Appreciating the Adyar

I love the Adyar river, and most days I cross it, closer to the mouth, where it joins the Bay of Bengal. Along with the Bay it is deeply a part of my Madras memories.

Lovely to see this piece in The Hindu.

A bend in the Adyar

It’s been a year since the floods and the city’s iconic river flows on. Arun Krishnamurthy of Environmentalist Foundation of India speaks toAKILA KANNADASAN about his photo series that tracks the river from its source

Last year this time, Chennai was reeling under a different kind of tragedy — the incessant rains and the resultant floods. Lives, livelihoods, and homes were lost. There are various theories about the cause of the floods. But one thing is clear — we had a major role to play in the catastrophe. Our callous attitude towards our water bodies has not changed since then, and it’s time we do something.

Arun Krishnamurthy, the founder of Environmentalist Foundation of India, who has involved hundreds of youngsters in protecting Tamil Nadu’s water bodies, has come up with an idea to shake us out of our smug mindsets.

He has created a photo documentary on the state of the Adyar River a year after the floods, and plans to exhibit it in schools and colleges. Arun says that it all began with a 20-minute documentary on the lakes of Chennai that he made to screen in educational institutions. “We found out that most of our lakes are feeders to our rivers. For instance, the Poondi lake is one of the feeders of the Kosasthalaiyar River, the Chembarambakkam lake for the Adyar River... lakes and rivers are interconnected,” he explains.

Arun, hence, set out to document the rivers. “We are making a documentary Rivers of Chennai and planning to bring out a booklet and digital photo blog on the same,” he says. The idea is to show people where our rivers start, flow and end. Arun says that people in Chennai aren’t even aware of the river that runs a few streets from where they live.

“A lot of negativity about our water bodies has developed over the last one year,” he observes. “The number of local volunteers has fallen. It’s shocking to listen to what the locals say. During a lake clean-up, a 21-year-old asked us what was the point in doing so. When we said that it was we who would suffer if it flooded, he laughed and said he plans to settle in Bangalore anyway.” Apart from negligence, it’s a lack of pride for Chennai’s rivers that’s saddening, says Arun.

Arun spent 48 hours tracing the Adyar from its origin in Adhanur and Malaipattu villages. He explains how multiple lakes merge to create the river that we call Adyar. “She is pristine at her origin. At Chembarambakkam, for instance, birds thrive in the clean water.”

The trouble begins at Tambaram. “It is here that she transforms from a rural fresh water stream into a polluted urban river. Urban sewage starts draining into the river. More urban waste mixes along the way. As she trickles into Thiruneermalai, she encounters a municipality-run landfill at the bund.” Industrial waste is introduced at Chrompet and the river is beyond recognition by the time it reaches Besant Nagar.

Along the Mambalam canal, Arun saw 800 urban poor families living along the river bund. “Their toilets drain into the canal,” he says. The rich are no exception. At a golf course next to the YMCA campus in Nandanam, hundreds of used paper cups were dumped into the river.

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There were even discarded golf clubs. At the point of culmination, awaited a rude surprise — “I saw sofa sets, poultry waste, religious idols, footwear...”

Arun hopes that his photos trigger some action amidst youngsters.

“They should take pride in the three rivers and the 300 lakes that make up Chennai’s ecosystem. Secondly, they should be ashamed at the condition of the water bodies.

Finally, a sense of responsibility should creep in,” he says. “A lot of schools have approached us to teach students about our lakes and rivers. The photo exhibition will be a part of our outreach programmes.”

What is the significance of the Adyar River to Chennai? “The Adyar,” explains Arun, “is Chennai’s identity. She is of hydrological, cultural, and historical importance. She is a carrier, and not a perennial river. She carries large amounts of water into the sea during the North-East monsoon.”

The 30-year-old knows the river well.

“She can be very vengeful,” warns Arun. “If we take care of her, she can prevent any amount of flooding. But, if we don’t, well, you know what happens.”

People in Chennai aren’t even aware of the river that runs a few streets from where they live

Identifying White egrets

I came across this essay from Birdcount.in, and began reading it with initial scepticism, I mean who can't tell a Little from a Large egret I thought.

And this yellow feet of the Little are a giveaway aren't they?  But as I read on I realised that most probably, in the field I am not recognising or identifying those Intermediates.

So it's with the Intermediates that this organised and well explained photo essay really helped, for me.  Maybe I will start "seeing" more Intermediates now.

What's that White Egret species?

