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Small Strides-Giant Leap

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It has been cooking in my mind for quite some time, to engross myself in the laps of nature. I had known Vinod Sriramulu (Mamu, we call him fondly) since 2004 and never in the remotest corners of my mind had I thought that he would be the tipping point for my transformation. First stride was to watch him (follow) do this magic on Facebook. Mesmerized by his works, I had convinced myself that it’s time for me to follow my passion and it’s not that hard. Seeing his post on FB regarding National Butterfly Trail Day, I had contacted him and informed him about my willingness to participate at the Kallar Trail. Second Stride was when he put me on to Subash Pullikal from Vaniambalam to join him along with Muhamed Sherif to conduct this National Butterfly Trail Day at Nilambur. This was on 05/03/2017 and it is still fresh in my memory. We had spotted more than 50 species on that day and I was like a small child running here and there pestering them with basics. They had the patienc...
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Haven for the Winged Jewels @ Joan Cottage, Coonoor

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Hi I am new to photography and butterflies. My journey as a photographer started with Mr. Charles, a good friend who introduced me to the wonderful and enthusiastic members of the WBA.  My first experience with these winged wonders was on my first trek with them from Adderley Estate to Burliar on a butterfly count. The landscape, the enthusiasm and the joy of seeing them admire these beautiful winged jewels, inspired me to take up this new passion of photography. I had the opportunity to be a part of WBA’s Butterfly Garden that was planned in Stanes School, Coonoor and interacting with Manoj, Jeevith, Vinod, Veera and Charles on this garden was a new experience. In 39 years of my life I have never stopped or noticed these beautiful creatures around me and now after interacting with them, every flutter is a head turner. As any boy to his new toy, so was I, with my camera clicking pictures, in and around my residence. The Garden at Stanes School was an eye-opener for me...
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Soldier from the Sixth Bend

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Charles  Dickens would start his tales of two cities thus: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness….” Often, I used to wonder whether we too are living in such times, especially when I used to spend the moonlit nights at the Sixth Bend. Yes, Sixth Bend is a purgatory…half way between heaven and hell…pure Havana Cigars.  You have the warmth of nature undisturbed, and not at stone throwing distance, you have the mad rat race and commotion, through the night.  Irony of controversy, man has become  Off Sixth Bend, a small hamlet of 50 cents is owned by a retired solider, Mr. Gangadharan, who is presently a farmer who tries to cultivate nutmeg.  Retired twice, first from the army and then from a bank, our man decided to call it a day.  He retired and saw a place for himself (literally) amidst what is left over of the greenery of the Coonoor slopes.   The nutmeg saplings a...
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Common Yellow-breasted Flat

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The residents tend to stay put and in most cases are found in the same locality.  It only requires constant vigil and continues tracking and determination.  This is very true as far as butterflies are concerned.  Kallar has been under the scanner of WBA for some time now and the treasures are being unearthed one after the other.  The following is a narrative to prove the same. Gerosis bhagava  or the Common Yellow-breasted flat is a rare butterfly and is distributed in the Western Ghats and in some parts of the North East, as seen from the available online media resources. W.H. Evans states that this species was distributed from Bombay to the Central Provinces of India, with no mention about TN or Kerala. However, bulk of the photographic evidence of this species is from the states TN and Kerala, with some records from the North Eastern states. There is also evidence of its presence in China. As listed in the IFB, this species was sighted at Kallar in...
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The Madras Ace

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An Ace amongst aces, The Madras Ace ( Thoressa honorei) , is a rare species of butterfly endemic to the Southern Western Ghats. Evans (1932) cryptically describes this butterfly as  "Uph yellow area narrow and sharply defined. Male and female upf a double spot in 1"  (p.255). He described this species as being distributed from South India to North Kanara. True to this observation, a glance at the recorded observations in the available online media indicates such a distribution - the Southern-most record is ascribed to the Idukki district in Kerala and the Northern most record is from Amboli (Maharashtra). All online sources records also indicate a time distribution between September and December, when this species has been spotted from the said habitat range. Kallar, at the foothills of the Nilgiris in TN, has recorded this species thrice, since 2015. The first sighting happened in Oct'15, followed by Sep'16 and then Nov'16. Appended are images of this rare o...
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