birds, flora, fauna of pune

Why not community composting pits?

2012-02-01T02:01:00.000-08:00

In brief, the rational is this: We all agree that wet garbage can be composted, recycled and used for kitchen garden.
The problems: 1. As individuals we may not have time or expertise to do it. 2. Non-cooperation or conflict among members of complex/ society / apartment makes this almost impossible to implement. 3. Many of the old buildings do not have the requisite inbuilt facilities or even space to do this.
Instead:
We have gardens or waste lands: Identify some space for composting operation. Let the corporation hire persons to handle the operations. People can dispose their wet garbage there. The resultant compost can be sold at nominal cost to the same people or whoever needs it. Since the compost heap is not supposed to smell or attract flies (that is what they keep telling us, isn't it?) it would not pose a health hazard to the garden visitors.

Avian architect: Purple rumped Sunbird

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

The nest building is a tedious and painstaking process. After careful reconnoitering, a suitable site for the nest is located. It is usually well camouflaged and inaccessible to predators such as crows. I became aware of the nest only because I was sitting on a parapet wall just a few feet away from this tangle of thorn scrub. A little bird kept flitting at short intervals. On closer observation I saw it bringing a few twigs in its beak. It never directly approached the partially built structure. First the bird would land a little away and look all around for possible intruders or predators. Then it would enter the tangle to add the sticks to the half built home. And what a home! Cosy, with a 'doorstep', and an awning above!

How about Bird Day instead of Bird Race?

2011-12-08T21:56:00.001-08:00

Many of you in Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and maybe a few other places, must be familiar with the annual Bird Race; even those who are not birders.

The race consists of getting into a four wheeler at the crack of dawn and zipping from one birding hotspot to another, at times across the town. One is supposed to tick off the names of the species one has seen at each spot. At the end of the day, the list with the maximum number of species names on it is the winner. Participants mingle with each other in a feel-good atmosphere sharing a sponsored dinner.

"So what?" you might say. Now, this species list can be prepared even the day before by visiting these birding spots over the previous days. There is no way to verify if each and every bird on the list was really seen on the day of the race or not. No one questions if it is really possible to spot so many separate species in one day of birding. A lot of petrol is wasted and the zipping about adds to air pollution, including in the vicinity of the birding spots. The first prize always seems to go to the team which has at least one member close to the event organizers.

The last and the most important point: What is gained from this race is not clear.
Is it awareness that the bird races are trying to create? Then should we not look at things like bird behavior or conservation? I do not buy the agreement that this can come later. When exactly is later? Most birders have been birding now for an average of 7-8 years. The birder population in Pune atleast has already crossed that critical mass needed to move from ticking off species to working towards their conservation.

The Bird Race is then the day when birds are most (and most frequently) disturbed, since participants converge in droves to the more popular birding spots in search of birds, and disturb them in the process.

What the bird race organizers need to do is to change it from race to say a contest. Let each team take up and observe only a certain chosen bird species over say a month, at different spots. Or take up a particular birding habitat and study that for a month. Record the count for that species over the time period. Observe, research into the factors that attract/ harm these birds or what could help protect their habitat environment. Create a short report of their observations and recommendations. Take photos if required but not only of the birds but also their habitat and the 'problems'. All satisfactorily completed projects should get a prize. But this is not just about prizes. The reports would come in more handy to take real steps in terms of conservation of the birds and their habitats.

How much time does a plastic bag take to decompose?

2011-11-28T07:49:00.001-08:00

We often use the word bio-degradable these days. But what does degradation mean in terms of time? So recently I found this list of items and the amount of time they take to decay, decompose, degrade.

