Traveling around Nepal with assignments has been a blessing this year and September was also not spared. The first week of September was spent in the northern hills in the outskirts of Kathmandu teaching wilderness first aid. During my stay there I could take some of the pictures of insects found around that region.

The last week of this month was spent on plotting and mapping the track for an ultramarathon race in the eastern side of Nepal. For this, I traveled all the way to Jiri and then started walking towards Lukla. This journey even though was work-related gave me an opportunity to observe the flora and fauna in the eastern region of Nepal closer.

As I walked through the thick rhododendron forests where a family of Kalij Pheasant was foraging around,fogs rolling in on the lush green alpine meadows  and high passes, mixed forests having a wide range of shrubs and trees,spooky dark silent forests to forests filled with bird calls early in the morning to wide ranges of waterfalls and streams were the experiences I can express beyond words.

The only thing that made my heart sink was the fact that I could see a lot of trails littered with food wrappers. I guess everybody in the right sense of mind will be pointing out that this is a wrong thing to do but this, not a perfect world, and people do need awareness all the way down to the young kids so that a behavioral change happens from the grassroots level.

With time constraints and primary focus on the route mapping, I was able to take very fewer pictures of both the flora and fauna that I was able to see in the eastern region of Nepal. I did have a lot of moments where I just enjoyed seeing the subjects and this was the first moment in a long time where I was able to encounter a couple of snakes and observe them slither away to their hidings. Below is the summary of what I was able to see and some that I was able to photograph.  

Birds: Grey Bushchat, Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Rosefinch, Scarlet Minivet, doves, etc.             
Flower: Impatiens falcifer, Microula sikkimensis, Dipsacus inermis, Gentiana ornata, Arisaema tortuosum “Snake Corn”, Bistorta amplexicaulis, Geranium procurren etc.
Insect: Stag beetles, Rhino beetles, leeches, various moths, Paris peacock butterflies, Spangle butterflies etc.
Various Mushrooms

I hope you enjoyed the limited range of photos I have been able to put this month due to time constraints and will be bringing in more contents in the months to come. My sincere apologies for not being able to post the blog in the regular time format due to the exhaustion from the recent travels.

Wishing you all a very productive month ahead and thank you for all the love and support you have given to this blog.

Ajay Narsingh Rana