Of bulldozers, hospitals and cycles

I had wondered if the Corporation taking over the PWD park was good news or bad news. Sadly, our fears were not unfounded. One morning, on her usual visit Shobha was shocked and distraught to find that a bulldozer had been at work at night, and in the process of widening the road had destroyed the surrounding fence, and uprooted some of the surrounding trees.

They were about to begin levelling work inside the park, and Shobha intervened in the nick of time, putting a halt to their activity, calling up various Corporation officials and citizens of Kotturpuram. The reason for the alarm is that there are so many saplings planted in close proximity, and it it is not feasible for a bulldozer to work there, without destroying the saplings.

It is difficult to explain to a third person the amount of time, energy and care that has gone into this park, getting rare native trees, with children planting and taking care. Why, even the Mayor has planted a tree here! With Shobha's and Mr Dattatri's dogged efforts, the Asst Commissioner has promised to go about the park development in a sensitive manner! My hats off to you Shobha!

Then, there was this report a fortnight ago that had the naturalists community of the city up in arms. The Governor, in his moment of largesse, announced that he would give away four acres of the Raj Bhavan land to develop a hospital. I have no problem in a hospital being developed, but does it have to be in Raj Bhavan land, which is actually forest land? Yesterday's TOI, highlighted the issue Forest under seige

Forest under seige
Shalini Umachandran, TNN, Aug 3, 2010, 12.48am IST
CHENNAI: Wood apple trees form a canopy over the mud trail leading through the forest, the chirruping of crickets fill the air, butterflies flit to and fro, and an ashy drongo sweeps across and settles onto a branch. It's hard to believe that the busy Sardar Patel Road is just a 10-minute walk away. It's noon at Guindy National Park (GNP) and not the best time to spot creatures but there's still so much to see.

A recent announcement, however, holds the threat of disrupting this rich natural habitat, widely described as the only national park within the confines of a city. Earlier this month, Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University vice-chancellor Mayilvahanan Natarajan said the governor had given in-principle approval for allocating four acres within the Raj Bhavan campus to the university for setting up a 500-bed hospital.

"GNP is the among the last remnants of the tropical dry evergreen forest, unique to the east coast of India," says D Narasimhan, botany professor, Madras Christian College. "Very small patches of this type of forest still exist in Tamil Nadu, which is why GNP, a well-protected fragment, is ecologically important." The forest is home to over 130 species of birds, 350 species of plants, 60 kinds of butterflies, and many animals, including the endangered black buck. "The forest itself is an endangered type. Naturally, all the creatures and plants within it are endangered," he adds.

Naturalists and conservationists say a hospital on the Raj Bhavan premises, which is contiguous with GNP without even a fence separating the two, would be disas-trous for the habitat. "A hospital would mean light, noise, garbage, pollution and diseases," says wildlife filmmaker and conservationist Shekar Dattatri. "It will also draw a huge amount of groundwater which is needed for the animals."

Wildlife warden Karunapriya says GNP faces a water problem during summer and that they have plans to improve rainwater harvesting. "We only have two ponds that provide water for the whole park," she says.

Dr V Santharam, director, Institute of Bird Studies & Natural History, Rishi Valley Education Centre, says a number of ground-dwelling birds that were seen about 15 years ago have disappeared. "Even the slightest change in the forest can affect species," he says. "A hospital will bring more human presence and that will be disruptive. Surely it can be built elsewhere."

The Raj Bhavan grounds still have reserved forest status. "Technically, they should consult us before they undertake any construction," say forest department sources. "But as there is no real threat to the animals from their activities, we do not interfere."

Repeated efforts were made to get in touch with Raj Bhavan authorities but no response was forthcoming. Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University's Dr Mayilvahanan says, "The viability of the project is being worked out and the details could be finalised in the next two months."

Wildlife warden Karunapriya says blackbuck often wander into the Raj Bhavan polo ground and the population there is included in the GNP animal census. "We have a healthy population of blackbuck and spotted deer across the two areas," she says.

