Not so Pleasant Pheasants in my Garden

April 22, 2018 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ Leave a comment

I was lingering over my morning brew of South Indian coffee in Ranikhet [29.6434° N, 79.4322° E] when I spotted one of my favourite Himalayan pheasants pecking away below the dangling wisteria. The Khaleej is a common sight on the hillside, it is categorized with a conservation status of ‘LC’ [Least Concern] by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). That means there’s a healthy population of Khaleej pheasants around and you’re very likely to spot them if you’re in the Himalayan foothills.

Common not ordinary

I find the Khaleej nothing less than dramatic. If you haven’t seen a Khaleej rooster up close, think of a dandy draped in iridescent blue-grey-black, donning a swanky brush-stroked neckpiece, delicate scalloped patterns on his coattail; hiding behind a bloodred masquerade mask. It’s quite the show stopper. The all brown hen with white-edged feather patterns doesn’t look so dull on her own. But put alongside her male counterpart and her chances are bleak. In the breeding season which is right about now, things get interesting.

You barely notice the female Khaleej — Plain Jane on the left

The all puffed up Triumphant rooster

The banksia that blocked my view

Coming back to my tale of two pheasants, our solo traveller cocked up his head; I too heard the clucking that got him into an instant splayed-crest mode. Then I heard an urgent onslaught of clucks and saw a rapid blur of pheasants clash behind the screen of yellow banksia. I missed all the action. The impact of the chest a/g chest or whatever that encounter was, made them recoil violently. They both kept at that raucous clucking but didn’t engage again. I noticed the hen leave the scene in a hurry. Romeo clucked himself downhill reluctantly. I spied on the pheasants for two more days to see if he would brave the competition again but he was a picture of foraging-innocence. The hen had chosen her rooster and stood her ground. The very red-wattled one who succeeded in thwarting her 2nd suitor was strutting around like a puff fish. How I just love watching wild performances over coffee.

You can watch it on my youtube channel:http://bit.ly/KhaleejFaceOff

Watch the split second faceoff:

To be or not to bee. The bee-moth or hummingbird-hawk moth is back.

The proboscis of the hawk moth is curled under its chin in flight.

April 18, 2018April 22, 2018 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ Leave a comment

What’s growing in your garden?

The bee moth, also known as the hummingbird hawk moth is here again. I look forward to its annual dusk time visits. I have to be quick with my camera for this moth never lingers for too long. It clearly favors the colour purple: African lilies [Agapanthus] and verbena [Verbena bonariensis] and larkspur [Delphinium] -which is toxic to us. I have seen them sip up the nectar of pink zinnias and cosmos, so perhaps they are a bit partial to these flowers. To be honest, this hawkmoth does look hover like a hummingbird and hum like a bee.

Agapanthus, verbena and cosmos attract hawk moths. — Agapanthus, verbena, zinnias, larkspur, and cosmos attract hawk moths.

The hawk moth looks dull when sipping. — The hawk moth looks dull when sipping/at rest.

The mouth of an Himalayan caterpillar up close with cobra-like markings — The mouth of a caterpillar up close with cobra-like markings

Caterpillar hanging upside down whilst feeding on a leaf — Caterpillar hanging on un-delicately whilst feeding on a potato creeper. Note the tail.

Watch the hawk moth:

Watch the hawk moth caterpillar on my YouTube channel.

My friend and India’s leading lepidopterist, Peter Smetacek calls butterflies and moths bio-indicator species. Read about him: https://www.woodstockschool.in/hovers-like-a-hummingbird-looks-like-a-bee/

A Flight of Barn Swallows

April 7, 2018June 24, 2018 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ Leave a comment

Hirundo rustica revisits Landour at 7000 ft

Like summer visitors on the hillside, barn swallows descended on me in troves, unannounced, one fine morning. Then as swiftly (pardon the pun), they shot up, flew past a corner, looped around a tree or two, took a nose dive, twisted and turned and swung by again fleetingly. I stood rooted to my spot for a good few minutes, hypnotized by their acrobatics in the sky. What an air show…and a pain in the neck.

I noticed the swallows didn’t stay together like, say, white-throated laughing thrushes do, instead, they did their own thing, taking random flight paths “tweet-tweeting” without seeming to take a break. Almost like they had left their kids at home alone and needed to get back soon. It is the breeding season. Landour town shops already have swallow-nesting inside.

If there was a pattern to the swallows’ flight, I didn’t get it. It was impossible to stay focused on one bird continuously, let alone a flock. What I was watching was, in fact, nothing but a feeding frenzy. Summer bugs are out as well and the dives and swoops were directed by where the bugs were. Swallows catch them in mid-flight making a competitive reality TV game show look like child play. Not to be left behind, I zipped in and out with a camera and started randomly taking shots of swallows. 50+ blurs-in-the-sky has been promptly deposited in the trash. The rest I’m sharing with you.