An adventurous and adamant butterfly

Have you experienced a mood like wanting to do something adventurous (and playful)? You probably can understand the butterfly here well then. I saw an Eggfly butterfly sitting. I wasn't holding a camera or for that matter there wasn't a shot too (it was a very worn out butterfly and sitting in cluttered setting), I anyway stopped and tried to see what kind of shot it would be if I use mobile camera. but before I do much, butterfly noticed me and flew in. yes, it did not fly away, it flew in. wanted to sit on my head, shoulder. I am not totally unfamiliar to butterflies wanting to do that and I make slight backing off movement indicating that I am not a very welcoming perch.

It however flew around me searching for another opportunity to land and even when it did go and sat on some plant, it launched itself in my direction every few seconds. and then, I gave up to its persistence and extended my hand in its direction saying, ok, come and sit. It actually turned midair and sat on my extended hand! I was quite surprised and reacting to my surprise it flew away but came back happily when I extended the offer again. It then sat proudly on my hand as first I stood still like a plant and then moved carefully to adjust orientation of hand to take a photo. after all, it knew it was on a moving animal so it was ok for me to move somewhat. It sat for few minutes, moved around on hand and after what I think it was enough time, we said goodbye to each other.

I feel butterflies have grown more friendly towards me even though I cant actually be sure about it – probably I wasn't spending enough time around them earlier? but that doesn't stop me from wondering if they indeed have become more friendly, what might be the reason? those probable reasons ranges from my movements becoming less hurried and more mindful of nature around, better connection with nature etc. I even thought about things like it wanting minerals from my skin to it being infected with some parasite that wanted to transfer itself on to me. (ok, it neither tried to probe skin and cant bite – but anyways, I didn't claim my guesses were educated or even sensible.)

and probably there was no deeper meaning to it other than that it wanted to spend few moments with someone and I came across. Probably it wanted to ride a human just for sake of doing something unusual?

No matter what was butterfly's reason, I still cant get over how it responded to my extended hand..

Are you looking?

Around a year back, as I got interested in small subjects, apart from excitement of seeing so many new things, I was also relieved that it saved me from inevitable void I must have faced had I stood outside my home holding a 400mm lens. After all, if you have been watching attentively two-three-four seasons passing by, its natural that surprises die down ultimately..  Indeed, I didn't see many interesting surprises suitable for 400mm as I spent most of last year holding 18-55mm, reversed. (well, those 'not many' sightings still total to 9 brand new species and some in-flight and other shots I quite like..) However two days back, like on those old days, I picked up 400mm.

I was scanning trees without having anything in mind what I am looking for. and.. was that a bright flash of red? What I saw was very high, very small, but there was no scope of doubt. then, I was caught in that sentiment I thought I had overcome to large extent. An almost guaranteed to be only sighting of some very attractive species makes me nervous. and, I usually end up with below average shots with almost shaky hands and nervous mind. ok, so I recognise that I am caught in non helping state of mind, but before I even react to that red bird, notice a flash of yellow, slightly nearer. I point the camera to yellow bird, it poses for me, and yes, as expected, I couldn't get the bird in focus. Long tailed Minivet female didn't give that nice pose again.

Pair stayed high above, difficult to get clear view, but still, I did get few shots, in focus at least :-). Not very far from hundred percent crops below cant be match for actually seeing that magical flame red, still, some shots below. It was simply amazing in real life.

Uncropped frames looked like below.

Female at times came few feet closer.

They appeared to be feeding mostly on large larva rather than catching flying insects.

After they were gone, I continued my bird watching and this Common Hawk Cuckoo came from behind and sat in front of me. It copies Shikra's look and is often feared by other birds like one.

Yesterday, I saw for the first time Shikra hovering high in the sky like Kites. Got some shots too. This season I think its first time I understood why its called Shikra. (from Shikari- the Hunter). 

