Carnelian Day One - Ahmedabad and Sarkhej Roza

21st February 2025

It had been a stressful week - with my dear ma in law in hospital and project reports needing to go.  There was very much a "can we make it" question before the trip.  Thankfully, my ma in law stabilised, and Kamini was there to steady the ship, and so we did finally pack our bags, and I did finally finish the report presentation on the 20th, and we did fly out to Ahmedabad on the 21st afternoon!

Sheila, Sekar and me had signed me up for the Indus Valley Trails trip organised by Carnelian , with the star attraction (for me) being the Indus Valley Sites of Lothal and Dholavira.  I did no pre-reading, no looking at map - I have from my childhood wanted to visit Mohenjo daro and Harappa - with the mystery seals and the dancing girl from my history text book in mind - so this was not to be passed up.

There was an unintended hilarious start, a pressure release almost, to our trip. Sheila found herself in the row behind us and as we boarded we decided that we would ask the person in our row, if we could swap.  We boarded, and she found that she was seated with the two splendid monks we had seen earlier at the gate.  (The said two monks got priority boarding if you please)  She kept standing and I wondered why. I kept telling her sit we will swap when the person next to me comes. Turns out the monks at the back wouldn’t sit next to a lady! 

The men around were most understanding and nodded wisely. And of course the man next to me dutifully obliged and went and sat next to the monks.  We burst into hysterical giggles and  raised many questions  amongst ourselves.  We continued to giggle over biriyani and chatted all the way to Ahmedabad, as Sekar focussed on the scenery out of the window.  (He is used to this.)

I had a good laugh at this as we waited for our bags.  

It was past 4 by the time we checked-in at the Hyatt on Ashram Road, crossing the Sabarmati river on our way.  We were expected down by 5 for meeting the rest of the group and going off on a short excursion in Ahmedabad.

Introductions done, we set off for Sarkhej Roza. 

Where we were headed.  It was around 630 in the evening by the time we reached and the sun was well on its way to the other side.

Quite a large sprawling space, with many parts to it.  

The street stalls outside were busy, kids ran here and there, and there was a general holiday relaxed feel - it was Republic Day after all.

The setting sun framed the various buildings that were part of the complex.

As we walked through the arches, we saw this huge tree filled with Kites!  Kites were everywhere!

"Sarkhej" is the name of the village which existed here in the 15th century, and it was an area of weavers and indigo dyers.  The Sufi saint, Shaikh Ahmad Khattu Ganj Baksh, retired to this village in his later years. Legend goes that saint Ganj Baksh is the one who asked Ahmed Shah of the Gujarat Sultanate to set up his capital at Ahmedabad, and so in a way is an important persona in the history of the city.  

The story goes that a hare was found chasing a dog, on the banks of the Sabarmati, and this unusual role reversal made the place special and "chosen".  At this point in time, Ahmed Shah was 19 years old, the new "Sultan", after having poisoned off his grandfather, who had done the same thing to his father! He was on the look out for a new capital - Patan was the existing one ( we were headed there!)

The young king continued to keep the saint as a close adviser, guide and friend and the title "Ganj Baksh" means bestower of wealth.  I always thought of Sufi saints as somehow outside the system, mavericks, but it seems that in their day they also wielded much power and influence.

The Dargah

Ganj Baksh lived a long life - some 114 years - and when he died in 1446, Ahmed Shah built this dargah for him here.  

It is supposedly one of the largest such dargahs in Gujarat, and each side is a 105 ft long.  

The sandstone lattice-work is very Indo-saracenic, and it felt like each panel was unique.

Admiring it from afar, one can see the massive central dome, surrounded by 13 domes on each side

There is a Trust these days managing the upkeep and they have a nice website about the monuments - https://www.sarkhejroza.org/index.html, with some nice pictures as well.

I went in to the dargah, and besides the saint in the central square, there are many others buried there too it seems.

Masjid

To the left of the dargah was this Masjid.  In a nice coincidence, as I walked in, the call for evening prayer went out, and it resonated and echoed off the pillars, domes and walls as I stood there, and it was quite a surreal experience, with the sky aglow in the far corner.  A few men hurried across the quadrangle to prayer.  Stepping in here from the merry din and play of the outer compound, there was a sudden silence and stillness that I soaked in.

