Largest butterfly of India ….Southern Birdwing by Sh Vinod Goel

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Largest butterfly of India ….Southern Birdwing
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Butterflies has always dazzled me from my childhood. I remember during our school days ,having the entire school complex at the edge of sea shore at Sainik School Balachadi ,Jamanagar, we had a garden compound in each of our house . On holidays students from one dormitory use to catch hold of butterflies from the garden and release them under a mosquito net for some hours and then release them finally into free atmosphere after a hour or so.
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Nature lovers have always been fascinated by their colours , wings and their flight. These are the most beautiful jewels of the natural world. In the present times they are often used as flagship species for the conservation purposes.
In August 2011 while staying at a resort in Cochin I happen to observe a large butterfly in the garden. Later on I came to know that it is known as Southern birdwing and it is the largest butterfly of our country. A big and a pleasant surprise for me.
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This is endemic to Peninsular region and found in abundant during and post monsoon season. Since our visit was during the monsoons it was a treat to watch even other butterflies.
The State of Karnatka has adopted it as their State Butterfly.
We all delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
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Can we learn from these jewels of nature and make this planet worth living not for ourselves but for the future generations.
Enjoy the beauty !

About the Author

A retired civil servant by profession but a True wildlifer at Heart . Sh Vinod Goel started his journey from the tender age of 11 years, he left his home and parents for schooling in a hostel. Later on as a Civil Servant his job took him to various parts of the country of India. His very first visit to Kanha National Park in Central India in April 2004 ignited the passion for wildlife and has not digressed from that.

During the last 13 years he had been to more than 50 to 60 National parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Initially he visited the wildlife sanctuaries in the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. He had been to all the National Parks of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal. Out of 50 tiger reserves in the country he has been to more than 20 tiger reserves and photographed tigers in 12 of them. Apart from tigers he has captured unbelievable moments in the wild.

Sh Vinod Goel is widely known in the wildlife community   and his work has been acclaimed globally. In his free time he can be seen capturing the unusual moments of denizens of the wild in various parks and sanctuaries of India. His daughter Nitya Goel Aggarwal and son Bharat Goel are with him in his mission.

You can also visit his page on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/wildlifephotographyindia/