Nostr notes by Abhijit Menon-Sen

I read this and immediately felt self-conscious about my mouth ...

2026-02-15T07:02:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…9mr5
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I read this and immediately felt self-conscious about my mouth parts and wanted to cover them up.

Wow! Are the two dark patches bits that haven't frozen for ...

2026-02-14T14:21:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…3s2n
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Wow! Are the two dark patches bits that haven't frozen for some reason?

Our patch of wild himalayan raspberry (Rubus ellipticus) plants ...

2026-02-14T12:28:44Z

Our patch of wild himalayan raspberry (Rubus ellipticus) plants has some flowers now, and they're softly humming with bees investigating every flower.

I don't know if this is how all raspberry plants are, but this species is absolutely covered with fine thorns, so picking the fruit (in late spring/early summer) is quite an adventure.

#plants #nature #flowers

In today's episode of microscopy nobody asked for, here's ...

2026-02-14T09:45:12Z

In today's episode of microscopy nobody asked for, here's some dried lemongrass that appears to have caught a fungus(?)

This is from a cheap USB microscope at about 50x (or what it calls 50x on the dial). There's no real focusing mechanism, so I just held the leaf with a pair of tweezers with one hand and took a screenshot with the other.

#nature #plants #microscopy

Horse chestnuts (from Aesculus indica). #trees #nature #himalayas ...

2026-02-13T03:02:49Z

Horse chestnuts (from Aesculus indica).

#trees #nature #himalayas

Unknown species of Neuroptera, seen here sitting on a corner of ...

2026-02-12T12:33:05Z

Unknown species of Neuroptera, seen here sitting on a corner of my monitor.

#insects #entomology #nature

This is what I would have called a large katydid (seen at home) ...

2026-02-12T08:40:56Z

This is what I would have called a large katydid (seen at home) before I saw the enormous one in Sabah.

#insects #entomology #nature

Cyana bellissima (I think), one of the most spectacular-looking ...

2026-02-11T08:24:04Z

Cyana bellissima (I think), one of the most spectacular-looking moths I've seen.

#insects #entomology #nature

A fishing boat being built in the Sundarban. #boat #woodworking ...

2026-02-11T00:58:51Z

A fishing boat being built in the Sundarban.

#boat #woodworking

Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) in a muddy field somewhere. One ...

2026-02-10T02:47:37Z

Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) in a muddy field somewhere. One of the commonest migratory waders in North India.

#birds #birdphotography

Sorry to digress, but what kind of things could cockroaches ...

2026-02-09T13:09:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…3mjr
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Sorry to digress, but what kind of things could cockroaches contain that may harm ants? Are you thinking of pesticides, or are there parasites that could also infect the ants?

This is the other fig we have, Ficus palmata (known by various ...

2026-02-09T04:11:05Z

This is the other fig we have, Ficus palmata (known by various names, including "wild himalayan fig", which of course the other species also is). It's a less impressive, more common tree, and the fruits are good to eat, but the sap from the stem is very sticky.

#trees

I like how these Zephyr lily blooms spring up in our garden ...

2026-02-09T03:52:56Z

I like how these Zephyr lily blooms spring up in our garden overnight.

#plants #flowers

The Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus, also called ...

2026-02-08T14:40:51Z

The Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus, also called Black-winged) is known for being able to hover, Kestrel-like. Its flashy white wings makes it quite a spectacle.

#birds #birdphotography

Crabs welded from scrap metal, again from a display about the ...

2026-02-08T06:26:36Z

Crabs welded from scrap metal, again from a display about the ocean inside one of the cottages at Dakshina Chitra.

#sculpture

The Siddis are a community descended from east African people ...

2026-02-07T15:51:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…mpx3
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The Siddis are a community descended from east African people brought to India largely as slaves, over hundreds of years, possibly starting as long ago as the 7th century onwards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddi

These were part of an exhibition by Anitha N. Reddy (an artist), ...

2026-02-07T15:29:13Z

In reply to nevent1q…kfmw
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These were part of an exhibition by Anitha N. Reddy (an artist), who collaborated with Siddi women quilters on/near the west coast of India (who actually made the quilts).

#quilting #fiberarts

These are photos from an exhibition at an art gallery within the ...

2026-02-07T15:24:56Z

These are photos from an exhibition at an art gallery within the Dakshina Chitra "museum" near Chennai last year.

