Rainbows, Golden jumping spiders and Parrots in Times of Lock-down

So then what do you do at home, after taking your online classes? You can't step outdoors, nor meet others, thanks to lockdown and social distancing. Staying at home would be enough to drive anyone crazy. But then, there are ways for keeping busy ( apart from getting to connect with your family) and for me, this includes taking photographs from my home of things around me. Looking at the branches of a distant tree with parrots darting, diving and dancing in the air, or perhaps even an ordinary jumping spider trying to grab a fly for breakfast (though unsuccessfully as the fly flew away each time the spider almost reached) would teach you a lesson in patience. 

I wonder what makes the golden spider golden! This tiny creature, barely a few millimetres in size might escape notice but for its sparkling flash of gold. I used flash, sunlight, macro, manual, everything that I had to get a decent enough shot of this interesting arachnid. Unfortunately, all the snaps were taken hand-held.

And then just when you are done taking photographs of the golden jumping spider, you spot a metallic greenfly that is again so tiny that you'd miss it if it were not for that bright metallic colour that catches the last rays of the sinking sun, a veritable jewel of amazing beauty! Again, you are hard-pressed for time and who'd miss the opportunity of taking a few pot-shots of this amazing work of art!  I just couldn't miss it, even if it meant that I would have to shoot handheld! 

One the days I caught Clarence the jumping spider trying to capture a fly for breakfast. Unfortunately, each he drew close to breakfast, it would fly away. He did keep trying and I gave him company till in the end even I lost patience and decided to go indoors.

Talking of parrots, well they can be noisy, full of energy, and yes, they bully their own friends. Now, these parrots are different from the Alexandrian Parrot that I photographed some time back. Alexandrian parrots have a crimson ring around their necks and a slash of crimson on their wings.

Of all things beautiful, even ordinary plants and common flowers have a quality about them which is amazing. It is surprising how we often take such things for granted during normal times. Unfortunately, it takes times of crisis, lockdowns, and pandemics we are forces to stay indoors and it is during such times we realise how beautiful nature is. We have neglected our duty towards protecting and preserving nature. We have drained out our wetlands, cut down trees, destroyed birds and wild animals and soon even the parrots will be gone. Life after the Corona Virus Pandemic will never be the same. I just hope that we learn to be better and more responsible people once this crisis is over. Life is what it is all about, and appreciating life in all its forms is our beholden duty.

Life is indeed precious and one should each breath that one takes. Looking at the rainbow and perhaps taking the time to look at the clouds scudding across the skies might be some of the best things that we can do during trying times. We have all become so obsessed with work, grades and deadlines that we have forgotten the essential naturalness that exists within each one of us.

Marmalade Hoverfly, Speckled Moth, Caterpillars and Tailor Birds

With lockdown taking place and movement restricted, staying at home took a wholly different meaning. Not being able to visit national parks and wetlands meant that I would be forced to look at things at home to photograph. Perhaps the single most amazing thing was to see and hear birds of different kinds in the vicinity. The most common of all the tiny birds were the sunbirds, green and purple and the tailorbirds too. The blooming Morning Glory flowers and the Curry Leave's flowers were a great draw for different kind of insects, especially the Marmalade Hoverfly and the  Speckled Moth. The Moth incidentally was the first one I spotted in Gurgaon, perhaps it was because of the lower pollution levels.

The Marmalade Hoverfly though is a pretty common visitor and it can be seen feeding on nectar on most of the flowers in the garden. Another rather interesting insect was the caterpillar that was feeding on the leaves of a Lemon plant. I would have missed it if it were not for its light green colour which stood in contrast to the dark green leaf on which it was resting!

I managed to take a couple of shots of the caterpillar, of course with the camera mounted on a tripod. However, whether this caterpillar would have ended up in the beautiful butterfly that came for a drink of water is doubtful.

I guess there are many more interesting insects to photograph, though one would have to shift to macro photography to capture them. Photographing insects can be tricky at times, especially as you need to get close to them and any movement, therefore, is magnified a million times. It makes sense in many cases to use a tripod.

I didn't have much of a problem with the moth especially as it had decided to perch on the roof of my car, and so I used the roof itself to support the camera.

Even though most of the insects I photographed during the day looked rather neat and attractive, there was one that looked rather monstrous. It was a caterpillar that looked as frightening as a Frankenstein!

The counterpoint to all these insects was, of course, the butterfly in all its splendour and beauty. And to wind it all up, I am adding a few snaps of the Tailor-Bird that visits my garden every day. The reason I am adding the bird to a post dedicated to insects is that, firstly, it is no bigger than an insect, and secondly, it probably feeds on the insects that visit the garden. In any case, it is so difficult to take a snap of a Tailorbird for the very reason that it won't sit still. I guess all the smaller birds are so frisky and restless!

Second World War Stamps of Germany - The Story Behind them

There is so much that stamps can teach us about a county's economic health and its politics. In fact, stamps are like capsules of time The early nineteen twenties saw the world go through an economic depression. Germany too had undergone a difficult period of economic recession. The Deutsche Mark was getting devalued so often that the postal department decided not to print new stamps. Instead of printing new stamps, existing stamps were over-printed as there was no point in issuing new stamps because the market was so volatile! A few of the stamps of the period 1921 to 1923  a period of hyperinflation have been posted below.

As might be noticed, the overprinted value is greatly at variance with the original printed value of the stamp. A 5 million Mark stamp is devalued to 2 million Mark stamp! Economists termed it hyperinflation.

Surprisingly enough, German stamps have different names of the country on them. The names of the country could be Byern, Deutsche Reich, or even Deutsche Land. The name Deutsches Reich refers to the name that Germany had meaning Third Reich, and the stamps posted below were issued in the from the years 1934 to 1936.

One more interesting stamp of Germany issued in the year 1924 include the ones posted below.

As stated above, German Stamps had different names for the country on them. During times, leading to the Second World War the name Deutsche Reich was written on the stamps. After the Second World War, during the allied occupation, the German stamps carried the title Deutsche Land. An interesting fact is that during the occupation of Germany after the end of the Second World War, postal services were resumed and the stamps were also inscribed with the letters, 'AM' meaning, Allied Military. I have posted a couple of these stamps below.

Many of us have a lot of curiosity about stamps belonging to the period of Hitler's rise to power in Germany, the fact remains that most of them happen to common. The allies are known to have made a large number of fake stamps during the period as a way of destabilizing the economy of the country. A few examples of stamps issued during the period of Hitler's rise to power are posted below.

The first of the two  Bavarian Stamps posted below, issued from 1914 to 1918 portrays King Ludwig III of  Bavaria while the second one issue in the year 1911, portrays Luitpold, Prince regent of Bavaria.

Without a doubt, these stamps cover a lot of history, what with the names for the country changing with the times, a testimony to the changing boundaries of the country, a country going through hyperinflation and finally a country under allied governance. Contemporary stamps of Germany have a different name for the country and its postal service. They are inscribed with the words, Deutsche Bundes Post.