Banana Peel- 3-4 weeks
Orange peels- 6 months
Apple Core- 2 months
Paper Bag- 1 month
Cardboard- 2 months
Newspaper- 6 weeks
Paper Towel- 2-4 weeks
Cotton Glove- 3 months
Tinned Steel Can- 50 years
Aluminum Can- 200-500 years
Disposable Diapers- 550 years
Plastic Bags- 20-1000 years
Glass- 1-2 million years
Leather shoes- 25-40 years
Rubber-Boot Sole- 50-80 years
Plastic containers- 50-80 years
Foamed Plastic Cups- 50 years
Wool Sock- 1-5 years
Plywood- 1-3 years
Plastic Bottles- 450 years

Signature campaign to save Pune's hills

2011-11-15T22:01:00.001-08:00

The schedule for signature campaign till 18th Nov.
Pl do inform all and be present in large numbers to save our hills.

16th Nov - Morning 7am - Model Colony - Chitranjan Vatika

16th Nov - Evening 5pm - FC Road - Opp Vaishali

17th Nov - Morning 7am - Prabhat Road - KNP

17th Nov - Evening 5pm - Taljai - Taljai Hill top

18th Nov - Morning 7am - Vetal Tekdi - ARAI

18th Nov - Evening 5pm - Aundh - Ozone Mall

Green Pune Movement: The hills of Pune need your help

2011-11-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

"Why no construction should be allowed on the hills?

Construction on hills means cutting into the hill for building foundations. This sets off a chain reaction developing cracks in the rock strata. This leads to a weakening of the hills because the microscopic cracks allow water and air to penetrate. The heating and cooling of water and air leads to widening of cracks and speeds up decay of rock converting it into soil. Since there are no trees or grasses the soil starts getting washed off leading to mudslides and landslides. This causes destruction of environment as well as property standing on this land. It can also cause death of innocent people as it did in the case of Chatushrungi landslide the year before last. We are now in seismic zone three. This means that we can expect an earthquake anytime. The weakening of hills will lead to major disaster in case of earthquake.

Also as per the norms, for a good breathing conditions, there has to have atleast 12 sq. m. area of forested land per person. Considering that population of Pune is approximately 4 million, we need to have atleast 4800 hectors of green area. Even after accounting the regular parks, private parks and nala garden or riversides, we still have deficit of about 1600-1800 hectors. This type of land is available only on hills today. Hence hills must be kept as green zone and not construction zone. It is fundamental right of citizens of Pune. " - Quote from Green Pune Movement Member

Celebrating nature

2011-10-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

Natural beauty can be found in many nooks and corners of this city. Here are some shots:

National Bio-diversity Conference in Pune

2011-10-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

MES Garware College in Pune is organizing a National Bio-diversity Conference between 9th-11th February, 2012. Sounds interesting.
Here is the link: Bio-diversity Conference

Parakeets

2011-09-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Observing wildlife the ethical way

2011-07-30T22:05:00.000-07:00

Came across this timely and very relevant email from Prof. Ulhas Rane, moderator of an e-group, Maharashtrapakshimitra. Have reproduced an edited version of it below.

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'Wildlife' has become a big business, and any business is likely to become exploitative if unchecked.

Unfortunately the so-called 'nature lovers' do not realize that they destroy the 'item' which fetches them money, name, and fame. It is more unfortunate that it is being rampantly done under the garb of Nature Awareness and Study Programs.

The disease of unethical bird-watching and photography that has emerged over the last 15-20 years, has grown to an enormous scale, perhaps due to the advent of technology and easy availability of equipment - whether digital camera, powerful flashes, voice recorder or mobile phone. The market potential for such 'rare' items has also increased due to mushrooming of glossy magazines, books, newspapers and even TV media. This is affecting our wildlife adversely and would further destroy our already endangered rare species of wildlife, particularly birds.

There are simple 'dos and don'ts' everyone need to follow, to not only enjoy nature experiences themselves but also to leave them undisturbed for the others to enjoy. Most of us are aware of such norms. However now we need to add more such guidelines and rules because of the advent of new technology and new tricks.

