Un-Pheasant Truth

The sparse brown brush was fast fading into a parched and shrivelled tangle as the once sinewy roots now groped for traces of moisture in the dusty grit and gravel. A haze of sooty flecks hung in the air settling slowly as a deathly shroud over the singed leaves. Unfamiliar sounds brutally assaulted the tenor …

Watch it!

A race it has become to tick off a bucket list,bird watching a pursuit now for a brief tryst.A lens and memory card are all that we care,exploration lost out to detached quick affair. Whither the curiosity what a bird is up to,puzzling why it did that just before it flew.EV ISO shutter speed f-stop …

Muni(a)’s Worth!

Weary soles and wretched souls,ending one of our worst strolls,a trail promising sighting goals,no birds and empty crab holes. Then at the dirt trail’s fag end,in the shrubs around the bend,fluttering wings heard in descend,flickering hopes began to ascend. A furred figure buff and blurred,turned a clumsy juvenile bird,busy with preening undeterred,despite our presence unstirred. …

The Dark

As junior and I stood, shoes sinking in the slushy marshy banks of the lake, this ibis uncharacteristically circled overhead a couple of times. I could have ratcheted up the EV but would have only ended up with an unremarkable abdomen. Thinking quickly on my clogged feet, I stepped it down a bit for this …

Limitless Scopa

Bees collect both nectar and pollen from flowers. While the nectar is a source of carbohydrates, the pollen provides them with protein, fats and various macro and micro nutrients. To carry pollen back to their hives, the female bees have different specialised structures on their body which vary as per the species. Honeybees and bumblebees …

Weedout Doubt

(Preamble: This plant has grown up with my carrot plants on the fringes of the planter. I cannot explain why – despite it so evidently not being a carrot – I did not weed it out, but fed and cared for it just like any other plant. And now that the barely two inches tall …

Bee-mused!

Which Bee would it be, it so bee-wildered me,was it a bare Carpenter, or a hairy Bumblebee? The darting and diving, bee-trayed the family,up close I saw bee-tter, bee-spoke the anatomy. Bee-lated I remem-bee-red, 48 species of thee,only in Himalayas, Bumblebees buzzed with glee. Bee-tween 16 black species, markings I had to see,bee-hold it defined, …

Bird, Decollated!

Two days into his stay at the farm he knew something was amiss. Each morning he had woken up to a crisp cool dawn of the early spring days, the air redolent with the heady bouquet of the hillside blooms and the mild rays of sunshine diffused through a curtain of thin fog that hung …

To-may-to, To-mah-to… Ta-ma-tar!

I am aware that many of you here have been growing tomatoes since ages, but for me this was my first attempt, and the journey of these past six months – from seeds to fruit – has been a very valuable learning experience. Come to think of it, over the past year, my home garden …

Self-be-leaf

(Tanka of an enlightened leaf) Some form muddy poolsyet some others run down drainsblessed to make few pearlsthose that run off lose their selfthe resilient shine forth Water sustains liferelentless my thirsty rootswhat worth then these pearlsan ephemeral miragenot ego let deeds make me [The tiny, newly unfurled leaf of my Colocasia plant juggles with …