And so it begins!

Hello from the field!

We are all set to start our journey understanding the glide of the dragon! Our field site is at the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), located in one of the surviving patches of dense rainforests of the Western Ghats in India. I will be in the field from now until end of April during which I hope to set up a flight arena and record them glide with the help of GoPro cameras. 

These are exciting times! This is the mating season, and the flying lizards or the draco are very active. I am able to spot at least 5-6 on a regular basis (knowing how cryptic they are, this is great!).

The folks here at ARRS have been super supportive with helping me set up, catch, and tag  the animal but most of all in making me feel at home :). I will be joined by a field assistant (Steve Rodgie) on 4th March to further help in this project.. 

I will try my best to keep y'all posted with how this project unfolds, with pictures and videos and everything draco! However, the internet connection in the field is basic, which might delay some of the uploads.  

Again, I can't thank you enough! This study would not have been possible without your curiosity, support, and belief in this project. Here's a big shout out to you, and my parents for driving over 1400 km from Mumbai to Bangalore to Agumbe making sure that all the equipment and I reach here safely! :)  If y'all have any ideas, suggestions, questions or absolutely anything that is bothering that budding scientist in you, please do comment and we'll brainstorm together to unveil this mystery of the dragon's glide!

Here's hoping our project takes off like the draco! :D

 

We can see how the lizard thrusts itself off the tree in the direction of the glide. The wings are still tucked in, enhancing speed and reducing drag on the body. (The picture was taken with a Canon EOS6D and 70-200 mm lens)

The pictures and videos that I will share are for y'all, capturing moments like these of the animal's behavior takes hours of observation. I request everyone to cite this project if they would like to share it.