GNP, Raj Bhavan, most of IIT, Cancer Institute and the memorials were originally a game reserve owned by British citizen Gilbert Rodericks who died in 1817. The East India Company bought the property in 1821 as a weekend retreat for the gov-ernor. In 1947, when India became independent, Guindy Lodge, as it was known, became Raj Bhavan. In 1958, about 600 acres of the grounds was handed over to the forest department, and in 1977 it received the status of a national park, accord-ing to S Muthiah's book The Raj Bhavans of Tamil Nadu'. By then, however, the original extent of the park had shrunk as large portions of land had been parcelled out Mahatma Gandhi memorial (1954, 9.25 acres); Cancer Institute (1954, 9 acres); Rajaji memorial (1974, 2.5 acres) and Kamaraj memorial (1975, 6 acres). IIT-M and Guru Nanak Educational Society also got land. Today, the national park has shrunk to 2.7 sq km.

"Despite the limited land, the forest and its population is stable," says Kumaran Sathasivam, an avid bird watcher and editor of Blackbuck, Madras Naturalists' Society's journal. "But further fragmentation would add new pressure. Raj Bhavan extends to the doorstep of the forest. It is important to keep Raj Bhavan whole to keep the forest safe."

At the heart of these issue I guess is the manner of "development". Why is the government concentrating efforts on this kind of development, though, when what the city needs is better public transport - that all connects to each other - safety of pedestrians and cyclists? If one is pro-common man, you would think this is where their energies would be directed, but no, they want to build, build and build, without spending on or planning maintenance.

Just as I wondered about this, I came across Chennai City Connect. There are plans afoot for a cycle track in Anna Nagar, redesigning the MTC website, and much more! I am going to be keeping tabs on that site!

Manual or Auto mode?

I love taking photographs, ever since digital technology and the wonderful auto mode became popular. I do not have the patience to do what most proper photographers (including my husband) enjoy doing - setting aperture, exposure and all those myriad settings before taking a picture.

Yes, I love to point and shoot. My husband did make some weak efforts to convert me into a proper photographer, but all that ended up happening is that I've made him lazy too!! And yes, I definitely do not want to carry those large gun-like lenses, like many of my young MNS friends, like Sripad and Skandan do.

So I still do not know why I signed up for the Basic Photography workshop that Dr TP Alaganantham offered through MNS. I think some of it was to do with demystifying the whole process and understanding what the camera was actually doing when I pressed that button.

What an enjoyable weekend it was! First of all, its so uplifting to interact with people like Dr TPA, a surgeon by profession, but whose passion for photography has led to much tinkering and self discovery, and the interest to communicate to others like me.

Elbows close to the body brings greater stability...hmmm, I had not thought of that. I now am aware of specular reflection, catch light, spot metering, white balance, CCD and CMOS, depth of field, ghost shadows and the reasons for red eye! A great tip for me was the suggestion to use flash in daylight to counter the effects of backlit people - I always seem to be having this problem.

For me, the most interesting part of the weekend, were the sessions related to composition and framing. The rule of thirds and the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci spiral. My Ikebana training immediately identified with this asymmetric sense of aesthetics.

So am I likely to move out of auto-focus? Unlikely. But there may be 10 reasons to turn off that auto-focus. And now I know what to attempt to do, when my Ikebana arrangements develop ghost shadows, when those mid-day photos look all washed out and when there is low light at dusk.

Spider!!!

I wonder if this is a Huntsman Spider. Those large, hairy spiders that are relatively harmless, but can give you quite a fright when they come scurrying out of a corner.

This one was in my parents' home, in the garden cupboard.

Spiders !!! - a set on Flickr - for different spidey types.

Waders on OMR

Dunlin - Photo by Skandan

Skandan wrote in -

"31st July 2010 we were on our regular birding ride and spotted atleast 15 different waders on OMR. Most of them still holding their *Breeding Plumage*. It was very very surprising to see most them at this time of the year."

More waders - Skandan's gallery.

The PWD park get a new "patron" - good or bad?

