatmen charges between Rs 100 to 200 for a sail at least for couple of hours.

Our Boatman

If one wants to visit Deepor Beel soon after landing at the aiport, one should drive down up to Jhalukbari rotary and take right-hand turn towards national highway 37 which heads to Kaziranga national park. On the highway, one should stop at Garchuk police point (about 11 km from Jhalukbari) and again take right-hand turn. Once you have taken that route, drive another 10 km till you see the wetland with watch tower on the right side of the road.

People on the roadside will always be eager to help out with directions if you seek for. On the way of course it is suggestible to make stops and look around for birds near fringes of Deepor Beel which offers excellent finds of birds.

Greater Adjutant Storks

Deepor Beel View Point cum office

Date of Visit: 2nd Nov 2013

Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary

Nov 022013

I always had a desire to photograph One Horned Rhino & Water Buffalo. It got materialised as we planned to visit Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh for Pakke Bird Count. Nearest airport was Guwahati , so planned exclusive for photographing Adjutant Storks at Dipor Bil & Rhino at Pobitora WLS as we could not make it to Kaziranga in just one day.

One Horned Rhino

Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the flood plains of River Brahmaputra in the district of Morigaon. The natural boundary of the Pobitara wildlife sanctuary is the Garanga Beel on the south and the river Brahmaputra on the North, rest are artificial boundaries surrounded by 27 villages.

One Horned Rhino

Pobitara harbors the highest density of One Horned Rhino in the world and second highest concentration of Rhino in Assam after Kaziranga National Park.

One Horned Rhino

Rhinoceros unicornis is the Scientific name & Indian Rhinoceros, Greater One-horned Rhino, Great Indian Rhinoceros are the common names. It is listed as Vulnerable under IUCN .

The diet includes mainly grasses, some fruits, leaves, shrubs and tree branches. The species also utilizes mineral licks regularly. Males are solitary, with unstructured, overlapping territories. The females solitary unless occurring with young.

The riverine composition of forest with vast grassland in 15.9 sq. Km of the PA is the ideal habitat for Rhino.This species prefers these alluvial plain grasslands.

The Sanctuary is situated about 35 Km. from Guwahati via Chandrapur. The other approach road from the city is 52 Kms of which 32 Kms is along the National Highway No.-37 and 18 Kms along the state road.

We had booked our stay at Maibong Resort (run by Nipen Nath +919845612196 ) which is near the forest gate. Safari bookings were made through them , We had opted morning Jeep safari only.

Flock of Spot Billed Ducks

The bird life at Pobitora is very rich with several unique resident birds. Their number is augmented by migrants in winter. A census done in Jan 2012 showed that there were 26 species of birds at Pobitora. There were approximately 7000 resident birds including about 100 Cranes and approximately 5000 migratory birds. Other reports and websites suggest that it has 375 species of birds.

Crested Serpent Eagle

If visiting on a day trip, enjoy the bird life there and also walk around the wildlife sanctuary. It is a pleasant place for a walk.

Rhino horn is made of compressed keratin fibres, the same material that is found in fingernails and hair!

Wild Water Buffalo

Asian Wild Water Buffalo ( Bubalus bubalis) weighs up to more than a ton. The Asian Buffalo is a massive powerful animal with a wider horn span than any other bovid. These crescent-shaped ribbed horns are heavy-set at the base tapering to a narrow tip and are larger in males than females, sometimes spanning over two metres. Large splayed hooves are also advantageous for walking in the muddy marshy ground on which these buffaloes graze. The animal has a sparse covering of long ashy-grey to black hair with dirty-white ‘stockings’ up to the knees. The tail is relatively long and bushy at its tip and a distinctive white ‘V’ marks the lower neck.

Wild Water Buffalo is listed under “Endangered” in IUCN Redlist.

Date of visit: 3rd Nov 2013.

Stinky squid fungi

Oct 222013

Pseudocolus fusiformis is a fungi belonging to Phallaceae family & the common name is Stinky squid, this fungi or mushroom gets its common name as stinky because it generates foul rotten smell.

Pseudocolus fusiformis

The Fruit body at first is a brownish to greyish egg-like stage which will be inside the soil, resembling a puffball with white rhizomorphs. When the outer wall (peridium) of the egg splits open, three to five slender tapering orange coloured arching arms rise from a common stalk.

Pseudocolus fusiformis

The tips of the arms are often held together and the spore mass is distributed along the inner surfaces of the arms , Smell of mushroom caused by mucus greenish – black attracts insects to help spread spores & termed as sporulation .

Usually green bottled flies find the spore mass of stink horns irresistible. Found this during a nature trail near Bannerghatta National park.

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