Silence is a luxury in modern India, for sure.

The corridor on the left overlooks this HUGE artificial lake and pleasure pavilions built by later rulers - as the complex became a favourite hang-out for the rich and famous of those days.  

If you click on the picture, you will get a full view of the lake bed, with the decorated balconies overlooking the waters.  

All the various pavilions and palaces that surround the perimeter - all rather dilapidated from the looks of it.  Especially in the fading dull light, the buildings looked pretty desolate.  

Sultan Mahmud Begada  also shows up here - now this name intrigued and caught my attention - I quite like Begada ragam.  (This Sultan also got mentioned in other historical incidents across our trip, but this was the first time I heard his name.)
 

He was Sultan Mahmud Shah - and Begada seems to be a title - because he captured two forts - Pavagadh and Junagadh.  (There is a second explanation which is more fun on his Wiki page - "From his mustachios being large and twisted like a bullock's horn, such a bullock being called Begado". 

Anyways, Begada was around and deepened the lake, made gardens, built palaces, and then also decided to build his own tomb here!

The board outside said - “This tomb has built by Sultan Mahmud Shah in his life time. It is flanked by a wide terrace overlocking the great tank.  The central chamber is reached through two enclosures, each separated by a beautiful stone trellis work with a balcony window projecting on the lake side.  The central chamber of twelve pillars, is crowned by a single dome and contains the graves of Sultan Mahmud Shah (died in 1511 a.d.),his son Sultan Muzaffar Shah II (died in 1526 a.d.), great grand-son Sultan Mahmud Shah III (died in 1553 a.d.) the tomb is elegant both in form and detail it is a beautiful specimen of sepulchural art of Western India"

I thus learnt not only about the power of the Sufi saint Ganj Baksh, and the links of Sarkhej Roza all through the years of the Gujarat Sultanate, from the times of Ahmed Shah to Mahmud Shah aka Begada.  The Sultanate reached its height under said Begada!  

For a monument with what I think a strong link to the city's founding and fifteenth century history, it seems quite neglected, buildings in disrepair.  A pity.

That was more than my share of kings and saints for the evening, and we headed out for dinner, to a nice and interesting "ethnic village" called Vishaala for dinner.

They had floor seating plus lounging charpoys, and I have to say it was the best Gujarati khaana of the entire trip - the menu was amazingly extensive, the taste was great and everything felt fresh.  I know the leaf is bare - but imagine every inch got filled.  
I loved how the roots came with little pots of yummy white butter and gur, there was oondhiyo, sabzis, khadi (which was not like payasam), oh the jilebis and the laddu, khichdi...and some crazy number of salad things which I did not even bother with.  

I ate slowly and deliberately, mindfully enjoying every morsel.  We sat on tables - not like these cricketing VIPs who sat on the ground!  

Hand washing was with hot water, personally poured out....it was all very touristy indeed, but also enjoyably so.  I was a tourist after all.

Oh and then there was ice cream and some spicy dates if you please.  Pleasantly sated and content at the end of this - I wondered to myself, how our group could continue to chatter on such a full stomach!

Another highlight was this largest drumstick tree in the garden that I have ever seen.   

Oh one last thing - 

Please let me know what you make of these giant pigeons of Ahmedabad.

eBird -- India international centre -- 26 Jan 2025

Delhi 26th Jan

Starting the day with hornbills and lapwings is nice! We enjoyed the bracing cool morning.

  India international centre 

26 Jan 2025 
5:48 PM 
Incidental 
All birds reported? No 
Comments: Morning was sunny and bright. 
Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 3.1.3 Build 3.1.33 

9 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 
2 Red-wattled Lapwing 
7 Black Kite 
3 Indian Grey Hornbill 
4 Alexandrine Parakeet 
9 Rose-ringed Parakeet 
3 House Crow 
7 Large-billed Crow (Indian Jungle) 
7 Common Myna 

Number of Taxa: 9 

Day zero travel to Delhi

Jan 25th 

And so we are off. Project report draft done, tooth cap reglued (yes, it popped out yesterday!), woollens packed, grand sweets taken for our travelling companions and still our suitcases under the max weight.