#quilting #fiberarts

I can see three Himalayan Griffons soaring in the blue, blue ...

2026-02-06T08:02:12Z

I can see three Himalayan Griffons soaring in the blue, blue winter sky outside the living room window. One adult, white underneath, and two younger individuals streaked brown. When they're so far up, it's easy to forget their huge ~3m wingspan.

#birds

Dipterocarp seeds sprouting all over the rainforest floor. ...

2026-02-06T06:21:00Z

Dipterocarp seeds sprouting all over the rainforest floor.

#plants

This was in a museum with a bunch of similar commemorative (hero) ...

2026-02-06T05:46:56Z

This was in a museum with a bunch of similar commemorative (hero) stones of different periods from across South India. It's probably a "sati stone" (https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-sati), meant to mark the ritual immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre.
Probably 12th century or so (but I don't think this stone was specifically labelled).

#history

(By the way, this fig is edible, but not especially good to eat.)

2026-02-06T04:22:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…u3nc
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(By the way, this fig is edible, but not especially good to eat.)

Ficus auriculata fig from our front yard. #trees #botany ...

2026-02-06T03:12:13Z

Ficus auriculata fig from our front yard.

#trees #botany

Pretty common in many places, I think. Years ago, I was visiting ...

2026-02-05T16:16:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…ukc2
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Pretty common in many places, I think.

Years ago, I was visiting a small village in Nagaland (in NE India) with family and friends, and when one of the locals heard that someone couldn't join because they had typhoid, he promptly produced a dried squirrel and gave me instructions on how to prepare the remedy, and made me promise to relay them.

I'm a terrible person. When I read "Leap into the ...

2026-02-05T15:58:32Z

I'm a terrible person. When I read "Leap into the fascinating world of frogs with _herpetologist_ Dave Blackburn!", my second thought (after "wow, that sounds fascinating") is… are we looking at them as food? 🙈🐍

I think the ick I had was because of the copy-paste sort of ...

2026-02-04T18:23:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…kf08
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I think the ick I had was because of the copy-paste sort of naming en masse. But now I also realise that I've never thought about having to generate a whole bunch of names in one go. If I had to do that, maybe I'd run out of creativity after the first two, and appreciate a nice sequence to choose from.

(I have no idea about the actual circumstances in which the various Bowie spp. were named.)

I just read this: ...

2026-02-04T18:20:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…72us
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I just read this:

https://scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/2022/05/31/should-latin-names-of-species-always-be-descriptive/

And while do I appreciate descriptive names (and know just barely enough Latin to recognise "ophioglossoides"), I don't have a problem with non-descriptive names. In particular, I have no problem with Heteropoda davidbowie.

Oh wow, I love this. I also have a long-standing fascination for ...

2026-02-04T17:12:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…t0fx
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Oh wow, I love this.

I also have a long-standing fascination for bird names, and I realised from your earlier Upupa epops article that I got the etymology wrong when I wrote my (much more superficial) post about scientific names that are a mixture of Latin and Greek:

https://toroid.org/greek-and-latin-names

This is just so sad: The use of "Abominable Snowman" ...

2026-02-04T08:11:05Z

This is just so sad:

The use of "Abominable Snowman" began when Henry Newman […] mistranslated the word "metoh" as "filthy", substituting the term "abominable", perhaps out of artistic licence. As author Bill Tilman recounts, "[Newman] wrote long after in a letter to The Times: The whole story seemed such a joyous creation I sent it to one or two newspapers".

"Metoh" translates as "man-bear" and "kang-mi" translates as "snowman".

(from Wikipedia)

I only just realised that some people who use toilet paper think ...

2026-02-03T10:34:24Z

I only just realised that some people who use toilet paper think that people who don't use toilet paper go around with dirty bums.

(I've known for decades that people who don't use toilet paper think that people who do use toilet paper go around with dirty bums.)

It took us quite a while to find Urus being constructed in ...

2026-02-03T08:55:22Z

It took us quite a while to find Urus being constructed in Beypore: most people were sure they were around, but nobody seemed to quite know where. As far as we could tell, this is the only place that makes them any more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uru_(boat)

#kerala

An oak gall I found in a Banj oak tree near home. Once it ...

