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].

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Tags: adriatic sea, camouflage, coral, crab, gallipoli, ionian sea, jellyfish, lecce, mauve stinger, mediterranean, medusa, pelagia noctiluca, puglia, rocky shore, salento, toxic

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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

Location of the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkad:

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Tags: batrachostomus moniliger, bhoothathankettu, bird sanctuary, bird survey, bird watching, birds, birds of kerala, camouflage, ceylon frogmouth, cookeina sulcipes, cup fungi, dense tropical forests, eldhose, frogmouth, ornithologist, salim ali, sarcoscyphaceae, thattekkad, western ghats

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Then it opened its wings.. and lo! It’s the Peacock Butterfly. Inachis io Family Nymphalidae. Japanese name: Kujaku-cho. kujaku means peacock. The Peacock butterfly’s wings are reddish-brown on upperside with distinctive "false eye" markings, to distract birds and other predators. The underside is dark brown to black. Thus it has 2 defense mechanisms (the dull color is a good camouflage) whatever way it pose!

 

and whatz this!  itz the peacock butterfly on my shoulders. though itz blurred, i like this image cuz of the intimacy it showed,,

 

@ Hokkaido University Botanical Gardens

 

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Tags: butterfly, camouflage, false eye, hokkaido university botanical garden, Inachis io, kujaku-cho, nymphalidae, peacock butterfly

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