I continue to grieve about the Olive Ridleys that are dying by the dozens every day on our beaches, and seeing Pulicat from above made me think of them again. 

Fitful snoozing, reading an amusing (not intentionally so but still) essay on the Kumbh tamasha and a sudoku and paneer sandwich later, we are descending into Delhi, capital of our Republic, on the eve of Republic Day. 

A trip to Bharatpur and Ranthambhore has begun! And these Raj watercolours on the walls of India International Centre were very appropriate.

 

A Peregrine and Woodpeckers - a nice start for my birding year

 Jan 1st

Ebird list with Vismaya, the peregrine.

E-bird list with the Flamebacks

I have not been birding much this last fortnight of December, so it was nice to have these chance encounters.  

Vismaya had not given me darshan, being driven away by the on-off rain of the last month.  Jan 1st and I caught sight of her, in her usual perch, preening and dozing intermittently.  

I was fascinated by how it felt like she was staring at us.  Did she sense the movements in the balcony across?  Maybe assessing if we could be lunch?  

In the evening, I was hearing the loud ki-ki-ki call of a Flameback intermittently, and went to the terrace to investigate. And Sekar's eyes picked up not one but two of them!

The Black-rumped Flameback pair - how they clung to the wall, and pried and poked between the bricks.

Every hole was investigated, and then they both flew off with a kikiki call.

A new camera and lens, that gave us some anxious moments gave us some lovely pictures too.

Bangalore diaries - Kaikondrahalli lake visits

I visited 2023 November, so it has been close to a year.

26th October 2024

8-10am

To my delight, I discovered a skywalk across the Sarjapura main road, which meant I could not only get to, but could also return from Kaikondrahalli lake easily when the traffic would be bad.

 Photos and observations are at iNaturalist.  

E-bird list here.

The entry area is a complete turn-off.  There is muck in the water, it smells of sewage and quite sensibly the water birds do not linger here.  It is the western side and the north that have some bird activity.

The flocks of Little Grebe were not there this time.  And the Harrier was missing.  

But I saw Cinereous Tits, busy and vocal!  they were foraging in the scrub.  I spotted a moving flash of white on grey on the mud face to the west of the lake, and decided to check with my binoculars.  I did not know they were common in Bangalore, and I was happy to watch them for a while - there were a pair of them, and they had a regular gossip session going, chirping and wheezing to each other as they hopped and flitted around in the undergrowth.

The Kites and Cormorants were a plenty, as also the Swamphens. Dusky Crag Martins dived and glided over the water's surface.  The piercing call of the white-browed wagtail drew my attention to the stone bunds, where it was moving around.

Walking back home on the skywalk - it was 10 am but the weekend traffic was so light!

30th October '24

I went anti-clockwise around the lake today, and started with the wood spider, which caught me in its  fascinating web, metaphorically, and delayed my progress.  Try as I might, I could not get my camera to focus on it!

Ebird list for 30th.

iNaturalist Observations for 30th

A Spotted Dove called from the Tabebuia tree and sunbirds flitted around so fast that I could just catch glimpses of them.  Sunbirds are so busy, and so vocal, for some reason they fill you with a good feeling, a sense of joy.

These little drops of sunshine dotted the undergrowth, and I came to know they are called Hairy Beggarticks!!  What a strange name!

The stones were covered with fresh moss, renewed by the overnight rains.

The Tits were there, and I saw the shy white-cheeked barbet high up in the canopy, pulling fruits from the Kusum trees that lie the northern end of the lake.

On the stone bund in the lake were some very glum looking lapwings, and one energetic sandpiper!

The path is lined with these Millingtonias, dripping their jewels.  

2nd Nov '24 ebird checklist

iNaturalist uploads here.

My last visit this trip to Kaikondrahalli.  And I saw a familiar friend - a lone painted stork, surrounded by Spot-billed ducks and Coots.

