Flora and fauna of the Bannerghatta (Shivanahalli) area

Visited the Shivanahalli area of Bannerghatta last weekend. The naturally maintained Ashram is a treat! The thick canopy creates a micro-climate of it's own.



Ismail and Vipin managed the permits. Harshith, Ismail and I spent a good 5-6 hours exploring the campus and the "man-made" forest. Thanks to Murali for the warm hospitality.



Like Thomas Fuller said - "He that plants trees loves others beside himself". What a brilliant living example we got to experience



Some of the images in an easy to view format in the video below













Until the next one.



Cheers!

Hayath

Exploring Valparai

Had a quick, last-minute visit to Valparai. The long weekend ensured the bus ticket prices were sky high and the jams on Hosur road really long.

Managed to make up for some lost time by taking hiring a cab from Pollachi. Couldn't get to see the Nilgiri Tahr or the famed Leopards, well that'd be for next time.

Thanks to Raju sir for the wonderful hospitality and Pavan for the company, a thoroughly enjoyable trip!

Here's a quick video slideshow of the sights and images from Valparai...

Till the next one..
Cheers!
Hayath

Quenching the macro thirst!

Hadn't shot macro the whole month, managed a productive session with some interesting finds. Some images from exploring the Bangalore University area

A hairy Pentatomid


Adapted to both dry and green patches!


A cute looking Carrhotus female


Carrhotus male(?)


Shield bug, with the blue sky providing some contrast


9/10 times one would've walked right past this perfectly aligned caterpillar


Mating chafer beetles


An Ichneumonidae wasp with a stunning, long ovipositor


A handsome looking Tachinid fly


Stunning coloration on this nymph


Deaths head hawk moth, those wings surely hold many galaxies within!




Omega!



Got lucky with this find, they hadn't even darkened yet




Just as we were trudging back (was a rather humid day!), we found this fascinating scene - the Robberfly which is an apex predator of the aerial world falling prey to the super-agile Hyllus (Jumping spider) female..that meal will definitely help her with making her silken nest/egg sac


All shot on the Olympus OMD EM10 M2, 60mm macro and Godox TT 350O with DIY diffuser.

Thanks to Pavan, Naveen, Pradeep, Sushvin for the company. Amit was kind enough to share this diverse location and help us explore :)

Cheers!
Hayath

Revisiting Agumbe with Photowalk Bengaluru

Got an opportunity to go back to experience the monsoons at Agumbe, this time with Photowalk Bengaluru as a Macro mentor.
Always a pleasure returning to Hingaara, with the warm hospitality, amazing food and rich biodiversity.   

A quick compilation of select images for your viewing pleasure :)


Till the next ride!

Cheers!
Hayath

Springing back to life! The transition from Summer to Monsoon

Summer this time was particularly harsh. Also noticed a marked decrease in insect/activity.

The dry surroundings with their own adaptations

A gorgeous stick insect


The striking boxer mantis


Sleeping blue-banded bee


The ants rule the roost


This wonderful seed-pod of an Indian kino tree, the root-like structure within representative of the power and promise of life


An amazingly camouflaged Plataspidae nymph


An un-ID'ed Salticidae


The transition of summer to onset of monsoon..greens begin to emerge





A bark mantis



The first drops being lapped up by this Ichneumon wasp


Fireflies out in numbers!


Cicadas being their noisy best, after a long subterranean extistence


Leaf beetles seen in plenty


The mites not letting go of the opportunity


The rains also meant an increase in mosquito numbers, here's one sucking blood from my left hand. The proboscis and engorged abdomen turning red with blood.


With insect life bouncing back in good numbers, predators made the best of it

The two-tailed spider, Herisilia sp on the bark


This two-striped jumper, Telamonia sp female feasting on a blue bottlefly


A Lynx spider, Peucetia sp predating on a mantis


It's a spider-eat-spider world! A Rhene jumping spider predating on a Bomis sp crab spider


Robberflies rule the aerial space




Keeping the mosquitos/midges in check



Almost every perch/vantage point had a robberfly on it, truly the season!




The compound eyes which enables such high degree of precision



The forest floor with the Tmarus snacking on an ant


This season also brings out some spiders rarely seen

The oh-so-colorful Chrysilla


Asemonea sp


Cyrba sp, saw this striking little beauty for the very first time!


A curled-up millipede showing how nature works with classic design


A lot of arthropod life-cycle revolves around reproduction, fascinating to watch the life stages

Single egg of a common emigrant butterfly


A caterpillar ready to pupate


But nature had sinister plans, this was affected with a virus known as the "Black death". This caterpillar will not pupate successfully


A rarely seen caterpillar stage of the Double branded crow butterfly


A looper caterpillar of the Geometrid moth


Pupating ladybird larva


A weaver ant queen looking at expanding the colony


Owlfly larvae with those intimidating mandibles


An Ammophila sp wasp carrying back a paralyzed caterpillar to lay eggs inside and bury it. What a welcome gift to the progeny!


A Brettus sp jumping spider with her spiderlings


Got lucky with this full life-cycle of Coreidae (shield bugs)

Eggs




Freshly hatched nymphs




The multi hue/colors indicate how recently the nymph has moulted. Red is recent, green/yellow is older..how cool!


Hope you enjoyed these, it was fascinating and amazing to me, no matter how many times I experience this..oh, the wonders of nature!

Adios till the next one.

Cheers!
Hayath