Going in large groups in the wild areas, disturbing natural ecosystems with over-active movements (sometimes called 'enthusiasm'!), making a loud noise, throwing litter (now plastic water bottles), getting drunk and out of control (including throwing empty bottles particularly in the streams), shouting and screaming with excitement on seeing something new, collecting rare plants, flowers, insects, are some of the common behaviors displayed by many 'nature lovers'.

The next stage has more serious consequences: climbing trees and inspecting nests, collecting nests and eggs, trying to go very close to wildlife to have a 'good' look, encircling resting wildlife for tourists to get a closer look, getting down from the vehicle or elephant in the national parks (where one is not allowed to walk) to get a good picture of a rare butterfly or even to collect the same (this happens mostly by bribing forest guards, drivers or mahouts).

This continues at times to the advanced stage of trading wildlife as collection items and mementoes.

Then there are the callous and unethical wildlife photographers.

Nests are photographed by carrying out 'gardening' (removing leaves, weeds, grass etc. around the nest) to get a ‘wow’ photo. In the process, these nests - bereft of camouflage - are left prone to predator attacks. Many a times the birds are compelled to abandon them.

The chicks are tortured or lured to open their beaks, give good poses etc. Powerful flashes are used to get 'bright & beautiful' pictures without considering that the creatures may get blinded.

And finally, to have the exclusivity of one's rare picture, there are those who destroy the nest or animal so that no one else can get the same opportunity. Many lure local tribals with money to show them nests or to attract or trap birds and animals using their traditional methods.

This becomes another business for tribals and is cleverly termed as employment generation!

A relatively recent emergence is the use of tape recorders and audio players. This comes with some amount of advancement of one's nature study endeavors.

Many birds respond to the calls of their own species. These devices are used to track the birds, particularly rare, elusive and crepuscular or nocturnal birds. The recorded calls are played in the wild. Those rare birds are fooled into coming near to the photographers so that they can have a 'good' look, take close-up pictures and then laugh at how the foolish bird was cheated. Many a times, cell phones are used to play this trick.

This is being done in the remote forests (particularly Northeast India) not just by photographers but mainly by so called 'wildlife tour organizers'. They guarantee you the sighting of a rare bird or animal so that you pay hefty amounts for such tours.

Many a time wild-lifers with initial good intent move on to using these tricks due to over-enthusiasm, money, competition or jealously. When cautioned, they become defensive.

All of this needs to be stopped if we wish to have these flora and fauna left in our midst. And the main responsibility of prevention lies with nature tourism groups who take people to these wild areas.

We need to inculcate simple ethics in upcoming nature lovers by teaching them how to experience and enjoy the natural ecosystem.

Calls, pugmarks, scratch marks, smells etc. are the evidence of the existence of wildlife in the ecosystem and one should enjoy the excitement of being a 'nature detective'. This would give satisfaction even though the tourist may not have 'seen' a single creature. Sighting a wild animal is of course fun, and may eventually happen with repeated forays into the wilderness that do not disturb the natural environment. Only such ‘ethical’ love for nature can truly help nature conservation.

We should enjoy nature by following simple ethics of doing what is good for wildlife!
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Prof. Ulhas Rane is Director: www.envirodesigners.com and may be contacted at ulhas AT envirodesigners DOT com

Peacocks - need I say mor?

2011-03-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Peacocks - found on the few threatened hilly havens in Pune city.
Threatened by packs of street dogs, poachers, encroaching hutments, constructions, so called development.

The retiring gardener

2011-03-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Tabebuiea

Recently while wandering thru' Univ, a beautiful bright yellow blossoming tree caught my eye. As I aimed the camera to click, I heard a voice from behind, "Try from here.. this is a better angle". I turned to look. A face that spoke of hours spent outdoors. "This is Tabebuiea... On enquiring about a few other species, his face lit up as he indicated other plants. "I have been here for 40 years now." This was Kisan Sandhere, the current head gardener there, on the verge of retirement. After noting my interest in plants, he launched into a story about gardening, landscaping, and his work in general. "I have cured many plants of diseases. I just ask the tree what has happened to it, and it tells me." This was certainly a man who the plants trusted!

