Mormons at the ixora

Grass Yellow

On the mexican heather..

Lying dead on the path

A pair of common mormons

The female looks like the form romulus, the mimic of the crimson rose.

Host plants at the butterfly park

The butterfly park

Bannerghatta is home to India's first Butterfly Park, established in 2006. I loved the lush tropical setting of the park.

The safari at Bannerghatta

Rescued sloth bears, a pair of mating lions, a white tiger and some 'regular' tigers. A fun ride with a good view of the bio reserve.

 

Skywatch Friday

Dont miss the sloth bear...

More skies at Skywatch Friday.

Bannerghatta

Bannerghatta National Park is 22km south of Bangalore. It has a zoo, a safari and a nice little butterfly park.

the painted jezebel

lantana

Kitchen garden update

This is what survived all the pigeon attacks.. one pot of spinach and another of onion.

Urban Leaves  has some nice tips on how to take care of a kitchen garden.

Trees at the Royal Orchid

I went to the Royal Orchid for dinner one day and came across this bunch of trees in their courtyard. It had a strange green hue to it, maybe the floodlights were green.

SkyWatch Friday - The terrace

SkyWatch Friday

Butterflies at Madiwala Tank

The best part of the visit to Madiwala Tank was all the butterflies that I got to see.

I think this one is the Indian Skipper.

This one was the star of the day. Such a lovely pattern and a species that I had definitely never seen before.

The upper wings had the most striking big white spots, which helped identify it as the male Danaid Eggfly

 

Some other common butterflies flitted around. 

Here is a Grass Yellow (can you tell if it is a three spotted or one spotted kind?)

 

And some more common species, though I cannot tell if these white/yellows are cabbage whites/common emigrants/or something else

Dragonfly

Some time in October i noticed large numbers of dragonflies everywhere i went. Some migratory behaviour perhaps? Here is one i saw at the Madiwala Tank

Madiwala Tank

Images from the tree planting drive at Madiwala Tank organized by SayTrees, an organization involved in various planting activities around the city.

The Madiwala tank is the second biggest tank in Bangalore and is frequented, amongst others, by the city's birders for the migratory spot billed pelicans that visit in large numbers. We were lucky to see some of them swimming along the waters. There were several other birds along one side. Lots of wildflowers and many butterflies as well.

The congress grass (parthenium hysterophorus) looked so pretty, swaying in the wind. The congress grass is a prolific invader and can grow where nothing else does. It is an allergen for humans and cattle

The gang at work planting saplings

 

There's a pelican swimming in the water, and many more birds appearing as white spots in the distance.

The island in the middle of the tank

A little podium from where boat rides are organized.

Beautiful wild flowers- This one below is the common sida (sida acuta). Its leaves were long and slender and it is said to attract butterflies.

Tons of mimosa pudica (touch me not)

 

A closer look at the stems of the mimosa

 

The wooded park area with cozy little benches overlooking the water.

More birds!

A pair of pelicans

Is this the cardinal creeper (ipomoea horsfalliae) ?

Lots more ipomoea varieties. This one is probably the Marsh Glory (Ipomoea aquatica). Kehimkar has some interesting things to say about this one in his book - Common in marshy, water-logged places. A trailing runner with hollow stems that float and root at nodes. Caterpillars of Death's Head Hawkmoth and Glory Hawkmoth feed on this plant. The tender shoots are cooked and eaten.

Leads an interesting life, doesn't it?!

Another ipomoea - the Lesser glory/ Obscure morning glory (Ipomoea obscura).

Coat buttons - tridax procumbens. Very attractive to butterflies and bees, according to Isaac Kehimkar's 'Common Indian Wild Flowers'

Could this be the common sow thistle? (sonchus oleraceus)

There is beauty in the grasses as well

Even the parking lot was so 'green' and pretty