Genus Riopa for sure. But is it a Common Dotted Garden Skink Riopa punctata or a | White-spotted Supple Skink Riopa albopunctata, I could not say. What do you think? |
Monday, July 7, 2025
Day 10 - Genus Riopa and the colours of the rainbow!
Friday, November 3, 2023
The reptiles at Kalyani dam and other reptilian moments
Sekar and I joined our fellow MNS friends for a weekend driving trip to Talakona in AP, as part of the MNS' 45th year celebrations. We were car pooling and driving. A 5am start, and a halt at PS4 Tiruvallur for breakfast, and we were on our way, when there was a decision to go to Kalyani dam, close to Tirupati.
Bhuvanya and family were in the front car and sending directions and locations. Forest Office permissions are needed to go to the dam. We reached the dam around 1030 in the morning, passing through a large Police Training College at Rangampet. I loved the boards - Mess, squats area, Dining, Garden, Hand Stands....there was an interesting array of fitness and training apparatus!
Through the rear of the Academy, and into the area around the dam. members who had come a decade ago remarked that there was no Academy at that time.
The dam is built across the Swarnamukhi river and is one the main sources of water for the town of Tirupathi. |
It was warm and sunny, as we ambled across the bridge listening to bird calls and watching the stone formations all around.. |
The reservoir was not full. Little Cormorants skimmed low over the waters. |
Every one was suddenly peering at the wall. And this was the reason! |
Finally, it kind of gingerly crept in, right at the edge, just out of reach. |
Oct 23rd - and Padmaja spotted movements amidst the rocks at the base of the watchtower. What camouflage - this (I think) rock agama! |
And then there was the time when I, (yes I) saw a snake in the undergrowth and no one else did. I was meandering along the path behind the men's dormitory along with the others, when something rustled in the leaves to my left - I expected a skink or an agama, and stopped to stare. Instead I saw this long slithering body of a snake, brown and green with markings on it, now gliding soundlessly. Since snakes do not have ears, I decided to shout -Snake!! Sekar, Bhuvanya, Tara and Sunil came hurrying back to where I was.
And now ensued a moment of comic, lost in translation and excitement type conversation
Me - Among the leaves!
Saturday, August 19, 2023
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Saltwater crocodiles - My Sundarban encounters with these deadly aquatic predators
On our recent visit to the Sundarbans, we saw several of these large crocodiles basking in the sun, including some baby ones. I marvelled at these creatures - so still and yet so deadly. Nice to see from a respectful distance, I thought, and much nicer seeing them like this than in the Crocodile Bank, all one on top of the other.
This article from Roundglass Sustain describes it so well. Names that are familiar to me now, and carry a meaning and memory - Sajnekhali sanctuary, Dobanki camp.
Saltwater Crocodile: Dragons of the Sundarbans Swamps
18 Aug 2022
By Radhika Raj
Basking in the sun, the saltwater crocodile is a study in stillness but once it enters the brackish waters of the Sundarbans, it is the top aquatic predator
When the diesel-powered engine of our rickety, wooden bhotbhoti boat revs up in the Sundarbans, its loud, hammering “bhot-bhot-BHOT” sound echoes through the silent mangrove forest. As we ride noisily along sea-green channels, a chital spots us from a distance and scurries into the mangrove thickets. A lesser adjutant stork on the sandy shores takes flight in alarm. But one creature remains unperturbed by our presence — the enormous saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).
Photo by Sekar of the first baby we spotted, that seemed to look at us with curiosity. |
Quickly into the water when we got too close.... |
...bubbles and a snout. |
“It’s smiling at you,” laughs Ramkrishna Mondal, my guide. We spot several more saltwater crocodiles — all suspiciously still. (Our guides were Prosun, Manoj Mondal and Bavutosh.)
The saltwater crocodile is a skilled aquatic predator. Its eyes are adapted to see underwater, and it has excellent night vision so the nocturnal reptile can hunt at night. The channels of the Sundarbans harbour a healthy population of the estuarine or saltwater crocodiles which thrive in this unique ecosystem.
