The Wonders of Middle India

[GDB]

Oops, sorry I have just checked and realised that I had already shown you this lion before.

Probably something to do with my age.... and talking about my age, this very large person who is a good friend of mine was born in 1946 as well..... a good year. He was strolling along behind us with his mahout who retired him from active service a year or two back. He still does some patrolling in the forest, checking on the tigers and other at risk animals, but generally spends most of his time relaxing and bathing in the river nearby. He is in remarkable condition and could live another ten or twenty years. Elephants have a similar life span to humans. It was wonderful to see him again this year.....

 

[GDB]

Back to feathered friends, this is one of the smallest birds of prey, fairly commonly spread throughout the continent, but not often seen. He is smaller than our kestrel...... the Shikra.

 

[GDB]

It is quite rare to get a Sloth Bear to look straight at you, but we seemed to have caught this one by surprise. He was momentarily put out, but soon got back to his ablutions. This shot was taken in the famous Tadoba national park in the state of Maharashtra.....

 

[Eleanor]

I can't remember whether I've asked you this - why is he (or she) called a sloth bear?

1946 was definitely a good year, although your elephant is walking a lot better than I am!

 

[GDB]

Good question Eleanor..... I have tried to think about the obvious connection with those lazy creatures who hang upside down in trees. Apart from the name, there is nothing else in common. The Sloth Bear is quite reclusive and lives in the forest generally. They are omnivorous and live off fruits and insects, mainly termites whose nests they grub out with their powerful long claws. A male can weigh up to 300lbs, so they need to eat a lot to survive and thus are always on the go. The females carry their young on their backs.... now that would be a wonderful photograph !

I wonder if the 'supervet' Noel Fitzpatrick could do a knee replacement on an elephant.....

 

[GDB]

Here are some more friends from Middle India.... the first is the Small Owlet very similar to our Little Owl. The second is the Wild Dog; this one was just going in for his constitutionals. They are quite small, very lean, and hunt in packs. They are very attractive benign looking dogs, but looks can deceive; they can bring down a full size samba deer, which in term is similar in size to our red deer....

 

[GDB]

On a very hot afternoon, maybe 40+degrees, in the beautiful national park of Kanha, we spotted this young lady trying to have a relaxing cool bath in what was obviously one of her favourite watering holes..... no such luck. At first we thought it must be us disturbing her, as she seemed a little agitated. Then we realised that the langur monkeys in the tree directly over our heads, were pelting her with berries. She put up with it for a few minutes, and then reluctantly got up and walked off in a huff.
Fortunately for us, she didn't wander too far before she sat down to carry out her ablutions....... and stared at us. It was magic moment, she was only 10yds away.

 

[GDB]

The Indian birds can be spectacular. Here are two bee eaters. The Green Bea Eater is the most common and the Blue Tailed version is much rarer, but both are difficult to photograph. They are quite small and seemingly always on the move.

 

[Eleanor]

You don'r somehow think of moneys teasing tigers...

You say the bee eaters are small - how small is small?

 

[GDB]

Yes, Eleanor, I think there was a short video on one of the wildlife programmes of a pair of monkeys swinging around in the trees and swooping down to prod and tease two young tigers. I think the tigers enjoyed the game, but it was a very dangerous game. The ones in our little episode stayed well clear until Miss Grumpy was well on her way.

Bee Eaters..... probably about the same size as the Blue Tit, but with longer tail and beak.

Still on feathered friends, we are familiar with lapwings in UK and Europe.... in India one of their most common birds is the Red Wattled Lapwing; this one is much less common, he is the Yellow Wattled Lapwing. The colour rendition is about right; the yellow is that bright!

 

[GDB]

Ah, and here is the Red Wattled Lapwing..... still with yellow legs.

 

[GDB]

And, here are the vultures posing for this shot.... unfortunately they were over 100 yds away.

 

[Eleanor]

The lapwing are a lot more attractive than the vultures...

Are the lapwing two completely different species or are they able to interbreed? That could lead to an interesting selection of wattle colours...

 

[GDB]

That is disappointing Eleanor..... I thought you would have agreed that they looked cute just sitting there watching the world, and us, go by.

Regarding lapwings, the Red is considerably bigger than the Yellow, and whilst they are both ground birds and do not roost as such, they occupy different habitats. The former tends to enjoy the wetter areas, and the latter the dry stony ground. The Red is much more widespread over Southern Asia generally, but the Yellow is more confined to India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan I think.
Interbreeding..... I would thing not, but an Orange Wattled Lapwing would be interesting.

Still on lapwings, this is the more uncommon one, the River Lapwing.... guess where his main habitat is?

 

[Eleanor]

Now he is definitely stylish, although, if I dare say it, not quite up to the standard of the other lapwing pictures? (But still better than I could do though!!)

Problem with the vultures is they always remind me of the vultures in Walt Disney's Jungle Book....

 

[GDB]

You are quite right Eleanor, you cannot see his eye can you..... hmm, I must try to maintain standards.
Anyway, I cannot stand sycophants as you know.

Hopefully this Hawk Eagle is a little better....

 

[Eleanor]

I do love his little top knot feather. Is that meant to be there?

 

[GDB]

He is a young Crested Hawk Eagle.... he has about three feathers which pop up when he is alert, and tend to lie flat when he is at rest.

 

[Eleanor]

So he was half alert then?!

 

[GDB]

Very good Eleanor..... From what I remember he was surprised as he suddenly saw us watching him, so he wasn't sure whether it should be up or down. A bit like the Grand Old Duke of York's men !

And another oops, oh dear I have done it again. I have been repeating myself again. You have already seen this Hawk Eagle......