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Posted by rocksea on 20 Jan 2010 | Category: photography, prakriti
The hourglass mark on its dorsum is attractive, and that is why I call it the time keeper. We found this frog while we were cleaning and pruning the area around our fish pond. Sarah was throwing away some rotten twigs and leaves when she felt something cold and creepy leap on to her 
Posted by rocksea on 21 Dec 2009 | Category: photography, prakriti
The two tailed spiders are called so because their rear spinnerets are longer than usual, and appear like tails. Spinnerets are the organs with which the spiders spin their silk. In the picture below, you can see the tail pair of spinnerets kept together in its rear. Legs, except the third pair, are very long and slender and have banded colors.
Posted by rocksea on 29 Jul 2009 | Category: photography, prakriti
A crab spider (Thomisus sp. Family: Thomisidae) and a flower beetle @ home, Kerala. The Thomisdae, or Crab spiders are the masters of ambush and disguise. Some of them change their colors in tune to the surroundings, lie in wait, and leap on the unseeing insects. They are called crab spiders because of their crab-like appearance and sideways motion. They occur more commonly on plants, and sometimes under rocks. The family name thomisidae is derived from the Greek “thomis” meaning “a sting”.
The crab spider seems to be eyeballing the flower beetle and checking if it is potential food material 
The flower beetles very often open the flower buds and eat the bud centres (see the image below). These bud centres contain the flower clustre in its primordial stage, which is a nutritious meal for the beetle. Probably the crab spider is aware of this and that could be the reason (?) it is staying near the flower bud in the first picture
I guess the plant in this picture is the zoomed in part of the cherry tree (see the cherry picking indian koel), with its budding leaves and flowers.
Another crab spider waiting for its prey, between the “bushes” of a cockscomb (celosia cristata) flower.
Date: 09-11 Sept 2005
Location: @ home, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Camera: Olympus C770UZ + MCON-40 Macro Lens
Posted by rocksea and sarah on 07 Jul 2008 | Category: italy, photography, prakriti
Italy is full of towering historical edifices, and during our euro-mediterranean adventures, we were enchanted to see that it has a rich marine life too. It was a warm afternoon at Gallipoli, south of Italy. We went to swim and feel the Ionian Sea, but soon found ourselves studying the marine life thriving on the rocky shores.
Marine Life & Colors under splashing waves @ Gallipoli, Puglia, Italy
… along came a jellyfish
We were in the sea while this jellyfish floated by, along with some non-aquatic plants. We were amazed by the beautiful red floral like patterns on its umbrella. The externally visible patterns match to the Pelagia noctiluca, a toxic, stinging jellyfish, commonly known as the mauve stinger in the Mediterranean. The mauve stinger has the ability to glow in the dark [nocti = night, luca = light]. However, we didn’t find any protruding tentacles on its body and we are not sure if it is the mauve stinger itself.
A closeup of the floral patterns on the mediterranean jellyfish. Jellyfish are known as medusa in Italian, attributing to the greek mythical sea nymph of the same name.
coral like formation on the rocky shores, with white ‘flower’ crests
hide and seek… a mediterranean crab cozily camoflagued in its rocky surroundings
— More of what we captured @ Gallipoli —
Gallipoli is a small town in Salento, southern Italy, in the Puglia region. It is located by the Ionian Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean. Less than 1 hour by train, from Lecce, capital of Puglia.
The beaches of Salento are marvellous, with white sandy beaches and intermittent rocky shores like these. Portrayed in the local dialect, Lu Salentu, lu sule lu mare lu ientu [Salento, the sun, the sea, the wind].
Posted by rocksea on 23 May 2008 | Category: photography, prakriti
Ceylon Frogmouth, Batrachostomus moniliger, also known as Sri Lanka Frogmouth, at the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkad. Male and Female.
The Ceylon Frogmouths are nocturnal in nature, and are found in the Western Ghats of India and in Sri Lanka. Their elusive nature kept their existence under the veil of the dense tropical forests for a long time until Dr. Salim Ali found it at the Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary (which has since been named after him) in circa 1930. Later it was rediscovered in circa 1990 by ornithologist K. V. Eldhose, at the same sanctuary. Its occurrence, ethology, nesting, etc. have been documented since. The bird is still elusive, due to its adherence to roosting on surroundings with dried leaves which resembles its color tone and camouflages it well.
My first sighting of the Frogmouth was in December 1999, when the nature group Warblers & Waders organized a bird survey at the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkad and the near by regions including Bhoothathankettu and Idamalayar. The first night we listened to the exchange of the distinctive calls between the male and the female (which could be easily recorded and mimicked) and we saw one of them at a different location later. The excitement was so much that time, and I took a low resolution photograph of that sighting, but one could never identify a bird in it, because it was camouflaged so perfectly!
The frogmouth pictured above is my second sighting, along with Sarah, in September 2007. The location is adjacent to the watch tower inside the sanctuary.
Tiny, wine glass shaped, Cup Fungi, cookeina sulcipes of the Family Sarcoscyphaceae, against a dark background, at the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkad. These cup fungi were located near to the place where we found the ceylon frogmouths in the birds section. Vividly colored in deep red-orange, with a pinkish tone. In these two images you can see the fungi gleaming through the dark.
Sarah capturing the Cup Fungi.
These Cup Fungi are not rare, we have often found them on wet logs around our house premises.
Cup Fungi @ home
Date: 27 Sept 2007
Location: @ Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkad and @ home, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Camera: Nikon D80 + Tamron SP AF90mm f/2.8 Di Macro Lens
navya from India on zalakdozi tutorial navya from India on basque knot
navya from India on bluework lessons
junaid from India on മഴയ്ക്കെന്നെ വേണമെങ്കില്
blandina from Italy