The top aquatic predator
The saltwater crocodile is the largest and heaviest living reptile in the world. Males can grow up to 20 feet and weigh over 1,000 kg. The largest one recorded in India, in Bhitarkanika National Park, Odisha, was 22-feet long. Its skull is displayed in the national park’s museum. Anecdotal information places the largest known saltwater crocodile from India in the Sundarbans. In his book, The Last of the Ruling Reptiles: Alligators, Crocodiles, and Their Kin, WT Neill writes about a “Bengal Giant” — a saltwater crocodile he saw towards the end of British rule, which he claimed was at least 30-feet-long.
The species is distinguished from its cousins — gharials, muggers, caimans — by its high tolerance for salinity. Unlike other freshwater species, the saltwater crocodile thrives along brackish mangrove channels (though it is also known to inhabit freshwater habitats) and can swim far out to sea. In the Sundarbans, it is the top aquatic predator, beating serious contenders such as the river shark, king cobra, python and semi-aquatic Bengal tiger. Saltwater crocodiles are not picky eaters and will feed on anything they can get their jaws on — fish, birds, buffaloes, wild boar, rhesus macaques, deer, crabs, even snakes. In water, it can even overpower a swimming tiger. In 2011, an instance of a tiger killed by an estuarine crocodile was reported at Dobanki camp of Sundarbans Tiger Reserve. “Some forest officials who saw them fight claim that it was the most ferocious battle in the history of the park,” says Mondal. But these crocodiles don’t pick a fight unless absolutely necessary, he adds. They are ambush predators and mostly lie low. They often lurk on the river’s edges, with only nose and eyes, located atop the skull, above the surface. When an unsuspecting prey stops by, the crocodile explodes out of the water, grabs and snaps its neck, drags and drowns it, before eating it. Though a crocodile has strong jaws, it cannot chew well. Instead, it violently rotates its body in the water with the prey firmly in its mouth, dismembering it. The infamous “death roll” is now a popular television trope on sensational wildlife shows. About thirty minutes later, I see another saltwater crocodile basking by the exposed, umbrella-shaped stilt roots of a garjan — oblivious to the squeals and furious clicking from neighbouring tourist boats.
Creature of the tide
Later, over a phone call, expert wildlife biologist BC Choudhury explains why we saw so many crocodiles that day. Crocodiles are cold blooded reptiles that thermoregulate by sunning themselves. Adults need to maintain a stable body temperature in the preferred range of 30–32 degrees C. In the summers, crocodiles bask in the morning and evening — retreating to the water when the sun is sharp. But in winter, they bask from morning until the sun sets, warming their bodies as much as they can, Choudhury expands.
However, in a forest that is swallowed by tides twice a day, they wait for that ideal combination of low tide and great sunlight, and make the most of it. We had been lucky to catch them on such a perfect day. No wonder they were everywhere. “The life of a saltwater crocodile, and everything that lives in the Sundarbans, is ruled by the tide,” Choudhury reminds me. In 2012, he conducted the first and only survey on saltwater crocodiles in that habitat, with a schedule that depended heavily on the tides, and the tiger. It is impossible to travel through the Sundarbans after sunset, when a tiger may use the cover of the night to attack. The researchers identified that the mudflats are exposed for six hours a day in January, since that’s when the crocodiles spend the maximum time basking on the shores.
Of gods and myths
Back on the boat, a mighty saltwater crocodile has caught our attention. As we approach the panchmukhani mohona, a confluence of five channels, we see yet another one, basking on a sandbar. It’s the largest I’ve seen yet — a dominant male, says Mondal, easily 17-18 feet-long. “Meet Kalu Khan,” he says pointing at its left, front foot which is missing a toe. “It is so big, that local guides named it after the demi-god Kalu Rai. He lost his toe several years ago,” he adds.