Egrets are beautiful and elegant birds to watch. You'll often see them standing still over water and, in a flash, using their long, pointed bills to stab a fish or pick out an insect. No matter where you are in India, it is common to see one or many white birds looking for prey in wet fields and water bodies, or flying overhead to roost late in the evening.

A large flock of egrets © Sourav Maiti (view in checklist)

In spite of being quite common, they are one of the more confusing groups of birds for beginners and experienced birders alike. Although it is easy to identify a bird as an egret, the confusion arises when trying to identify the species itself. The names of egrets (eg Little, Intermediate and Great) tell us much about their size, but they can still be misidentified, especially if they are seen by themselves without a size reference. Luckily it's not just size alone that matters, and the different egrets have other features that can be used to identify them.

One such feature is their 'plumes', which they acquire in the breeding season. These are a a set of long, thin feathers on their back/dorsum, head or breast. Because different species grow plumes on different parts of the body, they can help in identification as well.

Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis

Cattle Egret in flight. Note the small neck, bill shape and size (short bill has a small dip at the tip), relatively smaller wings © Albin Jacob

The Cattle Egret is a ubiquitous and adaptable bird. This is a small and stocky egret, and gets its name from its habit of following cattle and other large animals (also tractors and JCBs!) to pick off any insects they might flush. Equally at home in light woodland, wetlands, farms and garbage dumps, it does not have any particular association with water. The Cattle Egret is worth familiarising oneself with as it is the egret species you are most likely to encounter no matter where you are birding.

Cattle Egret in breeding plumage (left, © Albin Jacob) and in non-breeding plumage (right, © Ramit Singal)

Habitat	Fields (especially if recently ploughed), farms, freshwater wetlands, forest clearings, garbage dumps in urban areas, etc.
Size	Smallest of our egrets.
Structure	Stocky in build. Large round head with relatively short thick bill, short legs and short, thick neck.
Breeding Plumage	Puffy looking head with orange head and neck, as well as orange dorsal plumes.
Bill	Blunt and thick, with upper mandible showing distinct dip at the tip. Mostly orange-yellow in all plumages.
In flight	Narrower, more pointed wings than other egrets, shorter legs. Relatively faster wing-flapping especially during and a little after take-off.

Additional information: The subspecies that occurs in our region is Eastern Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis coromandus. The Western Cattle Egret B. i. ibis is smaller with shorter neck and legs as well as a different breeding plumage.

Little Egret Egretta garzetta

Little Egret in flight, showing its yellow feet © Vivek Puliyeri (Checklist)

The Little Egret is a delicate looking egret which frequents freshwater bodies of all types, including fast-flowing streams, slow-moving rivers, well-vegetated marshes, etc. It is small in size and neat in proportions – making it look quite graceful. Its obvious yellow feet set it apart from the other regularly occurring white egrets (except Western Reef-egret, the white morph of which usually has more extensive yellow on legs, and yellow on bill).

Habitat	Associated with all water bodies. Typically stays away from coasts, but regular in estuaries.
Size	Small-sized, bigger than Cattle but visibly smaller than Intermediate and Great.
Structure	Very slender, looks almost delicate with graceful S-shaped neck, oval/triangular head, relatively longer bill.
Breeding Plumage	Two long plumes on head and down neck (the only white egret to have these), plumes on the back, on the breast.
Bill	Bill remains mostly dark/black in all plumages. In non-breeding plumage, base to lower mandible is visibly paler.
In flight	Yellow feet are visible. From similar Western Reef-egret by narrower, more pointed wings.

Little Egret in breeding plumage (with a Checkered Keelback in the background). Note the egret's head plumes, yellow feet, and slender structure but small size © Hemanth Byatroy (Checklist)

Additional information: Unlike several of our other egrets, the Little Egret is quite vocal and usually has a harsh call which it gives out in flight, alarm or for contact. You can listen to it here or here.

Intermediate Egret Mesophyx intermedia

Intermediate Egret in flight. Note the roundish neck fold, short bill, round forehead © Albin Jacob (Checklist)

The most variable looking of our egrets, the Intermediate Egret can appear quite small or quite large when seen in isolation. Though some of the larger individuals may appear as large as Great Egrets, structurally (especially when the neck is retracted), birds may even resemble Cattle Egrets! The Intermediate Egret is a fairly stocky egret, due to its thick neck and large body, which also makes the legs look quite short.