After chatting for a while I told him that I had to leave. "Do come for my retirement function, on xx date. It will happen right there" he said, indicating a patch of well tended lawn. My best wishes to Mr.Sandhere and may the garden in his life continue to bloom.

A hunter in the city

2011-02-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

The Shikra is a small sized raptor, commonly found in urban settings. I caught this one in a park. There were two, chasing each other. Finally only one remained visible. It moved from tree to tree for a while before settling on a high eucalyptus. Its flight was quite a surprise - dive and rise, dive and rise..

This bird has at one time inspired me to write a poem: Arjun

Squirrel time

2011-02-11T06:02:00.000-08:00

There are so many of them around - inquisitive, curious, the pointed nose quivering.. You can spend hours observing them. Here are some of the photos:

Sorry, am in a hurry..

Who goes there?

What's that, there?


I am the monarch of all I survey

Mmm.. delicious..wanna bite?

Mogra or Jasmine

2010-06-06T00:44:00.000-07:00

Come summer and the lanes around the peths of Pune often hear the cry of 'mogra ala mogra!' The voice usually belongs to a man with a pushcart filled to the brim with white fragrant jasmine flowers for sale.

Ladies love this flower for making garlands or 'gajra' which they wind around their plaited hair.

The specimen here is slightly different with longer petals than those normally on the flowers that are sold. It is a variety of climber mogra.

It is one of life's little pleasures to enjoy a cup of tea in the morning with the sweet smelling mogra plant in bloom.

A windfall of seeds

2010-06-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

Pre-monsoon showers are glorious stuff...cool drizzle, cloudy skies, occasional gusts of wind that bend trees in all directions. The outcome is a quantity of seed pods, leaves, and flowers fallen on the ground.

Here are some of the pods I picked up on such a recent occasion. Such diversity in shape, size and weight. Each one must have a separate dispersal strategy based on its unique features. The longest seed pod (dark and rod shaped) is of cassia or laburnum and measured more than 1.5 feet. The smallest one is of tamarind and is barely 1 inch across. Then there are the flat papery seeds from monkey biscuit tree. The two beanlike seeds are from Pongamia (karanj).

Observations at a water filled pot

2010-04-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Summer in the city can be hard on birds. These are photos of birds that visited pot of water in the garden in the last few weeks.
They usually came after 11 am till 5 pm. There was even a garden lizard. The common and Bank Mynas later realized that they could rest on the cooling pot for an entire afternoon, driving other smaller birds away.

Birding at Pune University

2010-02-04T02:37:00.001-08:00

There was a pleasant nip in the air as I entered the univ gates one late January morning, with hopes of seeing the last few winter migrants.

Accompanied by a friend we strolled along the left road fork. We stopped at the physics dept. building. There was a lot of small bird activity visible. A redstart female sat on a fence, her tail shivering in the typical style of these birds. Several red-throated flycatchers hopped along the branches of an old tree. I did manage to catch a male, its red throat prominently visible.
A metallic ‘ttrr ttrr’ made me whirl around. There was this cheeky fellow in blue with white belly, and orange spreading down from the throat. It was a Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher. This one was coolly perched on the handlebars of a bicycle!

We continued our walk and soon reached what looks like a quarry, with a derelict stone building at its centre. In the rains, water collects in this place, which makes an excellent habitat for birds such as the white throated kingfisher, white breasted water hen, pond herons and such.
Suddenly a flock of birds landed on trees nearby, with cries of ‘tui tui’. These were the plum headed parakeets. The male has a beautiful plum red head; the female is somewhat duller.

Up on a tree two coppersmith barbets had landed. One picked something into its beak from a clump of leaves, and fed it to the other barbet, which appeared to be a juvenile.