The stillness and quiet made me stand and stare, and daydream for a bit.  I watched a kingfisher flash past.  I heard the Dove coo above me.  A jogger went by.  It was like an amplification of quietness.

This black kite also seemed to be enjoying a morning moment of quiet, sitting still and observing me observing it.

And then the magic was broken by a bunch of barking dogs who then went and parked themselves on the bund.  I hoped they were not hunting eggs or fledglings.

I did a U turn, retracing steps quite happy to go back to the quieter part of the lake rather than the road-facing part.  And I am glad I did.

There was a photographer sitting on the fence, and he greeted me with a smile and said in low tones - "chestnut headed starlings".

I looked up to see a bunch of them, in a mixed flock, with drongos as well.

This is what I captured.  A drongo and a chestnut tailed starling sitting on a Eucalyptus tree.

And this is what he captured!

We both watched a pair of common kingfishers with their sharp calls, as they ducked from one dead branch to another. A Coucal sat in the open - forced to emerge from the shadows to dry its wet feathers in the sun.

It was a goodbye to the lake and its denizens, until next time.  

There are half-finished drain connections, iron bars sticking out dangerously, pigs snorting in the dirt and garbage, groups of stray dogs, and plastics in the water.  It is a wonder that despite this horror, the birds are there.  Maybe by the time I visit next, things may be better?  Maybe that's why the winter ducks are giving the lake a miss?

Patch birding in the neighbourhood

eBird Checklist - 20 Oct 2024 - 18 species

October 20th, Sunday 730 am

Patch birding on an empty plot that has water puddles and scrub overgrowth. Overnight rains. Now sunny.  This is an empty shrub-filled plot, off the main beach road at Thiruvanmyur.

3 Red-wattled Lapwing
1 Eurasian Hoopoe
1 Common Kingfisher (Small Blue Kingfisher) - what a nice surprise.  Sat on the wall next to the G Square developed plot.
1 White-throated Kingfisher
4 Blue-tailed Bee-eater
1 Coppersmith Barbet
2 Rose-ringed Parakeet
2 Black Drongo
1 Brown Shrike (Brown) - just shows the difference between incidental birding and binocular birding.  I saw this because I had a pair of binoculars with me.
7 House Crow
2 Large-billed Crow (Indian Jungle)
4 Common Tailorbird
1 Ashy Prinia
4 Barn Swallow
1 White-browed Bulbul
4 Common Myna
5 Purple-rumped Sunbird
1 White-browed Wagtail (Large Pied Wagtail) - Now I was delighted to see a pair of them later on the beach, foraging around the temporary lake/river that has been created from the stormwater drains that are emerging on the beach.  They hopped and flew all around the periphery, chittering to each other as they went.  

Number of Taxa: 18

The wildfowers in the thickets are here.  I also saw some dead marine creatures, which was not nice at all.

The patch where I saw all these birds.

I went on to the beach and the Valmiki Nagar thickets.

I love wandering in these thickets, you never know what you will find.  Today was a butterfly day.

The cricket match had driven the birds away, I guess.

My Valmiki Nagar thicket ebird list here.  Blue-tailed bee eaters were doing their aerial dives and a lone black Kite flew over the water's edge.

The sea looked lovely, and the clouds gave me a bit of shade every now and then.  

The waves fizzed back and forth, but the sand had these green algal residues, perhaps the phytoplanktons causing the bioluminescence these last few nights?

Mumbai Diaries - a chance encounter with composting worms via an art exhibition

4th October 2024

Nine Fish Art Gallery, Mumbai

We happened to walk into this gallery as a rendezvous point to meet Sekar's cousin Viji more than anything else.  Sometimes I am moved by art and sometimes astounded, and of course quite often indifferent as well.  The evening brought all 3 emotions.

There were two exhibitions - one by a set of nine woman artists under the theme of Symbols of Care and Nurturing, and another called Factory 5.0 by architect Aditya Mandlik.  

