Indian Gaur crossing the Ooty-Kotagiri road near Dodabeta peak, early March 2013.Otakalmand or Ooty in glorious summer morning light, early March 2013.
A White-eye near Gudalur, early March 2013.A Nilgiri Langur near Needle Rock, early March 2013.
Naduvattam lake in the Nilgiri plateau.Grey Wagtail near the Frog Rock on the gateway to the Nilgiris from Gudalur. A migrant from distant lands, early March 2013.
A local ritual procession in Naduvattam. The place name Nadu Vattam literally means the Vattam or Kottam or Kuti at the centre of the region. It once housed the Vattam or Vihara or Jain/ Buddhist Pally in the ancient days.A Pacific Swallow at Naduvattam, early March 2013.
Brown-cheeked Fulvetta in a crisscrossed shola patch near the road between Gudalur and Naduvattam, early March 2013.Pykara falls, Nilgiris, early March 2013. Pykara means the land of the cattle. This grassland sholas and Pykara river were most sacred to the Toda tribe the early inhabitants of the Nilgiri plateau. The river Pykara originates from Mukurti peak and flows north west through the Nilgiri plateu.
The Toda buffaloes grazing in the pastures in Pykara. The buffaloes are central to their cosmology and myths. The sacred buffalo only found in the Nilgiri Toda Munds or villages were created first along with the first Toda man according to their creation myth. The Toda buffaloes have close similarity to the water buffaloes of Assam.A Coot in Ooty lake, early March 2013.
Stopped by the bison/ gaur on the way to Kotagiri the hills of the Kota tribe near Dodabetta, south india’s second highest peak after Anamudi in the south.A resort in a tea estate near Naduvattam, Nilgiri district.
A Barn Swallow trying to nest inside a building under construction in Naduvattam, Nilgiris.Black-lored Tit in Longwood Shola near Kotagiri, early March 2013.
A sudden summer cloud formation above Pykara in the Nilgrirs, early march 2013.Beguiled by the dim light a Grey Jungle fowl comes to the open near Pykara falls.
A Kestrel flying above Pykara falls, early march 2013.Indian Gaur bull just above the road near Dodabetta, Ooty, early march 2013.
The unique flora and fauna in a roadside shola on the way to Kotagiri.At Pykara falls with Jaime, early march 2013.
A Pied Bushchat singing in full throat near Longwood Shola, Kotagiri.Longwood Shola, Kotagiri. It has become a small patch of the earlier micro climatic ecosystem.
