Fire Salamander

 Fire Salamander. Had a chance encounter with it when we took a path less traveled, along the hills near Bad Urach, near Stuttgart, Germany. Lucky for us, Shilpa shrieked and spotted it on our walking path.

Salamander are amphibians, with moist skin used for respiration. Slow movers, use poisonous gland secretions to fend of predators, and a tail that breaks of and wriggles confusing the predator while a escape is made. The regenerative capacity of the tail, limbs, eye lens & retina has been a subject of research for replication in humans.

Found mostly in central Europe in moist conditions under leafy litter or under tree trunks. They live up to 20 years, and in one instance upto 50 years in captivity. Named by Linnaeus in 1758 as Salamander Salamander.

It moved slowly, and was getting into a tree-trunk/crevice, and soon curled itslef and was immobile for a while. A wet day, with a leafy undergrowth, and a path not used much.

Nov 9th 2013 @Bad Urach, 12 53 pm, along with Prasad Akula, Manas Mandal & Shilpa Shripad.

Blow fly

Sep 28th, amidst a long weekend, and on a Ayudha pooja day, decided to cycle to Hoskote lake. The lake had some water....and I spent one hour looking around.....there was promise behind every bush, and secrets beneath the stones.

And, as I was gearing to start back, chanced upon these two fly on a twig. They sat there without flying away though I took hazzar macro pics.

Blow fly - the metallic body strikes you - the red & yellow in the head also stands out. These chaps can smell dead matter & dung for miles....I read 10 miles somewhere.....and the first thing they do is to lay an egg on it.....and soon start eating away the matter...the smell soon disappears.....the maggots hatch....and immediately start eating the decomposing matter...


This immediate egg hatching ability is made use by forensic detectives. Body found - highly decomposed - when was the murder committed ?? after 72 hours, it gets difficult, thats where the forensic entomologist steps in. And, figures out which developmental stage the blow flys are. The time stages of the developmental cycles are quite deterministic. And now, its 2+2 for Mr. Sherlock Holmes!

Next time, you see dung or dead matter, watch out for the blow flys and thank them for their good work!

Camouflage

3:20pm, 23rd Sep 2006, Dodabetta, Krishnagiri, Tamilnadu

Geckos

Gecko's: Lizards, all around the globe (40 deg latitude around the equator), 40mm to 350mm, eye lacks eyelids, but has a transperent shield.
Devbaugh beach, Karwar, Sep 10th 07.

This gecko caught the attention, and remains one of the best sightings from that place. Chap was moving away, but then was slow enuf for me to catch up, and posed. The green thrills.

Am sure, you noticed the long tail. Tails seem to be major protective/defensive feature. When confronted, the tail detaches, writhes & wriggles, drawing the attention of the predator, while the gecko moves away. Tail regrows.

Moving on, Dandeli forest on a nature trail on Sep 12th. Another gecko with some green around its throat(?) caught my attention, I was so amazed, that I simply watched it, called Lakshmi & the guide, and watched it climb up the tree, before I got to click.

Another 2 hours later, saw one more, but then the green tinge was missing. Chap again moved up the trees. Indian geckos are nocturnal, soberly colored (brown/grey). Food predominantly being insects, bigger geckos may feed on smaller snakes.

Need to identify these geckos. Material from Daniel's book of Indian Reptiles & Amphibians.

Sinhagud day-2

Sinhagud a fort near Pune offers a wonderful climb for the physically inclined - tons of them -, romantic couples, picnic spot, and ofcourse hosts wonderful floura & fauna.


On 22nd July, Avi, Prasanna & me were led admirably by Sanjay Katti - an old leg with the mountains -Bulbull pair. Snails....need to get more info.

Ants busy transporting a dead grass-hopper. It was interesting watching the fast progress the crack-team made. Quickly moving around, changing positions, strategies, they kept going.


Wire-tailed swallows. All of us were spell bound by this couple, who let us have a good look of them.

Need to get back the wild-flower book from Shrikanth.
Hill MynaThe fort was getting closer, and the climb steeper. The day was promising to be mist filled/cloudy.

Watch-tower or whatever.
Sanjay pointed a mongoose, it looked left & right, and quickly went back to the shrubby vegetation it came from. A dog sensing it quickly went behind with no success. The dog realised perhaps Sanjay would lead him to some more, and joined us for a while!

Snake with its head crushed. You know, I have been trekking for a while now, and have hardly come across snakes in the wild. They move away sensing our presence. And, it was a shame to see a snake in this manner.



A nice outing, many thanks to Sanjay Katti.

Sinhagad day-1

Above pics from Shaniwarwada, Pune. The following are from a hill close to Sinhagud, Pune.
Hill turmeric