So, I rarely saw 400mm shots in last year as I held macro lens in my hand and yet non everyday sightings were there with what looked like disproportionate probability when I walked out with 400mm. I remembered something from long back. I was around 11 or so. Don't remember how - if I heard someone or if that question was created by my mind, but most likely former, that the world exists only when you are looking. Probably its one of those thoughts/teaser that every child thinks about. I remember thinking about it and reaching to conclusion that 1) It may not be possible to prove that argument incorrect 2) I still 'knew' world existed even when I wasn't looking.
Switching between Macro and 400mm lenses have taught me something else. Existence of things may not be dependent on if I am looking at them, but even when things exist in front of me, to see them I need to be looking.

Mantises

Few months back I saw some red things - they were praying mantises it seemed. They would sit in curled up position and move only once light conditions are poor enough which meant for long I couldnt manage any shot. but still, watching them when they walked was very enjoyable - body length increasing by few folds and each step preceded by action that looked like he was punching air and preempting any danger. There were just too many of them around but all I could get was few average shots on couple of occasions as below. Second individual was kind enough to walk while light was still good.

Then with winter, insects were not seen as much and so above red or any other mantises. and after the winter break, first one that I managed to notice was this below individual. He sat on this flowers for days and days and days.. I was really surprised how long that flower stayed there!
In the background, there is a crab spider - you can see if you make great attempt at seeing it and then just believe me when I say its there. Mantis was standing with its back to the crab spider and only recently had noticed that someone else was sharing the flower. Here, Mantis is interrupting his attempt to ask crab spider what's his business here to pose for me.

Then one day, I notice that an ant on the yellow flower was actually a tiny mantis! I was very excited to finally find an ant mimicking mantis. so I took some shots.

I kept visiting that flowers for next few days and while I didn't notice any change in that Mantis (nor I was expecting any change), when I started uploading shots for this post, notice that it had changed, probably grew bigger too. Wikipedia told me that my ant mimicking mantis was actually a mantis nymph that was mimicking ant only while it was small. 

yes, I felt very uneducated, but seriously, for someone who really is as uneducated like me, it was probably ok to misjudge. See the next image how it looked when you looked at flower with your eyes, not macro lens.

Don't know what these are called, but probably they would grow to become something like below ones. I had encountered them last summer/monsoon.

I am still new to insect world and sure there are many strange ones around, but in what I have seen so far, I find mantises one of the more interesting looking. Specifically, how their bodies are folded and how they predictably stay at same place for days together. Few others below. I had shared them at previously but listing them out again to make this post as a complete collections of all Mantises I have found so far.

With Nature, if you make a generic statement, next thing you find is, retracting yourself. Happens with me at least. Below types were actually hyperactive. let alone finding them at one place for days, it was almost impossible to judge where you should try to focus as it ran with fantastic speed.

and not too many folds here. Unless, its something else altogether. This was very big. I have a full shot too but preferred this as other has white/yellow wall in background.

This post turns out mostly a photo listing one and I think another of same kind may follow soon. It probably is appearing unbalanced, but I guess amount of text in previous post was enough to counter at least ten photo-only posts :-)

A 'Good' bye

It was past mid December and winter cold was due but still almost absent. yet, Sun was surely enjoyable if not most wanted thing. As I stood at one of my favourite spots, enjoying Sun and looking for birds, heard some movement behind leaves on a nearby tree. I point camera and see this.

I thought it was hiding from me and that I should back off few steps to leave it alone - after all, my attention must be nuisance for it. but before I start looking for birds again, it made an unexpected move. Instead of hiding, it moved up, in clear sight, at eye level and then stayed there. probably I was wrong that it was hiding from me. probably it didn't even notice me or factored my presence while moving..

Now that it was there in clear sight, in good light, not afraid of me, I thought I can take a shot or two. Surprisingly it allowed me very close without any reaction.

