Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The Story of the Most Common Bird in the World
I actually don't mind the crows, I find the pigeons very annoying, and I love the mynahs - three most common birds here in Madras.
Why do we love what is rare and despise what is all around us?
- By Rob Dunn
- Smithsonian.com, March 02, 2012, Subscribe
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Murungai on my mind
(I know the excitement is a bit dated, but I was always a bit backward.)
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Kavitha Mandana provides first hand evidence.
KAMBLI poochis are a clever lot! | |
Insects seem to know more about the fabulous treasures that nature holds. Discover the drumstick tree, says Kavitha Mandana | |
I don’t know if you have ever had close encounters with those, hairy, horrible, creepy caterpillars that we knew as ‘kambli-poochis’ when we were young? During a particular season they would swarm all over my grandmother’s garden in Mysore. And their particular haunt was the drumstick or moringa tree. One day the drumstick tree would look normal, and the next day, its bark would be wrapped in a ‘kambli’ or blanket as thousands of these caterpillars set up home there. I could never eat my grandma’s drumstick sambhar because I always felt it had kambli-poochi fur in it! But I now realise that those creatures were a clever lot. Yes, hidden behind all those bristles is a decent brain. Because they picked the tree with the highest nutritional and medicinal value in the whole garden! How come they know about it and we don’t? |
All these days, I’ve been eating bananas for brain-food. But if moringa has more potassium than banana, I’m going to switch. I can’t bear to think that those moringa eating kambli-poochis might be brainier than me!
Pradip Krishen on New Delhi's trees
By Krishna Pokharel
Friday, March 2, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Termite pakodas
Before I met Rom, everyone I knew thought termites were pests. When the rains first arrive, clouds of these winged creatures begin to swarm. They buzz around lights and eventually commit suicide in our beverages and dinners. The rest of the year, diligent workers find devious ways of attacking wood furniture. Friends who cry “Herbal mozzie repellent only please” nuke termites with awful chemicals without a second thought.
When Rom and I moved to our farm, I realised that a termite swarm is a major natural-history event. Termites are a rich source of protein that every creature regards as a feast. As the insects soared on their conjugal flights, watchful drongos made acrobatic sorties snapping them up.
Once termites find mates, they lose their wings and burrow underground to nest. Lacking superior aerial skills, shikras perched ungainly on the ground, pecking at these wingless ones. The birds’ prime prey, garden lizards also engorged themselves. They scurried noisily through the dry leaf litter aware that for the moment, their nemesis preferred the fat succulent bodies of these insects to their own scaly, tough ones. Nearby, a flock of white-capped babblers competed with magpie-robins and bulbuls in chasing termites through the grass.
Toads sat like statues, only their tongues flicking in and out mechanically. These were especially greedy little buggers, stuffing themselves more and more when they couldn’t even waddle out of the way. Scorpions rammed so many insects down their throats that the wings stuck out of their mouths, looking like feathered chimeras.
Perhaps this was the only occasion when nocturnal and diurnal creatures, predators and prey dined together. We once found a monitor lizard lying draped over a termite mound, sated, incapable of movement. Even palm squirrels, which I thought were vegetarians, joined in. The normally alert mongooses were so focused on stuffing themselves that they didn’t notice our presence.
Our two young emus were nowhere near as proficient as the others in finding termites. With their large round eyes affixed on an insect in flight, they chased it round and round in comical circles, only occasionally snatching one from midair. Later when the sun rose higher in the sky and the swarming died out, life returned to normal.
The arrival of rains is the cue for the insects to take off on their nuptial flights. But the Irula tribals are wizards in exploiting this resource even without a shower. Many years ago, on a moonless night, I watched them tie a sari around a mound to simulate the stillness before rain. A tin can was buried in the ground. An oil lamp, the only source of light, was balanced on cross-sticks on top of the can. They blew the powder of a local seed called ‘eessal kottai’ (‘termite nut’), which smelt of rain, over the mound. They chanted with a lot of sibilance, like the whispering wings of termites.
Initially nothing happened and I thought this was all hocus-pocus. Then the termites started emerging. They were unable to fly; perhaps their wings were not fully formed yet. They headed for the light and fell into the can. Soon, hundreds of thousands of them came pouring out like a black river. The Irula emptied the can into a gunny sack every few minutes and within an hour, the sack was half full.
Back at the Irula hamlet, we gathered around the fire as they roasted the insects on an iron griddle with rice, turmeric and chilli powders and salt. The fat from the termites sizzled and made the rice grains pop. When I gingerly sampled a roasted termite, I could barely taste it.
I followed the Irula example and shoved a whole handful into my mouth. And then another. Was it insects I was eating? They tasted of fried nuts with a buttery texture but the flavor was unique. Like those toads, I couldn’t stop stuffing myself. With a knowing grin, one of the Irula asked me how the midnight snack tasted.
I answered in Tamil, “Super.”
Printable version | Feb 18, 2012 1:05:11 PM | http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article2903369.ece
© The Hindu
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Pongal at Point Calimere - an All-In-One!
The 2012 Pongal weekend was unusual for me, as we drove down the TN coast, and explored the Point Calimere area, along with other members of the Madras Naturalist Society. There was so much to learn, so much to see that there are several posts devoted to the visit.
Uttara's report on the nocturnal wanderings is a fitting finale to a wonderful weekend shared with friends and family!
Pongal at Point Calimere - Nocturnal wanderings
Night One
Reminiscences of Madras
Andaman visit 2024 - summary post
Andaman Diary - Day 1 - Cellular Jail views Andaman Diary Day 1 - Burmanallah beach and beyond Andamans Day 2 - Kalatang - birds and butterf...
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On our recent visit to the Sundarbans, we saw several of these large crocodiles basking in the sun, including some baby ones. I marvelled a...
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This here is a garden lizard, aka onaan aka "bloodsucker"! Probably called bloodsucker, as its throat turns a bloody red d...