From this point we kept walking along the left fork that leads to the football ground. Before the ground, there is a scrub patch on the left, with acacia, glyricidia trees, and dry grass. As we moved into this, a flock of small birds camouflaged till now, hurriedly flew up and to the trees. Sparrows!
We were soon rewarded with sightings of a Long Tailed Shrike, Little Brown Dove, Greater Coucal, Common Babblers, Black Drongos, and Hoopoes (one sat on a tree and preened itself!). Purple Sunbirds- male, female and eclipsed male – were visible, buzzing around a dry tree with seed pods.

Our few spare hours were over, and did not allow us to explore other areas, especially the clump of banyan trees that usually host Grey Hornbills.

Link to some more photos: click here

A Quail in my garden!

2008-10-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

This quail suddenly appeared in front of my camera lens as I tried to focus on a pair of butterflies. Have been somewhat lazy about identifying it. It stayed on for quite a while foraging for food. It disappeared as mysteriously as it came!

White Breasted Water Hen at Sarasbaug, Pune

2008-09-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

This white breasted water hen was daintily picking its way along the lily leaves at Sarasbaug.

Mongoose at BMCC

2008-09-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

It is considered lucky if you sight a mongoose pair. I think we are lucky even if we manage to spot one of these beautiful, sleek creatures, always alert and active.

The Myna story - raising a family

2008-09-03T01:27:00.000-07:00

To continue with my story of the Myna and Parakeets..

The Parakeets released their hold on the nesting hole.
The Mynas seem to have used it fruitfully. As time passed by I could hear 'cheep' 'cheep' emerge from the hole. A harried parent bird would bring food to keep the chicks quiet. One afternoon, I saw what looked like a beak emerging from the hole. Soon a day arrived when the chicks flew away.

A happy ending for this family!

Flowers - BMCC, Pune

2008-08-24T04:03:00.000-07:00

This is from a gorgeous Kanchan tree at Agharkar institute near Symbiosis Circle.

Below snaps from BMCC college.

Psittacula Krameri in action

2008-08-17T02:59:00.000-07:00

Parakeets are my all time favorite. One can sit for hours together, captivated by their gorgeous colors and movements. Parakeets display their gregarious nature when in groups - aligning with some, gossiping, grumbling, sulking, and squabbling!
Finicky eaters, it’s a delight to watch this bird daintily nibble at a guava, crack open a seed pod, or walk along a slender branch.

Magpie Robins

2008-08-17T02:41:00.000-07:00

The magpie robin is another common resident of Pune city. Its black plumage with a flash of white is as absorbing as its mellifluous song, usually sung from a high vantage point. The female can be differentiated by the duller black color at the throat. The female in this photo has rust colored under-feathers. Breeding plumage? Perhaps.

This bird is adept is adept at mimicry of other birdcalls and sounds.
Its contact call is probably the low ‘seeek’ sound it makes.

parakeets and mynas

2008-08-03T09:34:00.001-07:00

Every year around June - July, a drama unfolds near my home.

The characters in this drama:

Common Myna – somewhat smaller in size than the parakeet. Equally raucous and a chatterbox.

Rose Ringed Parakeet – A noisy raucous bird often found in cities of India. Lives in gregarious flocks. Loves the eating fruits of sonchafa (michelia champaka) tree.

The coveted nesting place – a small pipe hole in a building wall. A piece of prime property in the avian kingdom!

Every year without fail the mynas use this hole for nesting. Every year around June, I see atleast one Myna chick - unsure of itself, trying to take its first wing flaps. The adult Mynas anxiously sit nearby, alternately trying to coax it and push it to fly.

Around the same time, the parakeets arrive. They are fond of the fleshy champaka (sonchafa) fruits which are a beautiful red from inside. The parakeets have also spotted this hole as suitable for nesting.

For a few days there is a fight between the mynas and the parakeets over the pipe hole. The parakeets eventually manage to drive away the mynas and take control of the nesting place.

Reminds me of a certain old Hindi film song :-)

- Alaka