I took few shots but there was that feeling of missing something. I had come across them at few times before and barring one previous experience when I was ignored, I was almost always told that my company wasn't very appreciated. Why this individual was so kind to me then? Anyhow, as I started moving away, saw a crow sitting only few feet above on tree from where the lizard, which was enjoying Sun could be easy target. Crow flew away as I looked at him. So, was that the missing explanation? Did lizard bet that it was likely that crow would avoid me and I was manageable risk compared to value of Sunshine? I don't know but as I walked off, did make a point to tell the lizard that I am now off and she could be more vigilant against the crow.

As usual, it was again a case where I could neither ask nor prove by any means if my speculation was right or not but it reminded me of similar experience, that time more human friendly subject, a young squirrel coming down to a branch very close to me to feed and using me as shield against a large group of rosy starling. I had shared it earlier, but don't mind repeating same shot again here.

ok, the point I want to stress here is not so much how other species turn us in asset if and when they can - all my feathered friends - everyday babblers, mynas, doves, crows.. that live around home and recruit me for tasks of giving some food to them, ensuring they have water to drink and to bath and that those things are shared in equitable manner etc etc with so much ease that idea of other species interacting with/adjusting theit behaviour due to humans doesn't sound special enough to talk about. but then, those individuals know me. they have learned to interact with me over a longer period of time, sometime with first step taken by me, sometime by observing other birds and joining the bandwagon. but in cases of lizard and squirrel, there was no personal touch. it was a purely their tactical decision to make best of few minutes of altered risk profile of environment. It was presence of mind that I find worth admiring.

Talking about presence of mind, again, as such I have been often left impressed or even outsmarted by individuals of many species- more often those experiences were with bigger animals - Dog/Cow/Monkey.. A recent experience I am sharing below is however somewhat different. its not with one of those bigger species who often deal with humans and neither its only about display of intelligence.

Some two weeks back, around 11 AM, after first ignoring and then paying attention to some activity, I see a Shikra was sitting on ground holding... a very big yellow fruit??. ok, i knew I didn't understand what I was seeing and go near the Shikra, Shikra flies off. A yellow footed green pigeon is sitting on the ground now. He didn't try to fly off even as I stood next to it nor did he resist when I picked it up, took inside and put it in a way that I thought it will feel secure. Pigeon was injured yet appeared in good shape. but he was very scared. He was also fully water socked due to rain that had continued for most of previous night.

I thought best thing to do for initial some time was to leave it alone to calm down. I put some water and some puffed rice in front of him and leave him alone. He sat there, facing wall with eyes closed. Once or so I tried to encourage it to drink some water only to find it pushing itself towards wall not looking in my direction at all. When I left it alone, it appeared to be sleeping so didn't disturb it much except for cleaning the droppings and sprinkling some turmeric powder around where it was injured.

After some 3 hours he was still facing wall, sleeping and had shown no interest in even water. He still appeared somewhat scared, but I think he had got used to me talking to him by then. I remember then what I should have done much before. check what do they eat. with hindsight now it sounds stupid not to do it before but somehow I didn't imagine a pigeon not eating puffed rice. plus, reason behind offering it wasn't as much to feed it rather, it was to make it comfortable by signaling that 'look, I am offering food to you, I am your friend'. Anyhow, I now offer a piece of orange and back off again. Still facing the wall, he looks at the orange piece from the corner of his eyes. There is a sudden change of expression - he appears surprised, pleasantly surprised. He looks at the orange, looks at me, looks at orange, and sits there but with his head no longer tucked in or trying to stay near the wall and his eyes are now not only wide open, appears fully awake and active. after another 60 seconds or so, he was facing me, not the wall. He still wouldn't eat or drink.

After few minutes, he tries to fly but strange little enclosed place in which we humans live beats him completely. He flies into wall, kind of panics but finally manages to perch at height of few feet with a pipe to hold on. that was a set back to his moral - he went back to his facing wall posture. but a real boost to my moral, not only his eyes, legs and general health was okay, wings were largely unhurt too. and so far as reigniting the sense of trust, hint of which I had seen just few mins back, it had happened once, so I was confident we will be able to establish communication once more too. Offering banana fails, Guava fails, water too has no impact either as before. Confidence however is good thing and I know what to do next. I open the window (it has mosquito net so pigeon is still protected from outside threats), invite my daily friends babblers outside window. As they excitedly feed on Roti making a lot of happy noise, Pigeon has no option but to take notice. He turns his back to wall again and I knew it wont choose to face the wall after this.

