Within ten days of hatching the Bulbul chicks were fully fledged and had left the nest. I do not know if this is a normal time span for the Himalayan Bulbul, or if it was helped by the fact that they had their own parents, plus the Oriental White-eyes feeding them…
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One of the after effects of the storm is that any birds that had built their nest in an exposed location, found it completely trashed the following morning. The Oriental White-eyes build tiny, delicate, little nests. This one must have taken a direct hit from a very large hailstone as all three eggs were […]
May is the storm season in this part of India, when the plains heat up and the hot air collides with the cool air coming off the Himalaya. Yesterday was hot and sultry with a very hot breeze coming from the Punjab. I knew we were in for something special as what was coming […]
Decided to treat the next few days as a road trip with fishing thrown in. It was with great anticipation that we departed Basunti early in the morning and headed of, driving the back roads to Barot. About an hour from Basunti we were rewarded with the bizarre sight of a man […]
Having noticed over the past few weeks a distinct reduction in the number of Golden Mahseer in this part of the Maharana Pratap waters, we have decided that from now on all Mahseer will be on a strict CPR (Catch, Photograph and Release) basis at Basunti.
This decision made, we decided to spend the […]
The last yoga group of the spring season departed on the 15th April, hopefully everyone left feeling happy, relaxed and well fed.
After contemplating my four and a half coming months of total freedom, decided to spend the first few days in the garden giving everything a much needed watering. Also started preparing all […]
This year’s potato crop was planted early in November last year. The seed potatoes, which I had pre-ordered, came from the Barot Valley. This valley is renowned for its potato growing and discerning potato eaters buy the crops in advance from the farmers, so very little actually gets to the market.
I have harvested […]
This morning the wind was coming off the lake and standing by the cliff face I could smell the sweet odour of rotting flesh. The leopard definitely has a kill stashed somewhere below. This is most probably not a monkey, as it would be consumed in either one or two feeds, but more likely it […]
For the last three days the monkeys have been keeping a very low profile. All three troupes have gone up to the little town of Khatiar where they have camped as close to human habitation as possible. The cows have also been very reluctant to leave the village, as normally you would find them foraging […]
Every winter the Black Redstart spends his time at the Basunti gardens, which causes major territory battles with the resident Indian Robin. Both birds are of the same size and have similar habits and the disputes have therefore been intense.
Over the last few years they seem to have reached a status quo, […]
