Moth Smoke - three unidentified flying objects

Over the last three weeks, the weather has been very odd in Bangalore. We had an extended spell of rain and some very wet days. And then some very warm nights -- sleeping with the fan on at night in late November has certainly been a first. It's been such unusual weather that even my grandmother has been talking of climate change. The good thing, however, is that we had lots of toads visiting us to partake of the feast of flying termites -- three or four biggish fellows and a hailstorm of really tiny ones that made me all queasy at the thought that I might accidentally trample them underfoot. Apart from that, fluorescent lighting attracted at least three interesting nocturnal visitors to the lobby of our apartment -- gorgeous moths that beg to be identified. Here they are. If you know their names, please do let me know who they are. Tiny -- about 2 cm across Largish -- about 8 cm across Tiny -- about 2 cm across

With warmer winters, migrants shift north

A study among North American birds shows that more and more species are moving their winter migration grounds further north as a possible outcome of global warming. The Audubon Society has published a report (download) that clearly shows that species such as the Purple Finch (top), Wild Turkey, Marbled Murrelet, Red-breasted Merganser (below) and Spruce Grouse have moved their winter migration grounds northward by hundreds of miles. The trend may be similar the world over. Winter bird records in India have indicated that some wintering species have arrived later than usual in some of their wintering grounds. Photographs: Purple Finch - © Ashok Khosla Red-breasted Merganser - © USFWS, Dave Menke Audubon Birds and Climate Change Press Room

First tigers, now polar bears

It's curious how people who are nothing but voracious consumers for the most part suddenly develop an interest in the environment. Better still, they become experts and spokespeople for ecological issues. Nearly everyone worth their page three partywear is "doing something about the environment" - mostly attending glitterati-infested soirees and taking home souvenirs made out of 'green' material that helps "regenerate forests" and "cut down carbon emissions". My, my... what a lot of pillow talk among the strangest bedfellows. In India, everyone is batting for the tiger. No matter what measures real experts like Dr. Ullas Karanth advocate, everyone from the Prime Minister's uncle to some nut generating bites for a TV channel is campaigning for tigers. Now, everyone of the aforesaid ilk who is doing his or her bit for the planet is obsessed with polar bears. As late as last month, many of these people couldn't tell a polar bear from a grizzly. So much that Ursus maritimus poses a big threat to Barack Obama if he runs for president. Since a lot of our new converts to conservation cannot be ignored, WWF has released Polar Bear Facts and Fallacies, a publication that attempts to lay bare (bad pun, I know) the facts about polar bears. Worth the download, and worth circulating while you read it.