RAINFOREST SERIES

The early morning breeze blows gently as I overlook an endless expanse of the tropical rainforests of the Western Ghats. I am caught amidst a surreal play of mist and clouds as a Great Hornbill flies majestically above me with its characteristic loud 'whoosh' during flight. Bands of sunlight pierce the dark clouds illuminating the forest floor. It ensures that the light produced is evenly distributed to every form of life that exists here. As the light creeps through the leaves and branches, birds gear up in hunting parties in search of food. The light doesn't always make its way to the forest floor; most of it is filtered by the thick canopy. Aware of this, the birds and other diurnal animals make maximum use of the available light.

I set foot through the forest in the morning and observe a wide diversity of fungi, decomposers which play a vital role in the survival of the forest. They recycle all the dead material and send it back to the soil ensuring the survival of plants. In a rainforest, everything is recycled and used. Nothing goes waste. The rainforests are for similar reasons a naturalist's perception of heaven. The key to survival of the various species of flora and fauna is their ability to adapt. Any form of life found here possesses this ability and to observe this is truly amazing.

At night, the sound of thousands of frogs reverberates within the forest. A short walk inside the forest opens one up to a whole new world of nocturnal aesthetics. A rich diversity of frogs and toads are found here. By the streams, on the forest floor, in the bushes, everywhere. A few meters away on a tree, I find a Malabar tree toad (Pedostibes tuberculosis), the endemic and endangered 'tree toad' of the Western Ghats. I later spot a brown palm civet, an endemic mammal of Western Ghats in search of food on a fruiting tree. The distant scream of a brown hawk owl and the faint alarm calls of a barking deer that followed confirm that the forest is completely alive during the night and that a predator is on prowl.

It is here, in the rainforest, that most of my work for this year was carried out. This series portrays my perception of the "beauty of the rainforest". Though a handful of images can't do justice to the richness and beauty of the rainforest, I hope to capture it's essence in the years to come. It is extremely important to conserve the rainforests as they act as water shed. If water is lost, the survival of mankind is at stake.

With high humidity, heavy rains and various other factors, photographing in rainforests is no easy task. Both the equipment and I become a part of the rainforest. Most of these images are captured with nikon 105mm f2.8 VR macro lens and nikon 12-24mm f4 wide angle lens on nikon d200 and D2xs bodies. Sometimes telephoto lenses are used to capture mammals. A range of flash accessories and extension tubes are also used. This is an extremely reliable kit. I have shot in almost extreme conditions and it has withstood the extremes of humidity and fungus.



SPECIES ENCOUNTERED IN THE RAINFOREST

AMPHIBIANS

1)Duttaphrynus melanostictus
2)Bufo microtympanum
3)Pedostibes Tuberculosus
4)Ramanella montana
5)Miicrixalus saxicola
6)Indirana beddomii
7)Indirana semipalmata
8)Fejervarya rufescence
9)Fejervarya kudremukhnensis
10)Fejervarya brevipalmata
11)Euphlyctus cyanophlyctis
12)Hoplobatrachus tigerinus
13)Philautus leuchorhinus
14)Philautus neelanethrus
15)Philautus glandulosus
16)Polypedates pseudocruciger
17)Rhacophorus malabaricus
18)Nyctibatrachus allicae
19)Nyctibatrachus major
20)Clinotarsus curtipes
21)Rana temporalis
22)Rana auruntiaca

REPTILES

1)King cobra(Ophiophagus hannah)
2)Hump nosed pit viper(Hypnale hypnale)
3)Malabar pit viper(Trimeresurus malabaricus)
4)Green vine snake(Ahaetulla nasuta)
5)Beddome's keelback(Amphiesma beddomii)
6)Bibron's coral snake(Calliophis bibroni)
7)Wynaad shieldtail
8)common cat snake
9)Large eyed bronzeback
10)Elliot's forest lizard(calotes ellioti)
11)Roux's forest lizard(calotes rouxii)
12)Keeled grass skink(Mabuya carinata)

MAMMALS

1)Brown palm civet (Vivera jerdonii)
2)Indian Flying squrriel (Petaurista petaurista)
3)Indian giant squrriel(Ratufa indica)
4)Slender loris(Loris tardigradus)
5)Indian wild dog(Cuon alpinus)
6)Small grey Mongoose(Herpistes javanicus)
7)Ruddy Mongoose(Herpistes smithii)
8)Barking deer

BIRDS

1)White bellied woodpecker
2)heart spotted woodpecker
3)black rumped flameback
4)white cheeked barbet
5)coppersmith barbet
6)Malabar grey hornbill
7)Indian grey hornbill
8)Great hornbill
9)Malabar trogon
10)Blue tailed bee eater
11)Greater coucal
12)Grey headed bulbul
13)white bellied blue fllycatcher
14)Malabar parakeet
15)Brown backed needletail
16)Greeen imperial pigeon
17)Mountain imperial pigeon
18)Pompadour green pigeon
19)Yellow footed green pigeon
20)yellow wattled lapwing
21)crested serpent eagle
22)oriental honey buzzard
23)asian fairy bluebird
24)white bellied treepie
25)scarlet minivet
26)bronzed drongo
27)greater racket tailed drongo
28)Malabar whistling thrush
29)hill myna
30)yellow browed bulbul
31)Indian scimitar babbler
32)plain flowerpecker
33)oriental white eye