I was moved by the insect-centred art of Nisha Dhinwa, Shalini Dutt's warm tapestry art, and the drama of Shayonti Salvi's ceramics.  They had a connection to the natural world that worked for me.  I did not personally connect with the other artists in this collection

And then we moved into another space, all dark and spotlit.  And this is what the write-up at the entrance said:

"FACTORY 5.0

This Pavilion envisions a future where design transcends human-centered thinking, fostering deeper collaboration with nature. Composed of 546 digitally manufactured wooden elements, 210 Styrofoam plates, and 10,400 non-human collaborators- enclosed in transparent acrylic containers - the installation challenges contemporary urban environments. 

Styrofoam represents matter once believed impossible to decompose - plastic. Through this collaborates with nature, the Pavilion demonstrates how decomposition itself can become an act of creating architecture. 

At the heart of the exhibition is the "Factory" concept, illustrating how creation can flourish through the cooperation of human innovation and natural systems. The installation embodies co-creation, where diverse approaches converge to reshape the future of our habitats. This living structure engages visitors in a dynamic experience where their movements influence light, subsequently affecting the worms' activity, thus fostering a dialogue between nature and design, continuously reshaping itself. 

As the Pavilion undergoes a curated aging process, the plates gradually develop openings, orchestrating a dynamic interplay of light and shadow. At the conclusion of the exhibition, these plates will be frozen as 'objects of memory; capturing the essence of time and space. Factory 5.0 redefines creation as a collaborative process, inviting reflection on the post-anthropocentric future, where human and non-human collaborators begin to coexist towards a symbiotic future."

Yes - 210 Styrofoam plates encased in acrylic.
And 10,400 "superworms" - Zophobas morio larvae of (what I later discovered) the Darkling Beetle!  
Busy chomping through the styrofoam in any which way they pleased.

Here are a couple of videos from the astounding installation, with the architect Aditya Mandlik explaining to us bemused lot including cousin Viji.

So of course, I was intrigued, and also a doubting "flowergirl" and therefore I had to put google search to full use.

I came across a  2015 Stanford Study quoted in an article The Science behind Composting Styrofoam.  

Article in The Guardian from June 2022 - Foaming at the mouth: the superworms making a meal of polystyrene waste

Donna Lu

For three weeks, researchers at the University of Queensland fed superworms a polystyrene foam commonly used in building insulation.

The larvae that snacked on plastic were able to complete their life cycle, becoming pupae and then adult beetles. However, they gained less weight than superworms that were fed a bran diet, and had less healthy gut microbiomes.

Dr Chris Rinke of the University of Queensland, a co-author of the study, said within 24 hours, the superworms started “attacking the polystyrene and eating their way into it”.

“Within 48 hours … the faeces they produce turn from their usual brown – when they eat bran – to white.”

Rinke said the superworms first mechanically shredded the polystyrene foam, and microbes in their gut contained enzymes capable of breaking down polystyrene chains into styrene molecules.

The New York Times also reported on this study at the same time, and it made cynical me wonder if the Styrofoam lobby was at work at that point in time, trying to stave off the PS Foam ban that was upcoming in Australia. 

How Superworms Make Styrofoam Into a Healthy Meal

When the time came for the insects to metamorphose into beetles, those that ate bran completed the transition successfully nearly 93 percent of the time; those that had starved mustered only 10 percent. Strikingly, 66.7 percent of the polystyrene-eating larvae that were given the chance to pupate were successful. They managed to get enough energy from the notoriously indigestible substance to transform.

“Polystyrene is definitely a poor diet,” Dr. Rinke said. But “the worms can survive it — they don’t look sick or anything.”

The researchers sequenced all the DNA they could extract from the guts of the larvae. They were less interested in which specific microbes were present than in what enzymes were being made as the microbes worked to break down polystyrene. They pinpointed a handful of likely candidates — all types of enzymes known for their slicing-and-dicing abilities — that were possibly shearing polystyrene down into smaller pieces.

“The next step will be to express those enzymes in the lab and experimentally verify that they are doing what we think they are,” Dr. Rinke said.

So that's what Mr Mandlik is trying to do - get the superworms to eat the styrofoam and create spaces. 

The lab experiments are trying to isolate the enzymes and maybe solve our landfill problems in the future...but this architecture thing is a bit weird for me, ethically - keeping larvae from pupating and feeding them rubbish styrofoam does not sound like co-creation to me, more like another means of putting the non-human world to work in unhealthy conditions.  

