Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)

An early morning walk at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park, at New Delhi was a visual treat.  This park was developed to retain the species growing around the Yamuna River and to provide a habitat for wet-land birds. There are a large number of bird species here as well as several butterfly species. This will be a series of photo blogs to showcase the rich diversity of this oasis of clear water and greenery in Delhi.

The Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) is a wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, breeding in Africa, central and southern Europe, and southern and eastern Asia. The European populations are migratory, wintering in tropical Africa; the more northerly Asian populations also migrate further south within Asia. It is a rare but regular wanderer north of its breeding range.

LiveJournal Tags: "Purple Heron" "Ardea purpurea" "Yamuna Biodiversity Park" New Delhi"

Watercarriers

Come summers and a common sight all over India is women, of all ages carrying water from a central point, be it a well, a bore-well, a pond or sometimes in extreme cases from tankers supplying water. This water is used for cooking and other uses in the house.

LiveJournal Tags: water,"mount Abu",parched,drinking,gypsies

St. Saviours Church, Mt. Abu

A recent visit to Mt. Abu at Rajasthan was a visual delight, especially after the dusty and hazy Delhi skies, it was a treat to see clean, washed blue skies.

Opposite my rest house was this quaint little church, which looked pristine and untouched in the morning light. I could not resist and here are a few photos of that beautiful church.

The pastor was kind enough to open it specially for me, considering that it was a working day and there were so services scheduled..

The tin roof and simple exterior masked a pleasant interior, with a few stained glass windows….. beautiful wooden pews and

a star studded ceiling….

the nicest part was that the pastor left me alone and went to complete some work, so that I had the run of the church and took my time taking the photographs that I wanted…..

Indian Flying Fox

A recent visit to Mount Abu in Rajasthan was a delight as I was able to spend time observing one of the largest flying Mammals. The Indian Flying Fox is the largest bat in the world, and is found in Mount Abu.  I have taken some information that I found on a website and have given it here to help people know more about this bat.

The 119 species of bats found in India, are classified into two groups – large frugivorous bats ‘Megachiroptera’ and small carnivorous bats ‘Microchiroptera’.

Most prominent among the first group is the Indian Flying Fox or Great Indian Fruit Bat which is also the largest bat in the world.

The scientific name given to the Indian flying-fox is ‘Pteropus Giganteus’, which belongs to the Pteropodidae family of Megachiroptera suborder and Chiroptera order under the subclass Eutheria of Mammalia.

The Indian flying-fox prefers tropical and subtropical forests for dwelling and lives in colonies.

It is nocturnal in nature, which means active in the night time and resting during day. It feeds mainly on ripe fruits which include mangoes, guavas and papayas.

It roosts upside down like other bats and leaves the perch at night and travels in a group to a feeding site possibly more than 30 miles away. Interestingly, flying-bats fly in the same route in a queue aiming at a regular feeding station. They have the habit of establishing permanent roosting sites on large trees, even in the midst of towns.

Its structure is comparatively large with an average length of 12 inches and a wing span of around 50 inches. Its head is usually reddish brown in colour which closely resembles that of a fox. A male adult may weigh between 3 to 4 lbs, while a female weighs nearly 2 lbs. In India, Indian flying-foxes are widely seen all over.

Text courtesy: http://birdwingtours.com/

LiveJournal Tags: bats,"Indian flying-fox","flying fox",Megachiroptera,"Pteropus Giganteus","Mount Abu"