Travelling through the Sundarbans I notice a deep, intertwined relationship that local cultures share with the wilderness. Mondal tells me how most fishermen and honey collectors who venture into the forest, pray to Kalu Rai, the crocodile god, to keep them safe from the crocodile. The forest is watched over by Bonbibi, a goddess they believe protects locals from the Sundarbans tigers that are known to kill humans who venture into protected areas. I remember seeing the shrine next to the Sanjnekhali Forest Office Complex, with a statue of Bonbibi mounting a tiger, and a small statue of Dukhe, a young child sitting on a saltwater crocodile. As we watch Kalu Khan, Mondal tells me Bonbibi’s story. During a ferocious battle, Bonbibi rescues a young child named Dukhe from the clutches of Dakkhin Rai, a demon in the form of a tiger. She then sends him home safely on the back of her pet crocodile, Seko. “Is Seko worshipped too?” I ask Mondal. “No, only feared. Apart from the tiger, the saltwater crocodile is also known to kill fishermen,” he says. “Remember, dang-bagh, jol-e kumir,” he adds. (Tiger on land, crocodile in water.)
Human-crocodile conflict
Few protected areas in the country seem to have the intense human-animal conflict evident in the Sundarbans. According to official figures, the Sundarbans tiger has claimed 12 lives in 2019 alone, but locals say the numbers are much higher. The lives claimed by the saltwater crocodile come a close second, followed by deaths by the river shark. According to data released by the forest department, between 1999 and 2009, at least 29 people were attacked by crocodiles. Studies reveal that most cases occurred in areas where tiger prawns are farmed, an occupation led by women and children. Women with saris tucked into their waists wade through water and pull nets on the edges of the rivers, and have fallen victim to crocodiles. Yet, human-crocodile conflict receives little attention from authorities compared to tiger attacks that make for big news. “We have a tiger-centric mindset. The saltwater crocodile remains in its shadow. Fewer conservation efforts focus on the wellbeing of this species, and little is done to mitigate human-crocodile conflict. Both humans and animals suffer,” says Choudhury.
********
As we glided through the waters in our boat, taking in the kingfishers and crocodiles and the beautiful mangroves, I pondered on how the crocodile is probably deadlier than the tiger now, for the people of Sundarbans, as I read that there are more croc deaths than tiger killings in the Sundarbans these days.
About 35 crocodiles were released into these waters in '22, adding to the 55 in '21! While these predators restore the ecological balance in the Sundarbans, I wondered if the people of the area were consulted/considered? Asked to leave? Provided alternate employments to prawn seed fishing? There seem to be no easy answers. On the one hand, is the poaching and habitat loss which caused their numbers to decline in the early 21st century, and on the other are the people of the region, among the poorest and most dispossessed in the country - who are now as good as tiger/crocodile food. Caught between the tiger and the crocodile and trapped by poverty, there are untold stories of neglect in the Sundarbans. It seems migration is the only answer? Many deaths are unreported by the families themselves, as the members may have been involved in fishing or wood gathering that is not allowed, and is therefore illegal.
And then, crocs enter the village ponds too, it seems!
Studies have been done on incidence. Human–crocodile conflict in the Indian Sundarban: an analysis of spatio-temporal incidences in relation to people's livelihood.
Can you see the tip of our boat in the foreground on the left? I dont think we were meant to be so close. Sanjiv found himself almost eyeballing this Saltie through his telephoto lens! |
This is a most chilling and horrific recounting of a crocodile death from Dr Annu Jalais' book Forest of Tigers.