So yes, it is a factory, with super worm slaves.  Let us not say "cooperation" and "co-creation", please.  The worms have to be kept together and their pupation hindered, for us to have our styrofoam chomped and processed.  

The Wiki page on Zophobas morio  is being spare with the truth when it says "Zophobas morio larvae fed a polystyrene diet were more active and managed to gain a slight amount of weight compared to the same type of larvae on a starvation diet" - 

Yeah right, eating plastic is better than starving.  The Chennai street cows would agree.

Mumbai Diaries - Karvi blooms and butterflies galore

October 3rd 2024

I was excited to learn that I was not too far from BNHS CEC.  

Various friends urged me to go - "it's a beautiful drive through the Aarey forests", said one. Another said, there are lovely bird trails  inside.  And then I saw that the Karvi flower was blooming there, and that sealed the deal, and I decided to go on the 3rd (and not the 2nd which was a public holiday and bound to see many a tourist.)

This was the scenic route I was looking forward to, as I hopped into the auto around 730 am.

This was the actual route taken by the speeding auto, who kept insisting that his map said this was faster.

It was around 9am by the time I got dropped off at the supposed gate, with not a soul in sight, after speeding on the expressway, standing still at innumerable traffic signals, winding our way through Film City, its various guards, potholes and vanity trucks.  The auto driver asked me if I was sure this was the place, and I confidently and cheerily told him so, and sent him off.

(It did cross my mind as to how would I make my way back from here...but at that point, just getting out of the rattling auto, away from the highway, and into bird call - it seemed like paradise.)

This was my first glimpse, as I crossed an empty school bus - whose kids must be wandering around the trails I surmised.  Sunbirds and Tailorbirds called incessantly.

A family of macaques observed me from the canopy above, sitting quite peaceably and grooming one another.  

And then, just like that both sides of the path were filled with these purple blooms!  Oh is this the Karvi flower, I thought and looked more closely, and yes it was.  Initially I must admit I was a bit underwhelmed - I mean one has to undergo some hardship and search high and low for rare one-in-8-year-blooms I thought - but here they were strewn on both sides of the path, in wild higgledy piggledy fashion!

I did warm up to them, eventually.  They reminded me of the Railway Creeper flowers, Morning Glories.  

I loved the buds more than the flowers, eventually.

Strobilanthes callosa - the Latin name - is an interesting shrub.  A favourite of all sorts of caterpillars and butterflies, I learnt, and is kind of brown and all dried up before the monsoons, turning all green and leafy after the rains, and then once in 8 years, it does this, bloom like there's no tomorrow.  

I learnt a new word - Plietesials - plants that flower occasionally and in synchrony.  Nature is quite amazing and marvellous.  Now if one didnt know this plant, it is quite imaginable that it will be discarded when looking all brown and shrivelled.  

Ruminating such thoughts, I walked on, and spied a building and heard some voices.  There were the kids from the school bus, with some harried looking teachers, and a very enthusiastic nature educator explaining the life cycle of butterflies.  A few children in the front were curious and eager, while those at he back had a "what am I here?" look to them.

I went to the "office", where the cheery guard asked me to sign in, pay the entrance fee of Rs 150 (only UPI please, no cash), and then I was free to wander on.

There is a Karvy trail and what's referred to as a Leopard Trail  - leopards have been seen in the park.  I did a bit of both.

Observations � iNaturalist - will give you the complete set of fungi, caterpillars, spiders and butterflies that I was able to capture on my phone camera.  Through my binoculars, I saw a huge number of chocolate pansies, Greater Orange Tips, Yellow Orange Tips, small white butterflies, Sailors, and many unidentified ones.

However, my bird list was small - the trees were quite silent for a lot of the time, was I too late for the morning chorus?  I was hoping for a sighting of the oriental dwarf kingfisher, but this is not the season I was told.

I could hear the Film City crews with their PA systems, shouting Action! Cut! etc etc.

