Another month of being in Kathmandu, but this time my focus was more on finishing my personal project, which I reveal in the final lines below. This meant going back again to my favourite place for birding and macro photography—the same place where, in July, I had talked about repeatedly observing a single area to discover what more I could document, and, of course, with the hope of finding new species. The same experience happened this month as well, although it was more localized toward macro photography and less toward birding.

No matter how many times I have been to this place on the northern edge of the Kathmandu Valley, sightings of new species keep coming. Geared up for biking and birding, it is always a task to haul the heavy camera bag uphill, but the views and species diversity make the trip worthwhile.

I generally tend to follow the same path on every ride or walk to see how changes in weather and season bring a transition in species diversity, be it flora or fauna. The monsoon was still ongoing, but the frequency of rainfall had subsided a little compared to July. Having said that, there were a few more rockfalls than in July.

Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babblers were heard more frequently as they searched for insects in the forest undergrowth, flying between tree branches. Early in the morning, with the trail glistening after the rain had just stopped, I would see a few Spotted Doves foraging along the trail edges before flying off after noticing me.

I would see Bamboo Orchids in full bloom in a couple of new areas, including some of the spots where I had seen them a month earlier. As I slowly rode along the road between the forest, I would see a few Earthball fungi growing along the roadside wall. It was a good season to search for mushrooms, but despite multiple trips to this place, I was only able to document three species.

Black Bulbuls and Himalayan Bulbuls were also out and about, foraging from one branch to another. This time around, I only managed to spot a couple of Orange-bellied Himalayan Squirrels.

Talking about mammals, I was also able to see a Barking Deer up close. I was taking a right-hand corner on the trail when I noticed the deer busy munching on grass along the side of the trail. I didn’t feel the need to take out the camera and document it, as it was already watching me and slowly moving towards higher ground. This is the second time I have seen this deer in exactly the same spot, so next time I will approach the turn a little more carefully.

A couple of species of dragonflies were also spotted, including the Chalky Percher, Russet Percher, and a dragonfly from the family Gomphidae. Along the way, I could also see a foraging trail of ants crossing the road. Spotted Locusts could be seen in a few shrubs, along with a Slender Silent Bush Cricket from the genus Aphonoides, Robber Flies, a Jumping Spider, and a couple of caterpillars, including a Red Slug Caterpillar and one from the family Erebidae. Most of these species were new to me, so I made sure to document them.

This month I also documented three different wasp and hornet species, two of which included their nests.

The Yellow-vented Hornet that I saw near my house had built its nest about four feet above the ground. The nest was a paper-like structure with a coarse, imbricate pattern made up of large, distinct, overlapping circular sections. The nest itself was circular, with what looked like two vents on the side and at the back. There was a hornet stationed at the opening, looking outside. It was clearly a busy nest, with other hornets constantly coming and going and inspecting the nest.

I also saw a Lesser Paper Wasp nest while going uphill. The interesting part was that they had found a small gap in an old landslide area, just five to six inches above the ground, to build their nest. The colony was busy.

The last wasp was from the genus Chlorocryptus. Sitting idly on top of a leaf early in the morning, I was able to document it up close. Its beautiful metallic blue colour shone as the flash compensated for the lack of light on an otherwise cloudy day.

On the final ride of the month, the rain had just stopped, and the clouds were slowly parting, allowing warm rays of sunlight to break through. While observing the landscape around the local tea shop, I was able to see a couple of birds, including an Indian Golden Oriole grooming itself as the warm sunlight hit its feathers.

Below the tree, there were four or five White-crested Laughingthrushes in their usual loud, cackling outburst. At times, they would flock onto the power line or move between the nearby trees.

Another interesting find for me was a Ground Beetle—possibly from the genus Callistomimus. At first, I thought it was a velvet ant, a wingless female wasp that looks like an ant. But while photographing it and looking closely at its patterns and eyes, I realized that it was actually a beetle I had never seen before.

Another new species sighting for me was the Bee Fly (Ligyra tantalus), which looked like a bumblebee from a distance, except for its wings, which remained spread out when it was resting.

The final days of August also brought one of the most devastating natural disasters Nepal has seen in recent years. On 26 August, a massive rock-and-ice avalanche from the Lirung massif in the upper Lhende Khola catchment near the Nepal-China border sent enormous amounts of ice, rock and debris into the river system.

The material temporarily blocked the river before the water and debris surged downstream through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli corridors, causing catastrophic flooding and destruction across Rasuwa and downstream areas. In the initial flood-affected areas, the water and debris reached more than 40 metres above the usual river level. Homes, farmland, bridges, roads, hydropower projects, border control and trade checkpoint areas, Kailash pilgrimage teams, and many, many other people and communities along the river route were affected, while large stretches of riverine habitat were swept away. Hundreds of people lost their lives, and thousands remain missing.

