Best of Nature & Wildlife Pics 2011

This was a wonderful year for my photography. My main interest is in taking pictures of ordinary people and daily lives. However, whenever I get a chance, I also like taking pictures of nature, flowers, plants, animals and birds.

I have a simple Nikon SLR D40 and I don't use any special macro lenses.

My two key moments in 2011 regarding nature-wild life photography were a visit to Mangal Das Graças in Belem (Brazil) and a visit to Delhi zoo (India). Actually zoos with caged animals and birds are the opposite of wild life but I like Delhi zoo, as it has so many open areas with huge spaces, and lot of migratory birds that come here in the winters.

From all the nature and wild life pictures that I clicked in 2011, here is a selection of 20 images that I really like.

(1) Curcuma in Kanakpura, India: I was at TRDC, a vocational training centre for disabled guys where they learn about agriculture and animal husbandry. It is run by Sri Ramana Maharishi Academy for Blind of Bangalore. Students here grow different crops. I was there for a meeting.

During the lunch break, I was walking in the fields, when I saw Chander following me. He is deaf and thus, we talked through gestures. He dug out a piece of the root of curcuma (haldi) to show it to me and I was really thrilled. I had never seen fresh curcuma before.

(2) Flowers and the butterfly: The next picture is also from TRDC in Kanakpura. During a coffee break, I saw two butterflies around some salmon pink colured flowers (called Ixora - name courtsey, Gughuni Basuti :)). Part of the wings of the butterflies were of a similar colour. I cautiously crept closer and managed to click the picture of one of them.

(3) Orchid gardens of Manila: The third image is from Manila (Philippines). We were staying in the middle of the city and I was busy in running a workshop and then coordinating different meetings. Thus there was little time to go out and explore the city. Still one morning I managed to visit an orchid garden. Though I didn't see any orchid flowers, the views of placid water in the canal were beautiful.

(4) Wild life from Amazon: The next 6 pictures are all from Mangal Das Graças, a beautiful wildlife oasis on Amazon river in Belem (Parà state, Brazil). Pheasants, herons, scarlett ibis, iguanas, colourful macaws, etc., there was so much to admire in this place. I was especially fascinated by the macaws, who seemed to have specific personalities and looked at me disdainfully.

(10) Monkey and the ancient tomb: The next image is from Tughlakabad in Delhi. It was a foggy morning and we were visiting the tomb of the Tughlak emperor from 13th century, when through a slit in the tower, I saw this monkey sitting on a tree outside.

(11) Autumn in Bologna: For nature and wild life photography, there are so many opportunities closer to our home, like this picture of yellowing autumn leaves. I took this picture one morning in the garden next to our home when I had taken our dog out for his morning walk.

(12) Moss and lichen: One of the wonderful experiences in 2011 was to go out for a nature discovery walk with Marco Colombari, who explained about inter-connections between plants, trees, birds, animals and human beings, and took us to discover an old sacred forest in the middle of the city. I love the bright colours of moss and lichen of this picture.

(13) Libelia Sifilitica: During a visit to Geneva (Switzerland) I went to visit the botanical gardens. Some ten years ago, I had lived in Geneva for a few months and at that time I had been to visit these botanical gardens many times. Going back to the gardens after ten years was wonderful for discovering so many medicinal plants like Libelia Sifilitica that was used for treating Syphilis before the antibiotics.

(14) Wild life from Delhi zoo: Next five images are from a visit to Delhi zoo. The images are of black necked stork, kite, great hornbill, lion and painted stork. I love painted storks and can look at them for hours without getting tired, and I had gone to the zoo especially, to look at them.

(19) Migratory birds in Kakkere Bellur: While coming back from Mandya, someone proposed that we visit the Kakkere Bellur village in Maddur sub-district. Here migratory birds come and live in the village trees, in harmony with people living there. Villagers are very protective towards the birds and say proudly that their daughters have come home for child-birth.

(20) Sun flowers: This last image is of a variety of sun-flowers from a park in Geneva. I loved their beautiful colours and their satiny look.

So what do you think of my selection of the best nature and wild-life clicks of 2011? Which one do you like more?

If you want to see more of my photographs, take a look at my picture archives on Kalpana.

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