I began to appreciate nature around me a lot more during the lockdown. I live in an apartment in a busy city neighborhood and had not really noticed the beauty around me until I was forced to stay home for months. During these months, the Jak Tree outside our balcony became a very exciting spot!! I spent many hours observing birds and several other creatures on this Jak Tree. Nature is everywhere, even in a busy city. You just have to learn to see it. The photographs in this post are what I took during the lockdown. I hope you enjoy them.
(A special thanks to Avi Aiya for helping me identify some of these creatures).
Brown-headed Barbet: our regular visitor
Green Imperial-pigeon couple hanging out!
Purple-rumped Sunbirds: male dancing for the female!
Pale-billed Flowerpecker popping out from under a leaf
Asian Koel (female) looking very lovely
Asian Koel (male) with a stomach ache?
Asian Koel (male) calling out
Black-hooded Oriole in all its glory
Common Tailorbird jumping around inside the Jak Tree
Rose-ringed Parakeet striking a pose
Shikra: watch out below!
Shikra in the pouring rain
Yellow-billed Babblers looking very adorable
White-bellied Drongos graceful and elegant
White-throated Kingfisher deep in thought
A trio of Red-vented Bulbuls having a chat?
Ceylon Red-Backed Woodpecker (endemic) face first in a Jak fruit
Oriental Magpie-robin gazing into the distance
Spot-billed Pelican soaring in the blue sky
Western Purple-faced Langur (endemic & endangered): made my online classes very exciting that day!
Toque Macaque (endemic): this cheeky fellow gave us quite a performance during online school!
Fruit Bat displaying its wings
Fruit Bat checking out some dinner
Palm Squirrels at play
Black and Yellow Millipede taking a whole bunch of steps!
Fruit Fly: experimenting with macro
Land Snail oozing along! Can anyone help me identify this snail?
I found this Huntsman Spider on our balcony. Happy to have him around as he eats bugs.
This one was on my mum's shoulder. Don't ask me how it got there! Need help identifying this spider.
Tropical Tiger Moth with beautiful colors
Butterfly nibbling on the banana meant for the birds. I think this is a female Peacock Pansy.
Water droplet on the move
Amazing work Mikal ..so lovely that you appreciate the beauty that surrounds us, which is so very important. Kaai is very impressed and is looking forward to discussing wildlife adventures together. Please continue to share your brilliant photography !
You definitely have an eye for photography . These are excellent ! They also opened my eyes up to the beauty around me I have also forgotten to appreciate . Thanks for your efforts . Very impressive . And keep up the great Work .
I look forward to seeing your work
in 10 years from now , which is suspect will be in some top line gallery either here or even abroad !
Truly amazing how one jak tree has so much life around it, and how well you have been able to capture them with your camera, Mikal! I've a garden full of trees which, I now realise, I've taken for granted. This post of yours has inspired me to take some time to sit under my porch with my camera! Thank you!
The pictures are gorgeous but also the patience, observation, ability to research and convey information. Maybe you should make the blog available to your school foe kids who want to learn?