Rescue and recovery efforts are continuing, but the scale of destruction is difficult to comprehend. The huge deposits of wet, unstable debris have made access even more challenging. The Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, Nepal Police, helicopter pilots, mountain rescue teams and many others have been working day and night to rescue people trapped in power-generation tunnels and other remote areas.

It seems that August and September have become almost synonymous with natural disasters, and as climate change continues to affect weather patterns, it has been creating increasingly challenging times for people, especially in countries like ours. It is high time the government invested more in installing and upgrading early-warning systems throughout high-risk areas, while also training local communities to use and respond to them effectively.

The monsoon is not over yet, and I hope nothing more happens as autumn slowly approaches.

I had wanted to travel to Mustang this month, but the personal project I mentioned earlier didn’t allow me to. After more than 15 years of photographing insects and, later, other species of flora and fauna, and 11 years of creating PrakritiNepal.com and adding species to the repository, it was high time I worked on another long-term project.

A project where I could compile the photographs I had taken over the years.

The dream started materializing in 2022, and finally, in 2026, I was able to muster up the budget and self-publish a book.

Figuring out where to print the book also took a while. Printing it in India didn’t work out because of the hassles involved and the increased cost of importing it into Nepal. Finding a press that could produce a good-quality coffee table book here in Nepal was another challenge, but I was finally able to narrow it down to one.

The choice of paper was another headache. At some point, though, I had to compromise, and in the end it came down to a technicality: 160 gsm versus 170 gsm.

The title of the book is The Wild Wonders of Nepal, and as I write this journal, it is being printed at a press here in Kathmandu. I will be launching it at the end of September and will start working on another book towards the end of this year.

Fewer travel days than in July, but nevertheless, the sightings in August were just as interesting and provided another good opportunity to learn about species I had never encountered before. September seems promising, so let’s hope I have some good stories and sightings to share. Below are some of the species of flora and fauna that I was able to sight and document in the month of August.

Bird:
Orange-bellied Leafbird, Spangled Drongo, Ashy Drongo, Scarlet Minivet, Blue Whistling Thrush, Grey Treepie, Spotted Dove, Yellow-billed Blue Magpie, Indian Golden Oriole, Blue-throated Barbet, Himalayan Bulbul, Cattle Egret, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler, etc.

Mammal:
Barking Deer, Small Asian Mongoose, Orange-bellied Himalayan Squirrel.

Invertebrates:
Yellow-vented Hornet (Vespa analis), Red Lacewing Butterfly (Cethosia biblis), Cockroach nymph of possible genus Hemithyrsocera, Green Fruit-piercing Moth (Eudocima salaminia), Moths, Snail, Russet Percher (Neurothemis fulvia), Lesser Paper Wasp (Parapolybia varia), Dragonfly Family Gomphidae, Bee Fly (Ligyra tantalus), Caterpillar from the Family Erebidae and, Jumping spider, Robberfly – Subfamily Asilinae, Genus Pachypeltis, Butterfly from Skipper family, Wasp of Genus Chlorocryptus, Sweat bee, Slender Silent Bush Crickets Genus Aphonoides, Possible Nephrotoma suturalis, Ground Beetle – Possible Genus Callistomimus, Spotted Locust (Aularches miliaris), Blood-vein Moth (Timandra convectaria), Harvestman Spider, Blue Beetle from Genus Popillia, Chalky Percher Dragonfly (Diplacodes trivialis), Orb-weaver Spiders, Bush Criket (Himertula kinneari), Red Slug Caterpillar (Eterusia aedea), Common Bluebottle (Graphium Sarpedon), etc.

Plant:
Butterfly Ginger Lily (Hedychium coronarium), Achimenes grandiflora, a possible Nepal Osbeckia (Osbeckia nepalensis), possible Swamp Dayflower (Commelina paludosa), Indian Catmint (Anisomeles indica), Vecemose Globba (Globba racemosa), Pink Knotweeds, Brittle False Pimpernel (Torenia crustacea), Indian chestnut (Castanopsis indica), Possible – Pinto Peanut (Arachis pintoi), Bean from Genus Vigna, Foxtails Grass from Genus Setaria, Crêpe Ginger (Hellenia speciosa), Bristletips (Oxyspora paniculata), Orange Ginger Lily (Hedychium coccineum), Bamboo Orchid (Arundina graminifolia),

Fungi & Lichen:
Common Earthballs, Waxcaps (Genus Hygrocybe), etc.

Ajay Narsingh Rana