The Times Of India reports that the "Nizhal" park is to become a walkers' paradise

Chennai:The Chennai Corporation is planning to convert 6.1 acres on the southern bank of Adyar river near Kotturpuram into a park — the biggest in south Chennai — that will be a walkers’ paradise.
The elected council of the corporation unanimously passed a resolution approving the proposal to use the land that belongs to the water resources department, a wing of the Public Works Department. The area, the biggest open space in south Chennai, will be given a new look with lawns, seating, lengthy walkways, children’s play area, ornamental lights and parking for two-wheelers and four-wheelers.
According to officials, the consultancy firm engaged by the local body has already submitted the blueprint for the project. “A sum of Rs 70 lakh will be pooled to develop this area. It will provide a breathing space for residents of south Chennai, who now have to go to the Marina or the Elliot’s Beach,” a corporation official said. The adjoining River View Road, near Gandhi Mandapam Road, will also be widened by 7m.
The Saidapet zone of the corporation will soon float the high-cost tender, inviting bidders to transform the river embankment. The area, which was once a dumping site, was cleaned up and fenced by the PWD a couple of years ago with the objective of setting up an eco-park. With the support of Nizhal, a non-government organisation, as many as 250 saplings were planted.
Volunteers and students have been helping Nizhal maintain the park for the past two years. “We will continue to support the corporation in maintaining this special tree park, which is also a tree learning centre for students and the comunity,” said Shoba Menon of Nizhal. The majority of the saplings were sourced from Auroville nurseries and other nurseries in the suburbs. Volunteers remove weeds and water the plants every week.
The corporation also has plans to pull down a dilapidated school building near Greams Road in Nungambakkam and install nets for cricket practice.

julie.mariappan@timesgroup.com

Asian Koel population on the rise in Chennai

Asian Koel population on the rise in Chennai is the headline of an article in The Hindu, and yes we can vouch for that.

I rhymed about it here, remember?

The article by P Oppili, says,

Are you finding the short, sweet song of Koels replacing the annoying tone of your morning alarm lately?

The population of Asian Koels in the city is on the rise this time around, according to ornithologists and naturalists. Observations by the ornithologists have revealed that one of the main reasons for the increase in Koel population is the increase in the number of crows in the city.

Koels are brood-parasitic, that is, they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. The only hosts they find within the city are nests of crows. Moreover, the breeding season of Koels coincides exactly with that of crows, between April and August, they say.

V. Guruswamy, a naturalist who is pursuing research on Asian Koels in the city for the past seven years, observes that the bird's breeding season is divided into two.

The first being the pre-breeding season between February and April, and the second being the trans-breeding season between May and August. Members of the Madras Naturalists' Society also confirmed that singing birds' population was currently on the rise in the city.

He observes that as many as 6,000 ‘Koel calls' can be heard regularly, depending upon the number of birds found in a wooded residential locality. The month of July is the peak season for Koels breeding and the number of calls will come down by September, when the crow's breeding also comes to an end, he says.

Raja Annamalaipuram, Simpsons Estate in Sembium, Radhakrishnan Salai in Mylapore and Perambur Railway Colony are some of the areas that Mr Guruswamy has observed. He has recorded the population of Koels in these localities.

Talking about the recording of ‘Koel calls', Mr Guruswamy says that they sing as early as 4.45 a.m. and their last call is recorded around 6.15 in the evening. With more and more crows occupying various trees in the city, the Koels stand a better chance to breed well and thrive in the city, add the naturalists.

The garbage has increased in Nanmangalam

Nanmangalam reserve forest - the landmark hill within

Yesterday, we revisited Nanmangalam, with the same bunch of school kids from last week. They were armed with some tree knowledge from last week, and the idea was to take them into the forest, help them understand the web of life, the importance of a forest, and the need to make sure that these treasures are protected.

I was all brave about taking them along as I assumed that DCF, Mr Ashokan would be around, but he wasn't. Thankfully, Sheila came along or I would have been stuck with 60 kids, and one binocular, trying to show them birds as I don't know much about trees anyways! The kids were really happy to be on the walk and enthusiastic, and the teachers too. so we meandered along the fringes of the forest I think, because the vegetation was sparse.

Its been more than a year, I reflected since I visited Nanmangalam. I remembered crossing this large maidan on the way to the bubo bubo quarry. But instead of heading to the quarry, we walked towards a temple, led by the helpers at the extension centre.

We saw too much eucalyptus for our liking and explained why it's not such a good idea to have too much of this fast growing tree. We also saw another colourful weed - lantana - in plenty. As we crossed the maidan, there was a movement in the bushes and a snake came slithering across the open ground, with a bunch of crows circling its head. The reason for the crow's interest was a fat frog caught in the mouth of the snake! I have never seen a snake slither on the ground with it's head held aloft like this, and it moved purposefully into the next clump of bushes and vanished from sight. It had the markings of a rat snake, Sara pambu. That was excitement enough for the group!