2026-02-03T08:47:20Z

An oak gall I found in a Banj oak tree near home. Once it "hatched", I sent some specimens to ICAR-NBAIR (National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources), who told me that the specimens were Torymus sp. and Cynipoidea.

I didn't even know you could get two kinds of wasps out of a single gall.

#insects #entomology #himalayas

A random hodgepodge of carved stone pillars from Chittorgarh, not ...

2026-02-03T05:14:14Z

A random hodgepodge of carved stone pillars from Chittorgarh, not really well matched (nor of particularly high quality as stone carvings go). We're rather used to seeing grand historical monuments as a whole, and not so much the process of putting them together (or back together).

#history

I know it's all meant to be fun, but somehow naming a living ...

2026-02-03T04:26:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…5cuh
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I know it's all meant to be fun, but somehow naming a living creature "Bowie bemywife" gives me the ick. Multiple icks, looking at the other names in the list.

Here's another view of a slightly larger dome, where it's ...

2026-02-02T15:51:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…hvu4
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Here's another view of a slightly larger dome, where it's easier to make out the different overlapping layers.

An architectural detail from some monument inside Chittorgarh, ...

2026-02-02T15:45:29Z

An architectural detail from some monument inside Chittorgarh, showing how a dome can be faked by stacking slabs of stone across the walls to make a reasonably well-supported pile, the outside of which can be carved/plastered into a (usually fairly squat) domelet. This form of stacked construction persisted long after true arches/domes came to North India around the 13th century.

#histodons #history

A hermit crab skedaddling off into the waves. #nature #wildlife ...

2026-02-02T15:12:17Z

A hermit crab skedaddling off into the waves.

#nature #wildlife

A saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) in the Kinabatangan ...

2026-02-02T09:09:09Z

A saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) in the Kinabatangan river.

#reptile #nature #wildlife

A Least Pygmy Squirrel (Exilisciurus exilis) from Borneo, ...

2026-02-02T09:03:23Z

A Least Pygmy Squirrel (Exilisciurus exilis) from Borneo, demonstrating how to #LichenSubscribe

#mammals #rodents #squirrel #nature

A tree fern growing on a tree near the Kinabatangan river. ...

2026-02-02T08:55:38Z

A tree fern growing on a tree near the Kinabatangan river.

#plants #nature

Bracket fungi growing on a log in the rainforest. #fungi #nature ...

2026-02-02T07:54:56Z

Bracket fungi growing on a log in the rainforest.

#fungi #nature

A rather phallic tube "3d-printed" (with mud and spit) ...

2026-02-02T04:23:54Z

A rather phallic tube "3d-printed" (with mud and spit) onto a tall tree by some species of stingless bee at the Rainforest Discovery Centre in Sepilok, Sabah. The honey from these bees is what Malayan Sun Bears like to eat.

#insects #entomology #wildlife #nature

Some sort of fungus growing on the wooden railing of the walkway ...

2026-01-30T16:21:12Z

Some sort of fungus growing on the wooden railing of the walkway at the Orangutan centre at Sepilok, Sabah.

#FungiFriday #fungi

A leaf katydid or bush cricket from Sabah. This extraordinary ...

2026-01-30T13:59:06Z

A leaf katydid or bush cricket from Sabah. This extraordinary fellow was sitting on the chair next to me at lunch. When it tired of me moving the chair to take photographs, it crawled over the edge and hung from the underside with its legs folded, looking like just a pair of leaves. 10/10 camouflage, 0/10 location.

#insects #entomology #nature

True bug? Sounds like a false beetle to me! (Thanks for the ...

2026-01-29T09:34:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…vp60
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True bug? Sounds like a false beetle to me!

(Thanks for the correction.)

A jewel beetle from Sabah. #insects #entomology #nature ...

2026-01-29T09:11:44Z

A jewel beetle from Sabah.

#insects #entomology #nature

I'm not the sort of squirrel expert that can tell whether ...

2026-01-25T06:00:23Z

I'm not the sort of squirrel expert that can tell whether this is Glyphotes simus or Exilisciurus exilis (which is what I think it is), but i AM the sort of squirrel expert who knows for sure that my teabags are not at risk from this little fellow.

Coral vine (Antigonon leptopus) flowers. #botany #flowers ...

2026-01-16T10:02:40Z

Coral vine (Antigonon leptopus) flowers.