“Sweat and Blood:
The Smell of Tiger Prawn
Once, while we were sitting on the bund with some women prawn seed collectors, Arati began telling me about how a young woman called Kalpana had met her death the previous year. Kalpana collected prawn seed to meet the needs of her small family. She went out each morning at the break of dawn with Arati, Shobita and Nonibala, her three friends, and pulled the net for four to five hours along the riverbanks of her village, Annpur. On the morning of her death she had pulled the net for three hours before being caught by a crocodile. As the crocodile caught her thigh and dragged her into the deeper waters of the river, Kalpana screamed out in terror and started beating the animal with her net. Her three friends ran to help her. One of them jumped in after her, trying to retrieve her from the murky waters, while the others shouted for help. What follows is keeping as close to Nonibala’s narrative as possible. Kalpana’s frantic gesticulations, cries and loud splashes as she fought with the crocodile pierced through the heavy white mist. After what seemed a horrendously long time they were replaced by the cracking of her net or bones or both. Nonibala was standing there in frozen torpor and then she swooned. When she sat up and desperately scanned the river for signs of life all she saw were bubbles and ripples disappearing into the stilling beige-brown surface of the river. She then noticed the trail of a slowly dulling bright red moving away from her while a soft cloying wetness, the limp end of a sari, washed itself around her legs. It felt as if a sudden soundless shard stabbed her through the heart, leaving her immobilised and speechless, as she realised her friend had been dragged away to the river’s depths by a crocodile.
The islanders of Annpur came rushing to the riverbank immediately. The news spread fast. This was the fourth person in the locale to meet her death through these water monsters. Some other women had survived losing a limb to sharks. In fear, and to respect the dead woman’s memory, the collectors stopped work the following days.”
Excerpt From Forest of Tigers: People, Politics and Environment in the Sundarbans
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Nature walking
7th July 2022
WhatsApp conversation with G3.
Me: Am at mum's, come anytime.
She: ok. Tomorrow morning?
8th July 2022
She sends a reminder at 545 that she's coming shortly. I am saying wait, I have to have coffee, wear shoes....
Thank you G3, for hustling me into the walk, which I thoroughly enjoyed, along with the giggles over God Knows what!
Among the bonnet shells, clams, bivalves and tower shells was this unusual one - the shell of an Ark clam, I was told later.
Arca zebra - Rohith opined. What beautiful colours! Wiki says this is called Turkey Wing clam, after the colouring which resembles the wings of a turkey. Hmm really? |
The insides of it. I loved the hinge of the mollusc that still opened and shut. The shell housed a filter feeding, hermaphrodite shallow water mollusc, now long gone. Dead. |
"Diagnostic features: Shell rectangular, elongate (twice as long as wide), equivalve. Sculpture of about 20 to 30 irregular radial ribs, and fine concentric threads that cross-ribs and interspaces. Byssal gap present opposite to hinge, moderately narrow. Hinge long. Colour: creamy white, streaked with reddish to dark brown wavy bands. Periostracum brown and dense on fresh shells, covering colour pattern almost completely "Seemed to fit perfectly for this shell. The only problem with this id is that the mollusc is found of the eastern coast of the Americas. Hmmm
As we walked through the TS, we argued whether a bush was the idlypoo ixora or not. The estuary side was all cleared up - but the only water birds we saw in large numbers were little egrets.
A Brown land crab fixed us with a stare - the only one that didn't scurry into its hole. He must be an outlier, a leader I thought to myself. Large fellow.
We admired the cacti, putting out flowers, the lotus pond with the full lotus lifecycle - bud, bloom, unfertilised seed case and fertilised - all gyaan picked up from G3, our Green Goddess Walking Encyclopaedia!
The mighty baobab was flowering and fruiting. What an amazing tree it is. Every time I see it, I wonder at it - the size of its trunk, the magnificence of its branches. I learnt a new term - Pachycauls - trees with disproportionately stout trunks.
We spoke about the ideals of the Theosophical movement and how they were relevant even today - yeah along with the giggles there were some serious discussions too. I almost missed the rat snake that slithered into the undergrowth, spotted by G3 - me as usual watching the sky and clouds. It was a large and magnificent specimen.
And so ended my lovely morning as the coucal flew across our paths and the sunbirds flitted above. Thanks G3 - appa would have been delighted to hear how he touched your lives, as was I. He enjoyed taking amma to the TS, even though he was not much into "nature".
Monday, June 18, 2018
How many push ups can you do?
