Dear All,
About
ten of us spent a couple of hours on Sunday morning (the 17th of July)
at our Puttakere covering as much as ten metres. And yet, even as we
appeared to move hardly at all, Time flew! There was just so much to
keep us absorbed. The space was a compressed scroll, opening out into
discoveries of sight and sound and scent - and eventually, even taste!
Kaustubh Rau who led the Bioblitz began by having us look closely at
the trunk of the mahogany on which fire ants (an invasive species,
apparently) ran up and down sticking and stitching their leafy nests
even as the lichen grew slowly, patiently. Those ants looked like ants
but we also saw "spiders" which turned out to be ants, spiders who
strung up their egg sacs (little green dots) in their nest-webs, spiders
who left their "signatures" in their webs. What an intricate world
theirs is!
It was a beautiful
morning. Sun light passed through the thick foliage and dappled the
pathway. A pair of dragonflies were locked in a long embrace,
butterflies flitted about, coots and grebes chased each other in a
flurry of wings across the water. At one point mynahs started calling
out loudly. We turned to see what the cackling was about. They were
heckling a snake as it slithered across the path.
We
saw cormorants, darters, purple moor hens, egrets, water hens, coots,
spot billed ducks, a swooping brahminy kite, a slider turtle, all
hanging out comfortably in what was evidently their home - sitting on
the perches, drying their wings, staring out at the water, occasionally
chatting with each other or diving into the water for a snack. A mother
grebe left her nest with three little chicks following. The fourth
eventually left, hitching a ride on daddy's back!
In
those two hours, we peered down, gazed up, crinkled our eyes to stare
at movements across the water. There were strange beautiful fruit
dangling from gorgeous broad-leafed exotic trees (the "Buddha Coconut"
tree); the Kadam, the "badminton ball" (even though, as one participant
pointed out, badminton is not actually played with a ball!) tree, a huge
leafed "money plant", the cassia, the "pride of India", all held our
attention. Eventually we ended up at a shortish tree (tall-ish shrub)
studded with bright red "cherries". Delicious!
Nearing
the end of the walk, we spotted a darter trying to rid itself of what
looked like a ball of strings from its beak. It was desperately rubbing
its beak against various surfaces but to no avail. With the trustees
informing ARRC, we hoped the rescue team would assist the bird like they
had done recently. This did put a dampener on an otherwise wonderful
morning.
The
next day, we got to know that the darter wouldn't allow the rescue team
anywhere near. However, by the next morning it had managed to get rid
of the string ball itself. We were happy for the bird but we had
learned the biggest lesson - Mankind is hazardous to nature and the environment.
Bioblitz or no, humans reverently gazing at them or just hurrying past or no, creatures live out their compelling lives - and although in a sane world their ability to do so should not lie within the power of humans, at the moment it does. Photographs when uploaded on to the inaturalist.org platform (under "Puttenahalli Lake") allows for all these to live out their natural lives on this planet as they were meant to do.
Report written by Sonali Sathye ( Resident of South City)