#botany #flowers #photography

A Whimbrel and Redshank feeding together on an isolated part of ...

2026-01-16T05:10:57Z

A Whimbrel and Redshank feeding together on an isolated part of the Malabar coast.

#birds #nature #wildlife

Another view of the access to one of the smaller outer bastions ...

2026-01-16T05:05:12Z

Another view of the access to one of the smaller outer bastions at Bekal fort.

#history #kerala #photography

Purple wreath flowers (Petrea volubilis). #botany #nature ...

2026-01-16T04:59:27Z

Purple wreath flowers (Petrea volubilis).

#botany #nature #flowers

Common Greenshank feeding along the shoreline, running back and ...

2026-01-15T16:51:51Z

Common Greenshank feeding along the shoreline, running back and forth with the waves.

#birds #wildlife #nature

Why do you prefer this approach to ordinary file-level backups ...

2026-01-13T17:18:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…w60t
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Why do you prefer this approach to ordinary file-level backups for your VPSes? (Or is it in addition to them?)

A larger-than-usual (for this beach) crab that I happened to ...

2026-01-13T17:11:41Z

A larger-than-usual (for this beach) crab that I happened to catch away from its hole.

#nature #crab #wildlife

A murder of crows (Corvus splendens) plotting a charge up the ...

2026-01-13T16:12:16Z

A murder of crows (Corvus splendens) plotting a charge up the beach.

#nature #birds #photography

Nostr event nevent1qqs07wwvlqeamgu8cw8vkvqmkpq60gajl9rxmt0n6a3v3mhmuy38c8szyq8fu8kxggpe92jlmwelz9ffj6zw478gw3cg5dwn0uvqqagcqgvmz2u76l8

2026-01-13T10:00:46Z

#photography

A temple baluster, c. 14th century, seen in a museum somewhere in ...

2026-01-13T09:10:15Z

A temple baluster, c. 14th century, seen in a museum somewhere in South India. A pair of these bitey lions would be on either side of the stairs approaching a temple.

#history

Trapa natans, water caltrop or water chestnut, part of the ...

2026-01-12T06:37:33Z

Trapa natans, water caltrop or water chestnut, part of the excellent collection of aquatic plants in the botanical gardens at the Nilambur Teak Museum, Kerala. I've eaten the fruits for decades without knowing how pretty this plant looks.

#nature #botany #photography #kerala

#photography #abstract ...

2026-01-10T14:34:57Z

#photography #abstract

Frogs playing chess, a sculpture at the Nilambur Teak Museum in ...

2026-01-10T11:17:17Z

Frogs playing chess, a sculpture at the Nilambur Teak Museum in Kerala.
#frog #nature #kerala

An agama on a laterite block. #nature #photography #reptiles ...

2026-01-09T07:32:25Z

An agama on a laterite block.

#nature #photography #reptiles #lizard

Two (of many) burial urns at an abandoned excavation site at ...

2026-01-08T07:29:21Z

Two (of many) burial urns at an abandoned excavation site at Kondagai village, near the famous Keezhadi archaeological site (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keezhadi_excavation_site) outside Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

#history

Three large bee-eaters (probably Blue-Tailed, Merops philippinus) ...

2026-01-07T16:00:50Z

Three large bee-eaters (probably Blue-Tailed, Merops philippinus) resting briefly while hawking for insects in the evening over an estuary on the Malabar coast.

#birds #nature #photography

Nostr event nevent1qqsg8ecr6pcughakf8p3mr05h5sag33q00ja3uv4nwvxvdz5a3xxhzqzyq8fu8kxggpe92jlmwelz9ffj6zw478gw3cg5dwn0uvqqagcqgvmz7vxa9g

2026-01-06T10:26:09Z

#photography

A sign from the forest department in Wayanad, Kerala. #wildlife ...

2026-01-05T14:54:11Z

A sign from the forest department in Wayanad, Kerala.

#wildlife

Blue Tiger Moth from Wayanad, Kerala. #insects #entomology ...

2026-01-05T14:44:44Z

Blue Tiger Moth from Wayanad, Kerala.

#insects #entomology #nature

Difficult to imagine this spiky antlion larva grows into this ...

2025-12-07T08:52:00Z

Difficult to imagine this spiky antlion larva grows into this elegant creature.