Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates: 5th to 7th Aug 2021 A brief visit to the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, a small protected areas along the Cauvery River in south India, turned out to be productive in unexpected ways, including for three different sightings of Sloth Bear, all with cubs, an Indian Rock Python with a bellyContinue reading “Sloth Bear, Indian Rock Python and more, Cauvery WLS, Aug 2021”
Tag Archives: Nature
Some memories from the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR)
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) This southern most of India’s Tiger Reserves, is much about fresh water, and the deep, dark tropical forests that nurture it. Waterfalls abound, rainforest streams converge into boulder strewn rivers, flowing downhill into man-made reservoirs, finally reaching the hot, dusty plains of southern Tamil Nadu as the life sustaining Tamarabarani River.Continue reading “Some memories from the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR)”
Birding (and more) in and around Mysore (Lingambudi Kere, Chamundi and Kabini), Feb 2021: Trip Report
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Lingambudhi Kere (23rd Feb 21, 0720 to 1020) This south Mysore lake, located amidst a newly developing area of an expanding city, has the richest bird diversity among the city’s ebird hotspots. Not surprising given that it is an oasis of relatively pristine wetland and forest habitat (with some excellent patchesContinue reading “Birding (and more) in and around Mysore (Lingambudi Kere, Chamundi and Kabini), Feb 2021: Trip Report”
Zeiss Victory Harpia 85, a brilliant spotting scope with smidgens of imperfection: Equipment Reviews
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Some favourable alignment in the heavens (I expect), and Zeiss India’s excellent customer service, had me in possession the Zeiss Victory Harpia 85mm, their absolute premium offering in their range of spotting scopes, for a few days recently. My expectations were high, given Zeiss’s reputation for making stellar optics for natureContinue reading “Zeiss Victory Harpia 85, a brilliant spotting scope with smidgens of imperfection: Equipment Reviews”
Pulicat Bird Sanctuary, December 27th 2020: Trip Summary
Author: Ravi Kailas Pulicat is India’s second largest brackish lagoon and a wintering and staging ground for numerous waders and waterfowl that use the Central Asian Flyway, with records of globally significant bird species like Asian Dowitcher and Crab Plover known from here. Common Greenshank Date: 27th December 2020 Having neglected birding around Chennai overContinue reading “Pulicat Bird Sanctuary, December 27th 2020: Trip Summary”
Anamalai Tiger Reserve (Valparai area), October 2019: Trip Report
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates: 15th to 18th October 2019 The Anamalai Hills is a repository of the immense biodiversity of the Western Ghats of south India. Somewhat surprisingly, the disturbed, plantation-rainforest landscape in the Valparai area of these hills, located as it is, surrounded on all sides by protected areas, is one of the best placesContinue reading “Anamalai Tiger Reserve (Valparai area), October 2019: Trip Report”
An appreciation of backyard biodiversity during the pandemic: Nature Video
Author: Ravi Kailas As keen naturalists we have missed the freedom to travel to natural areas over the last few months. While the aesthetic upside of visiting a wilderness area can never be replicated in an urban environment, this period did inspire us to look closer at the denizens that inhabit the modest green spaceContinue reading “An appreciation of backyard biodiversity during the pandemic: Nature Video”
Borneo, The land of dipterocarps, August 2014: A pictorial report
Author: Ravi Kailas Borneo, the Earth’s third largest island, and home to among its great rainforests, was high on my bucket list of places to visit, for its reputed natural history splendours. Happily I managed a foray in August 2014, to a tiny corner of the island, in the Sabah province of Malaysia and wasContinue reading “Borneo, The land of dipterocarps, August 2014: A pictorial report”
Spiti Valley, including Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, September 2019: A trip report
Author: Ravi Kailas Breathtaking (a touch of altitude sickness induced pun intended), the apt adjective for my visit to the high altitude, the trans-Himalayan cold desert region of Spiti, in September last year. As is typical on my trips, the focus was on the region\’s wildlife and I had great hopes for plenty of HimalayanContinue reading “Spiti Valley, including Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, September 2019: A trip report”
Backyard birding in Chennai gets a fillip at this time of the year
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) A couple of days ago, looking up towards the sky, around dusk, to see (mostly) flying foxes, parakeets, egrets and pigeons, from a mid-city Chennai terrace, a falcon, an unusual sight in these parts, zipped across overhead, snatched a small bird (or bat), with its talons, (spectacularly) mid-flight, before disappearing fromContinue reading “Backyard birding in Chennai gets a fillip at this time of the year”
Ficus Wildlife and Natural History Tours 