It was a humid and hot and sweaty day.  I climbed up to the top of the Karvy Trail, and I could see a little stream below.  I think in a guided walk, they probably go down as well, but I did not venture.

As I headed back, I met one of the researchers coming up.  He was changing the card on the camera trap - they are tracking the leopards.  He said that he had just seen a rat snake.  I missed it.

Up in the skies above, there seemed to be two Oriental Honey Buzzards circling - they are not Black Kites for sure, but I could not find anyone to confirm the id.

Down below, the kids were complaining about mosquitoes and the heat - and the Guide was reassuring them that these mosquitoes did not carry dengue or malaria, and in fact were "tiger mosquitoes", with stripes.  I listened with amusement.  Another boy was hot and wanted water, a girl wanted to use the washroom - I was so glad I was not a teacher.  We really cannot thank our teachers enough.

It was time to return.  I did book an auto, who kept getting lost, but finally did show up, and was cheerful and apologetic for his lateness - he did not realise I was just grateful for a ride back!  I once again suggested Aarey road - but he told me - the "jungle road is karaab" and looking all jammed, and we came back also by the highways - more traffic and signals.  Oh well.

Sekar and Vish tried to reason that maybe the auto drivers knew something we/google did not, but I was not convinced. 

And so ended the BNHS CEC visit.

Mumbai Diaries - Kites and Sparrows, Cats and Dogs

eBird Checklist - 30 Sep 2024 - Raheja Vihar Circular Road - 16 species

I am in Mumbai, and quite close to Powai lake.  The area is wooded with exotics, but wooded nevertheless, and these are the birds seen in incidental birding - I did not have my binoculars with me, and I am sure I would have identified a few more warblers and possibly an oriole, if I did have one.

What I find interesting compared to Chennai bird-wise in this highly urbanised city is - 

# the strong presence of sparrows (I see them every time I come to Mumbai)

#  the very few crows (as compared to Thiruvanmyur) - I actually am not waking to crow caws, which is a pleasant change

# this neighbourhood also has less pigeons very interestingly

But the most heartwarming thing is the presence of small street dog kennels/shelters across the community...

and well-fed streeties, which seem to have been inoculated  - they have clipped ears and collars.  I am not a fan of random feeding without adoption, but this community seems to have adopted and care for the dogs.  Kudos!

Back to the birds and the trees.

Black Kites soar above all through the day.

The area is hilly, and I love the fact that there are some untended rather wild spaces, along with the buildings and the exotics.

One street has a lot of Australian Acacia in bloom, then there are Copper Pods, Gulmohars, Terminalia catappa (badams), and the ornamental palms.

But there is also the pink powderpuff tree, a few sarakonrai, mango and even a jackfruit tree!

A hillside that is wild - and I hope it stays that way.

"What would the world be, once bereft Of wet and of wildness?

Let them be left,

O let them be left, wildness and wet;

Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet."

Gerard Manley Hopkins, poet

7th October update

Ebird list of 7th October evening

Came across Dusky Crag Martins nesting under the eaves of the Scottish Union school this evening!

Now all I need is a Peregrine.  Come on Mumbai!  Chennai is up to 14 Peregrines incoming as of date.  

9th October

A drizzly evening and I strolled in the building.

So many sparrows I see in this neighbourhood.  Usually I find them difficult to photograph as they zip from one bush to the other. In the day, they chirp away, and somehow to my human ear, it's such a heart lifting kind of sound, gives me a feeling of cheer and hope.  They come and visit our flat windows, perching on the railings momentarily before flying off.  I see them in many window railings across the community.

I have located three favourite evening roosting trees - one a Jackfruit tree, one an overgrown bougainvillea bush, and the third an ornamental ficus bush!  I love to watch them 

Today, however, in the rain, they sat and chirped on this railing, taking shelter from the drizzle, and I managed this vide from under my umbrella!

And there are many cats too, but they thankfully do not attack/stalk the sparrows - they seem well fed!

The cats are not like Chennai cats - where they scoot and make themselves scarce when they see you.  Here, they sit in the middle of pavements, bold as brass, fix you with a stare, with their tail swishing, sizing you up - will this human feed me or not?  

More updates, as and when.