We saw drongoes, bulbuls, sunbirds, doves, and could we have seen a black-headed munia? I thought there was a whole bunch of them. White browed bulbuls called agitatedly from the trees, but I didn't see one. A lapwing flew across, calling in al,arm at this bunch of people descending on the forest.

I was saddened to see the increase of litter in the forest, as we walked on to the quarry. There are obviously favourite spots, where groups sit, marked by plastic water bags, cigarette packs and pan parag sachets. Empty PET bottles too. I spied a large bag among the bushes, and picked it up, and we rallied e kids into picking up any litter that we could easily remove. The children were most cooperative, and we had to prevent them from putting their hands too deep into the bushes as they spied a sachets pack glinting among the greenery.

I hope our sermon on not throwing litter, improving our civic sense and reducing the use of plastic, had some influence.

At the quarry, more pain. The water's surface was filled with thermocol. I had not seen this earlier. What is the forest department doing to clear this? I was appalled.

I plan to send these photos to the Assistant Conservator of Forests, Chennai.
The quarry - filled with rain water, but look at the floating thermocol

Maybe we (Nizhal), along with tree sensitizing can get the visiting children to make boards in English and Tamil requesting people not to litter.

I wonder if it would help if there were dustbins, with lids, in the park area. Maybe some "trails" could be laid out, with some interesting facts on trees?
Clcik on the pcture, and you will see that the white floating substance at the far end on the water is more thermocol

The bags of garbage we cleared in one hour...there is much more.

A weekend with trees

17th July 2010:

Off to Nanmangalam extension centre as a Nizhal volunteer. Its been cloudy and rainy in general, but of course on 17th July its blazing hot.

The plan is to take a bunch of 60(!) high school kids around the extension centre, talk to them about trees and their importance, introduce them to native species (as against our familiar exotics like Rain Tree and Gulmohar), and hope to sensitise future citizens against indiscriminate tree cutting and to promote wise tree planting as well.

Usha takes her car, and we trundle along past Pallikaranai and Quaidemillat college, and hear blaring music from a temple loudspeaker. Its supposed to be devotional, but how anyone could feel devotional under this auditory assault is beyond me. Maybe its me that is so lacking in faith?

Anyway, if you think I am digressing I am not. Deepika said that as soon as we hear the music we were to do a U-turn and we would arrive at the extension centre gates! It was a very accurate landmark that no GPS system could have given!

Mr Ashokan the DCF turned out to be enthusiastic and committed, and so the walk was a breeze. The kids arrived with no caps and large heavy bags (should remedy this for the next school visit), but were attentive and interested.

The Extension Centre abuts the road, and there is active tree planting of indigenous species going on here. There were two views on the setting up of this centre but it seems to be here to stay.

The trees below are those planted in the extension area. Interestingly, all these native trees are high on medicinal properties. Its imperative that we research them and obtain patents.

Terminalia arjuna - fruiting

Called Neer marudhu in Tamil, the Arjun tree grows all over India, and is widely used in ayurveda for a whole host of cures. The bark and leaves seem to be helful in treating heart conditions. Morinda citrifolia-Nuna

Another wonder tree is nuna. The fruit you see is used to make juice that is rich in vitamins and minerals.

Alstonia scholaris - Indian Devil tree/scholars tree!

I stared idly at this tree. Not particularly distinguished, but it has these opposing names - Devil's tree on the one hand, and scholar's tree on the other. So our all scholars devils or are all devils scholars?!

For some reason, tribals in the Western Ghats reportedly dont like to sit under this tree as the devil is believed to live in it. Its bark is used to treat loosies, and its wood was traditionally used to make blackboards - hence the scholaris title. Callophyllum inophyllum - Alexandrian Laurel - punnai

A coastal tree, very decorative, and Usha says they are lining the streets in Pondy. I should check next time we go there. And guess what, that fruit you see is quite magical. An oil extracted from its nut is used in anti-ageing creams, and is also a viable biodiesel!!

