Yeur's Jewels

The Eastern side of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park accessed from Thane city is an excellent place to click butterflies especially during the mud-puddling season.


The beautiful Sunbeam.

Because the plane of the wings of this beautiful butterfly is curved it can never completely close its wings.

This powerful flier has a graceful glide and is usually seen among the pale pebbles or sand in the stream-beds.

The dark rounded spotted are characteristic markings of the Dark Grass Blue

This leaf like butterfly is almost invisible when it sits amongst leaf litter. But has an equally stunning blue colouration on the Upperside.

Unlike the Common Sailer, this species has only two clear white bands on its Upperside and it also lacks the brown sheen on the underside.

This extremely lucky shot clearly shows the parts of a beetle's body. Note how the hard Elytra is raised open to allow the hind wings to unfold and assist in it's flight.

Though similar to the Common Baron this species with its bright crimson markings inhabits can easily be distinguished.

This beautiful predominantly Yellow butterfly is found in dry-areas and along stony stream-beds in deciduous forests.




If you plan to make a butterfly-watching trip to Yeur you should contact local butterfly experts - Yuwaraj Gurjar and Amol Patwardhan - both from Hope Thane (a local environmental NGO), both of them are also excellent Photographers and are extremely helpful.

Babbler, babbler in the mirror

Caught these Large Grey Babbler (Turdoides malcolmi) admiring themselves just outside the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan. I guess a great way to start the new year :)