The Little Things at Hoskote

 A drizzly night followed by a late morning at Hoskote Lake meant I missed the golden hour for birds. But the insects were just waking up. With butterflies on the wing and bugs busy in the damp undergrowth, I focused my lens on the smaller, often-overlooked wonders of the wild.

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I followed the erratic, fluttering flight of a Crimson Rose as it weaved through patches of Blue Snakeweed. It flitted from bloom to bloom, never still for more than a heartbeat, its vivid red and black wings flickering like a warning. A moment later, it would vanish into the blur of green, only to return just as suddenly, wild and elusive and impossible to ignore.

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There were quite a few wildflowers dancing in the breeze, but the Indian Nightshade caught my eye. A perfect purple star with a golden heart.

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Two Indian Peafowls appeared out of nowhere, noticed me, and shuffled off with the panic of interns who walked into the wrong meeting, heads high, dignity barely intact.

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I didn’t walk the bamboo trail. I tiptoed, stopped, stared and squinted, because every few steps, a new bug had something weird to show me.

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Caught this bluebottle fly looking like it just stepped out of a sci fi movie, chrome suit, red visors and all.

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Indian mallow (Abutilon indicum) looked like it was just waking up, one flower stretching, the rest still snoozing.

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A Myllocerus Weevil stepped out, posed, and vanished into the leaf.

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Mr. and Mrs. Pied Bush Chat. Keeping an eye on things from their separate thorny thrones.

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Atractomorpha, just a grasshopper pretending to be a leaf pretending to be a stem.

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Leaf-footed bug, looking like it just walked out of a medieval suit fitting.

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Almost missed this Richard’s Pipit tucked into a frame full of dry geometry.

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Meet the Condylostylus, part fly, part chrome bumper. It stood still just long enough to say, “Yes, this is my good side. Take the shot.”

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With wings that look like stained glass and an attitude that says “I know,” the Common Jezebel posed just long enough before flitting off to her next floral appointment.

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A tiny flutter and there it was, the Plain Prinia, still and watchful. The reeds rustled behind it, but it stayed, letting the breeze ruffle its feathers like an old friend.

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Even the flowers seemed to lean closer as the Plain Tiger butterfly landed.

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I paused, not just for the butterfly, but for the plant itself. The humble Blue Snakeweed. Its tall, slender spikes were dotted with those tiny, intense blue-purple blossoms, each one a perfect landing pad, open for just a day before making way for the next.

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Not far off, a quieter, equally charming beauty presented itself: the Tridax Daisy, or Coatbuttons as some call it. A common sight, yes, but its bright white petals around a sunshine yellow core always bring a smile.

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And that was my morning at Hoskote, a reminder that nature rarely sticks to our schedules, but always offers something spectacular if we're open to it. It's in these quiet, focused moments that the wild truly reveals its endless ingenuity.

What little details of nature have captured your eye recently? Drop a comment and tell me what you've been observing!