I have seen the males do push ups, as they occupy the highest rock, chase other males, and I also came across females digging holes really deep for the purpose of egg laying.
The videos below are of her digging exploits.
After she was done, she covered the hole and it was fascinating that the sight of the digging could not be detected, so well was it camouflaged.
Our human male gym show-off can be assured that his behaviour is no different from that of the rock agama, and is a deep evolutionary behaviour. I shall treat it with less scorn and impatience from now on!
Why do rock lizards display varied behaviour?
Study provides rare evidence of why animal signals are relevant in nature
Multiple signals
Rare evidence
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Chameleons and calotes
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Probably called bloodsucker, as its throat turns a bloody red during courtship. |
Among the teak flowers, high up, on the prowl for butterflies. |
But this here is an Indian chameleon!
Chamaeleo zeylanicus. Fixing me with a beady stare, as its skin moults. I did not see that long tongue of his. |
Eyes shut. They have a long tail, almost like a fifth limb. |
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, August 23, 2010
Rains!
So here's my photo offering to that wonderful season of monsoon.
As I watched the dartlet, I was startled by this grasshoppper that whirred in front of my face, and landed on the leaf ahead. We eyeballed each other for a while, before it took off again for the next plant.
He writes:, "The forest was unbelieveably brilliant green , with the rain everyday . The rivers and streams were a raging torrent and a number of 'roads'/paths were underwater. Very often we would have to turn back and look for another place to cross. Sometimes the passage would be one-way(the water level having risen by the time we returned). Birdwatching was limited , notable being Monarch flycatcher sitting in its nest in full view at a height of about 15 feet. And a number of Streak-throated swallows."
I enjoyed being there, via these lovely pictures. Enjoy!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The "ambitious" keelback and the climbing perch
Sunday, April 12, 2009
An encounter at Vedanthangal

This is an Olive Keelback, or so I was informed. (I found this picture on Flickr. Do take a look at kamalnv's other snake photos. He calls himself an ophiographer - someone who loves to photograph snakes!!)
The bird was looking intently at the crevices formed between the stones studding the waterside of the bund. Suddenly it made a sharp dive towards the bund, caught a wriggling animal and flew back to its perch where it started battering the struggling animal to either stun or kill it.We thought that the victim was a skink, but when the bird sat still for a brief moment we could see that it had caught a small snake.
After some time the kingfisher flew away with the snake still in its mouth. Thinking that the show was over two of us moved away while the third stayed back to rest for some more time. When he rejoined us after about 30 minutes he mentioned that the bird had appeared twice more and caught a snake each time!
We returned to the bench after another 45 minutes or so. A local man sitting there informed us that during our absence the kingfisher had caught three more snakes while one snake which had emerged from the crevice when the bird was not around managed to survive. He showed us this snake which turned out to be a freshly hatched olive keelback. It was being mobbed by black ants which were trying to eat the yolk material still adhering to its skin. We took some photos to help in identification.When we looked up the kingfisher was there once again! In the next 30 minutes it caught two more snakes and one snake managed to survive thanks to the bird’s absence. After 4 PM the bird did not appear again.
The mother olive keelback seems to have laid its clutch in the crevice formed by the dressed stones lining the bund. And the bird seems to be aware of the hatchlings coming out one after another. In 130 minutes or so the kingfisher had caught 8 snakes and taken them away, probably to its nest, whereas only two snakes managed to survive. It is possible that the bird had caught some more snakes before our arrival, and also a few snakes might have moved away to survive.
Sripad wondered whether the varied diet of the KF could be a reason for its "success as a species? What I would like to know is, do other species of Kingfisher like the Stork Billed KF and the Pied KF follow the eating habits of the White Breasted KF. I think if they did, even their numbers would be as high as the WB KF. I have only seen the Stork Billed KF once,
early last year in Chennai.It would be physically difficult for a Small Blue to catch crabs and skinks. The Pied KF seems to have evolved the hovering ability to exclusively catch fish,there is no doubt that they are only fish eaters .
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