Cane & Camera

21/04/2026

Animal p**p is not just waste... it moves nutrients back into the soil, helps disperse seeds, feeds insects and other decomposers, and keeps ecological cycles moving in ways most people never notice. Dung beetles alone play major roles in dung breakdown, nutrient cycling, soil mixing, and even secondary seed dispersal.
In other words: the wild is not powered only by claws, teeth, antlers, and dramatic background music. It also runs on p**p, decay, recycling, and thousands of unglamorous little transactions that keep habitats alive. Grassland ecosystems, for example, depend on processes that disperse seeds, cycle nutrients, decompose waste, renew soils, and help maintain biodiversity.
That is why this s**t matters. What looks gross to us is often food, fertilizer, transport, information, and infrastructure to the rest of the ecosystem. Nature has no concept of "waste", Only reuse.
Glad to see Roundglass Sustain , a not-for-profit initiative focused on telling stories about India's natural world to build awareness and support conservation, giving overlooked subjects like this some space in the conversation. Not everything important in nature is majestic. Some of it is just… taking a dump.

18/04/2026

Gods of the Ghats is now live on YouTube.
A short documentary from the Sahyadris... about the birds, insects, forests, and the quiet generosity of the people who live among them.
This film is my small attempt to look at the Western Ghats with wonder, gratitude, and respect.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duddKWaLG5w

If it speaks to you, do share it.

Not all gods live in temples. Some bloom in silence, call from the canopy, and disappear into the mist.Gods of the Ghats is a short documentary filmed during...

09/04/2026

After a morning chasing trogons, we slowed down by a quiet village pond in Joida (Uttar Karnataka)
A Indian Flapshell Turtle and an Indian Black Turtle shared a half-sunken log, soaking in the winter sun... doing what they do best, simply being.
Not long before, a gray-headed fish eagle sliced through the silence.

02/04/2026

These Small Pratincole chicks survive by disappearing into stones, gravel, and bare shoreline.

That is exactly why people kill them by mistake.

If you visit such places in breeding season... whether for birding, photography, or just driving around... stay off the shore with vehicles, watch every step, and be extra careful around stone clusters, gravel patches, sandbars, and open ground near water. Their eggs and chicks are almost invisible.

Please don’t turn breeding habitat into a tyre track or a photo opportunity gone wrong.

Look carefully. Walk lightly. Keep your distance.

28/03/2026

This shattered me.

And what makes it worse is that this is no longer just a story from the past or a warning we failed to hear. They have now de-notified a large chunk of the gharial sanctuary, while sand mining continues in plain sight like none of it ever mattered.

What is happening to Chambal is not isolated. It is happening everywhere. Rivers are being mined, choked, polluted, blocked, and killed bit by bit, right in front of us. The Banas. The Luni. The Jojri... So many others. We keep calling them rivers even after draining the life out of them.

I do not even know what to do with this helplessness anymore. It is grief, rage, and shame all at once. Your piece hurts because it is true... and because we are still letting it happen.

Three weeks in Chambal filming an animal who I believe is the most transcendent and bewildering in all my experiences. I can’t put in words how moved I am to learn of its incredible life history. I couldn’t imagine a cold blooded animal being as aggressively protective about the hatchlings that ...

26/03/2026

Part 2. More memories from Alania.

Lesser Black-backed, Black-headed and Caspian Gulls, Greater Flamingos, White and Western Yellow Wagtails, Painted Storks, Ruddy Shelducks, Spoonbills, Bar-headed Geese, and many more.

Alania is not just another waterbody. It is a real bird hotspot. I have recorded at least 120+ species around this area — including larks and pipits, raptors, pratincoles, coursers, and an incredible diversity of waders.

But the wetland keeps getting squeezed.

As soon as the water starts retreating after the monsoon, parts of the exposed land are occupied for agriculture. Soil and stones are also excavated from wetland areas, for reasons I still do not fully understand. These very areas are nesting grounds for many birds. When heavy machinery and tractors move through them, I cannot help but wonder how many nests, eggs, and broods are being destroyed... knowingly or unknowingly.

Even the water management often feels hard to understand. During dry periods, water is sometimes released from the dam. And when the dam is close to overflowing, at times it is not. I am not an expert, so maybe there are reasons I do not know. But from the outside, it feels unsettling.

I understand that the livelihoods of local tribal and village communities depend on this land and water. But so does the life of this wetland. This should not be an either-or situation. Agriculture and bird habitat can exist side by side... if managed mindfully.

Sometimes all it would take is a little understanding of bird breeding grounds, a little awareness, and a little vigilance from the Forest Department and dam authorities to prevent irreversible damage.

I do not know what else I can do apart from speaking up, documenting what I see, and sharing it with others.

But if you have suggestions, guidance, or can help this reach the right authorities, please comment or DM.

Let’s save Alania.

26/03/2026

Dalmatian Pelican and Great White Pelican.
All three came to Alania in 2024.

Water level and salinity both play a huge role here. In 2025, the water level was too low, and by the end of March, Alania had nearly dried out. Much of the remaining water was also drawn for agriculture.

In 2026, it went to the other extreme. Heavy rainfall left the dam almost overflowing. The surrounding area became inaccessible to me, and many edges were heavily disturbed by construction, soil excavation, agriculture, fishing activity, and constant human presence.

I haven’t seen pelicans at Alania after 2024. I am sure they must have surveyed the place, maybe even arrived briefly, only to realise the habitat was no longer suitable.

What breaks my heart is how easily a place like this can be lost while everyone looks away. The Forest Department too seems largely indifferent.

Sharing a few memories of better days... of watching pelicans do their thing on the waters of Alania.
I miss those days.

23/03/2026

Dandeli, December 2025.
An Indian Pond Heron with an Indian kukri snake.

20/03/2026

Bar-headed geese at Alania Dam yesterday.
chilled with them for quite a bit, they are fun!

16/03/2026

A tiny corner of my backyard…
and a surprisingly busy neighborhood.

When you allow native grasses, wildflowers, and “weeds” to grow, birds and insects slowly move in.

In just a few minutes outside my home I often see:
Sulphur-bellied Warbler, Magpie Robin, Purple Sunbird, Brahminy Starling, Ashy Prinia, Tailorbird — along with garden lizards and buzzing bumble bees.

Turns out you don’t always need a forest.
Sometimes nature is already waiting in the backyard.

15/03/2026

Purple Sunbirds feeding on Malabar Nut flowers.
Not a native plant, but not invasive either, and clearly loved by butterflies and birds alike. The sunbirds are here every single day, feeding, nesting, breeding, drinking, and simply hanging out.
Basically, permanent residents. Like me.