India – Page 6 – Pelican Yoga

Triple K “expedition (#2 in teaser series: Old Delhi)

Published June 1, 2024 by Pelidoug

Triple K “expedition (#2 in teaser series: Old Delhi)

Originally, in the 17th century CE, what is now known as “Old Delhi” was Delhi – a walled, Mughal city.

Now, it is no longer walled, and occupies only a minute proportion of Delhi’s mushrooming metropolis.

As it happens, I have experienced a number of the world’s megacities. (metropolises of more than ten million humans)

In 2024, Old Delhi’s 300,000+ residents probably comprise circa one percent of Delhi’s population.

Various lists of the world’s megacities offer sometimes-ludicrously-divergent rankings and alleged population figures, but most agree that Delhi’s metropolis now has many more human residents than does the entire Australian nation.

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“Hunting” tigers (#3 in 3 part series: close encounter)

Published November 13, 2023 by Pelidoug

“Hunting” tigers (#3 in 3 part series: close encounter)

It was late afternoon, on our final “full” day in and around Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.

We were midway through the eighth of our nine Nagarhole wildlife “drives”.

Tiger-wise, time was running out.

We had enjoyed many “close encounters of the wildlife kind”, including one with a very healthy leopard.

On two occasions we had seen a tiger…just, fleetingly.

On more than two other occasions our ears had provided unmistakable evidence that a leopard or tiger was “on the prowl”, nearby.

However, at 4.52 pm on 07 March it appeared likely that we were not going to experience any 2023-vintage, visual “close encounter of the tiger kind”.

I took the featured photo – above – at 4.58 pm.

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“Hunting” tigers (#2 in 3 part series: use your ears)

Published November 11, 2023 by Pelidoug

“Hunting” tigers (#2 in 3 part series: use your ears)

Imagine an English-speaking tiger, asked to describe the deer in this post’s featured image.

”Delicious”, might be the tiger’s reply.

You are looking at #1 and #2 on the list of species most preyed on by India’s tigers – respectively, sambar and chital/spotted deer.

As you can see, all five deer are definitely not relaxed.

Drinking and having “a good look around” are not simultaneously-possible; the pictured chital are in “eyes down” mode.

The sambar calf is looking at its mother.

However, you can see that the ears of all five deer are open, alert.

If you wish to see tigers (or leopards) in the wild, your ears are your most useful organs.

Big cats’ hunting success is stealth-dependent; they are highly unlikely to make sounds that betray their presence.

Your very quiet self should be focused on hearing the alarm calls which “prey” animals make whenever they notice a predator.

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Quirky moments (#12 in series: subcontinental signage)

Published August 27, 2023 by Pelidoug

Quirky moments (#12 in series: subcontinental signage)

The roadside billboard pictured above is in the foothills of the Nilgiri Hills.

It hopes to lure travellers into what is in fact merely yet another of the world’s millions of franchised purveyors of junk “food”, “soft” drinks, and lousy coffee.

What’s actually on offer is drearily “global”, but the billboard-hyperbole has an unmistakably Indian flavour.

Where else would a brand name even attempt to associate its burgers, pizzas, sandwiches and fizzy drinks with drug “trips” and rock music’s first “supergroup”?

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Quirky moments (#5 in series: cowtown/metropolis)

Published August 15, 2023 by Pelidoug

Quirky moments (#5 in series: cowtown/metropolis)

The relevant city’s metropolitan population is approximately “Brisbane’s plus Adelaide’s” – well in excess of four million humans.

It is a safe bet that its “other large mammals’ combined population” would comfortably exceed that of all Australian cities.

What you are looking at would be “inconceivable” within an Australian CBD, but to those who reside in Rajasthan’s capital (and largest) city, this would be an unremarkable sight.

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Quirky moments (#2 in series: snakebird v catfish)

Published August 11, 2023 by Pelidoug

Quirky moments (#2 in series: snakebird v catfish)

What is a “quirky moment”?

The answer is largely a matter of the relevant human observer’s/participant’s experience, sensibility, attitude.

One person’s “surprising” or “bizarre” or “amusing” is another’s “to be expected, in this particular context”, “prosaic”, or “unremarkable”

What is happening in the featured image is a case in point.

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Quirky moments (#1 in series: “royal” treatment in a desert “palace”)

Published August 10, 2023 by Pelidoug

Quirky moments (#1 in series: “royal” treatment in a desert “palace”)

…only in India!

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“From behind” (#10 in single-image series: heron, hunting)

Published May 31, 2023 by Pelidoug

“From behind” (#10 in single-image series: heron, hunting)

A heron (or egret) in hunting mode delivers a fascinating, repeating sequence of events.

For unpredictably short or long periods the heron is a study in concentration and stillness, until that stillness is suddenly shattered by the bird’s speargun-like attack.

The prey – usually a small fish, crustacean, mollusc, amphibian or insect – is swallowed, rapidly.

The sequence then repeats…

For obvious reasons, a photographer cannot “capture” this behaviour from a very close vantage point, directly in front of the heron’s beak/“speargun”.

However, one can sometimes get surprisingly close, “from behind”.

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Three of the same, with musical bonus (#10 in series: black-winged stilt)

Published May 2, 2023 by Pelidoug

Three of the same, with musical bonus (#10 in series: black-winged stilt)

Two questions arise when considering all three birds in today’s featured image.

The obvious one: “clearly, their wings are not black, so how do they merit their name?”

The other one: “why is Himantopus himantopus in the Guinness Book of Records?”

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Three of the same (#6 in series: five-striped palm squirrels)

Published April 28, 2023 by Pelidoug

Three of the same (#6 in series: five-striped palm squirrels)

Funambulus pennanti is a very, very much smaller mammal than is Oryx gazella.

Nonetheless, whereas yesterday’s large African antelopes occupied a tiny portion of the featured image, today’s Asian rodents dominate it.

Many people regard this widespread, very adaptable squirrel species as “particularly cute”.

From an agricultural/human food production/storage point of view, however, five-striped palm squirrels are a serious pest; in Elmer Fudd-speak, these are “weally wascally wodents”.

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Tag: India