Then, routine sets in like this. I go to him with each of the fruits and water one by one, hold it in front of his beak, he shows non interest. I persist. he turns his head 15 degrees to the left, 15 degrees to the right, left, right.. with moderate to fast speed, also opens and closes his beak sometimes. I still don't back off and continue to talk requesting to eat or drink. he turns his head, tucks in on his back, closes eyes and ignores me completely. I finally give up - for next hour or two.

Next morning. Pigeon still haven't had even a drop of water, or eat anything. I decide to move him to a small room leading to front door. He didn't want me to hold it but accepted my fingers as perch more readily. I wondered what he must be thinking as he crossed home sitting on my hand, looking at it with tourist like interest. Could it be thinking that these land-confined creatures are strange, impossible to understand and quite stupid, but probably not as bad as their reputation goes? Anyways, we reach desired destination and I want it to sit there. He doesn't want to leave my hand and responds to my attempts of reclaiming my hand by climbing sideways on to my arm, pushing its body to upper arm. Anyways, I somehow persuade him to sit there, repeat my babbler trick, this time they come inside from the front door, spend a minute with Pigeon, even think if they should consider fruit platter in front of Pigeon their own, but leave without doing so in the end. Front door is open, Pigeon however doesn't show any interest in following babblers to the world under open sky.

He doesn't show any interest in fruits or water too. I was worried now. ok, not wasting energy in digestion and using it for recovery may be a right choice and I trusted his decision with respect to his recovery more than my wish that he eats something, but not even a drop of water? was that ok? he was looking better and better in last 22 hours, but still. As the last attempt, I find trees with ripe figs, yellow footed green pigeon's favourite food, bring two varieties of them (trees were actually very near) and add to the fruit platter. He doesn't eat them either. just calmly sits there looking outside window.

At almost same time when Shikra caught him 24 hours before, it suddenly becomes restless. He wants to go out. Immediately. attempts going out through window, but there is mosquito net. Main door is closed and after running to the wall, ceiling, he settles above the main door. I open the door, offer him my hand to shift to. He doesn't refuse. I lower the hand and he is facing open world now. but doesn't fly away at first opportunity. I walk few steps and now we are out in the open. I tell the Pigeon that I would love to see him flying off to his world but its up to him to take a call. if he isn't yet confident, there is no compulsion to go. He can stay back as long as he wishes. and then wait for his decision. He looks up, surveys trees around, looks at me for a long, calm, unhurried moment, and, takes off. Selects the same Neem tree from which he had fallen.

Story telling is difficult from this point onward. Its not easy to describe that happiness of seeing him flying combined with a sudden realisation that the only thing that occupied mind till previous moment has left for its own world. With some difficulty I located it inside similar coloured leaves. and remembered - a photo? Yes, I had not taken a single shot of him so far. so rush to pick up camera and take below shot.

I notice in this shot what I might not have noticed otherwise. sharp edged claws. No wonder his each step on my arm had left 3 inches long scratches that had swollen instantly.

He was sitting there alone on tree, I stood below. He stayed there for almost five ten minutes and took off again. He gains height, crosses me overhead, I watch extremely nervously, is he flying fine?, oh he is not aiming for next tree, continues his flight and lands on a leafless tall tree far off. I couldn't believe what I saw. He had joined a group of his kind! He was neither vulnerable nor alone any more.

He was no more than small dot far away but I point my lens to him for one last time anyway. I would have found even a picture where I knew one dot was my Pigeon a valuable one and the shot I got was this..

As rest of the group sat on that tree facing featureless sky, my pigeon had turned its head and was looking back. with chocked voice I tried to speak 'Don't worry about me, I will be fine'.