We saw herbs that help in dandruff control, Vitex negundo (nochi) that is like a backyard mosquito control plant, sandalwood saplings, Indian rosewood and mahogany and so much more.

Next week we go back for a nature walk through the RF, with the same kids.

July 18th:

6:45 am, nagging drizzle, overcast skies. This could have been yesterday's weather, but no, I want sun I get rain, and vice versa! And why did I want sun? So the butterflies would be out, and the birds would be chirping as we took the young children of the Madras Club on a little walk around the club.

Sudhakar and Minni kindly agreed to come in as the experts, and we did stroll around the club grounds, heartened by the enthusiasm of the children. Thankfully trees stay where they are, and so we used them as the anchors for our walk!

The lovely banyan, the spreading rain trees, fish-tail palms, the massive neem on the lawns and the plentiful copper pods provided talking points.

As did this Gastropod.

The huge snail that caught all the oohs and aahs

Check out the muscular foot that the snail uses to move along, by its contractions. 1mm/second average snail speed.

Isn't that a beautiful glistening shell?

Commelina - day flowers

Sudhakar pointed out the day flowers in the green lawns underfoot. Click on the picture and see the flower zoomed in, its rather lovely, delicate and intricate, all for a day.

But this tree below was unidentified Tree unknown (Identified as Mimusops elengi - Magizham)Plumeria obtusa - Singapore frangipani

The flowers of this plumeria are different from the common one, rather more elegant I thought.

And so we wound up, after more earthworms, cotton stainer bugs, seven spotted cockroaches, millipedes, centipedes and a red bead tree.

We were rewarded by a sumptuous breakfast that included "mla pesarattu" - also a first time for me!!

July jottings

Nizhal's PWD park

• Need to number the trees
• Usha cuts palm webbing along with the paper, oops.
• Arrive, and its all cloudy, green and overgrown.

Nice!

• Spider eyeballs me. Annoyed at being disturbed.
• Look at his hairy legs...or is it hers?
• Scurries away under another leaf, and I decide not to disturb his peace.

• Butterflies everywhere
• Common lime, plain tigers flitting about.
• These two caught, and its just my Sony Ericcson phone cam!

• Two chital stags looked on curiously, nervous as well?
• We are only labelling the saplings, boys, I wanted to say.
• But the closer we got the more fidgety they were. And then with a leap and a charge they were off, beautiful antlers and all.

Anyways, the job was done, the rain held off, and the snakes stayed away.

Leopard in Kabini

Leopard in Kabini - Dr Alaganantham's Photos

May 2010 - Nagarhole park, Kabini.

Geetha writes:

a leopard sauntered across the path in front of our jeep in a very
leisurely fashion. Needless to say, the shutterbugs (Arun and Dr
Alaganantham) went on an overdrive!

On seeing the photos, Mr Ravi Chellam of ATREE, responded

Based on the photo-data base we have, we have been able to identify this male leopard as NHL-225, whom we first photo-trapped in March 2008 and also have had subsequent photo-captures. He seems to be a fairly tolerant and very visible leopard as we have photos of him from at least one other tourist.

I thought that was interesting - a leopard with a personality quirk?!

Aigrettes and egrets

A sonnet for the egrets:

Pulicat Lake - a crowd of egrets with a couple of painted storks

In the Adyar estuary,
At Pulicat, Pallikaranai, Nelapattu,
Standing stock still and wary
Even in far away Ranganathittu.

The yellow feet of the little egret

Little egrets, feet so yellow
Intermediates, standing tall in a throng
Cattle egrets, plumage mellow
Great egrets, necks and bills so long.

Cattle egret in breeding plumage. Photo by Mr Ramanan
All dressed in white,
Familiar, in pensive pose
Makes me often wonder, might
They really be so morose?

Now I learn it is their aigrette in breeding season

That used to be a milliner’s delight, all with reason!

Great egret - Casmorodius albus - tallest of the white egrets. Long neck, and bluish green lores. Those feathers on the back are additional breeding plumage. Photo by Mr Ramanan
Intermediate egret - Mesophoyx intermedia - smaller than the large. Yellowish lores during breeding. What you see is additional breeding plumage. Photo by Mr Ramanan
Little egret - Egretta garzetta - small and graceful. What a pose! Photo by Mr Ramanan

Photo by Mr Ramanan