Habitat	Associated with all water bodies and wet fields, paddies.
Size	May look variable in size when viewed in isolation, but usually flocks with other egrets thus making comparison easier. Bigger than Cattle or Little Egret but smaller than Great Egret.
Structure	Stocky in build – note proportionally short bill and legs, round head, thick neck and large body (very rear-heavy due to the long tail).
Breeding Plumage	Bill becomes black and it attains plumes on the back/dorsum and the breast.
Bill	Proportionately shorter bill is yellow in non-breeding plumage and black in the breeding plumage. (Note: Lores are always yellow)
In flight	Broad wings and relatively shorter legs than Great Egret. Heavier rear usually apparent.

Intermediate Egret in breeding plumage (left) © Dinesh Singal and in non-breeding plumage (right) © Ramit Singal
The bird on the right is transitioning into breeding plumage and thus, has breast plumes.

Great Egret Ardea alba

Great Egret in flight. Note long legs and bill, neck is angular when retracted, large wings © David Irving (Checklist)

The Great Egret is the largest of our egrets, with an overall lean look but distinctly heavy legs and bill. It is perhaps more similar to a Purple Heron in structure and jizz than the other egrets.

Habitat	Associated with all water bodies, preferring slow-moving rivers, lakes and wetlands.
Size	Visibly large.
Structure	Structurally very lean with long neck showing prominent kink. Forehead is flat and in-line with long bill. Legs are long and body appears short – thus making it look very vertical.
Breeding Plumage	Attains plumes only on back/dorsum.
Bill	Long bill. Yellow in non-breeding plumage, and black in breeding plumage.
In flight	Broad wings and long neck and legs are apparent. Has the slowest, most relaxed flight of all the egrets.

Great Egret in non-breeding plumage (left) © Palani Andavan Balasubramanian and in breeding plumage (right) © Jayan Thomas

Great vs Intermediate Egret

Several birders often have trouble distinguishing the Intermediate Egret from the Great Egret. A few features that make identification much easier are:

Image A:

Great Egret (left) © Mittal Gala and Intermediate Egret (right) © Albin Jacob. Note length of gape line (1), shape of forehead (2) and length of bill (3).

Image B:

Great Egret (left) © Snehasis Sinha and Intermediate Egret (right) © Albin Jacob. Note shape and size of neck (4) and overall structure (5).

These differences are summarised below:

	Great Egret	Intermediate Egret
1	Gape extending beyond eye	Gape ending at/before eye
2	Angular head	Round head
3	Longer bill	Shorter bill
4	Long neck with pronounced kink	Thicker, shorter neck
5	Large, long and lean structure	Stockier, heavy built

Here is an image that illustrates these differences very well (can you tell which species is which?):

Great Egret and Intermediate Egret © Harshith JV (Checklist)

Intermediate vs Cattle Egret

In certain postures and when direct comparison is not possible, an Intermediate Egret can look quite similar to a Cattle Egret. Below are some pointers on how to distinguish between the two:

Intermediate Egret (Left) © Dubults | Cattle Egret (Right) © Albin Jacob

	Intermediate Egret	Cattle Egret
1	Straight beak	Obvious curved tip to beak
2	Neck retracts a bit deeper	Shorter neck
3	Breast plumes in breeding plumage	No plumes on the breast.
4	Proportionally longer legs	Shorter legs

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Note: There will always be times when particular individuals may prove difficult to identify even with the best of views. Some times, one may just not get to see enough of the bird to be able to ID it. It is absolutely OK if that is the case and best to err on the side of caution. On eBird, you may use "White Egret sp." when conclusive identification is not possible.

Also: An article with Little Egret and the two Reef-Egrets will be coming soon.

 

ZITTING CISTICOLA - AT SHOLINGANALLUR

More delightful pictures from Mr Ramanan

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Honagalu mara in the Western Ghats

Terminalia paniculata also known as the kindal tree.  A hardworking timber, and scientists are discovering wonderful medicinal properties in the bark.

The forests around Dandeli abound in these tall and magnificent trees, and seemed to be the main tree species around.

The delicate white flowers hummed with insects

And I could not stop admiring them

The fpale white flowers then fruit and seed into reddish brown winged seeds, similar to T Arjuna, bringing a flaming red to a few of the trees we saw.

Rare Dollarbird sighting

Vikas is a young and serious naturalist and MNS member  with whom we have travelled on several birding trips across the country.  I have never seen anyone with the astonishing speed of capturing record shots like Vikas - if he was in the Wild West he would have been known as Velocious (yes there is a word like that) Vikas! - and this ability of his  coupled with his thorough grasp of the bird books, yields some amazing sightings/ rare gaffes and never a dull moment.

I have an easy formula - on any trip my personal bird sightings will be half of his!

Anyway, he has been on the prowl at GNP, and on 26th November spotted a Dollarbird at the Polo ground.  This is what he has to say -

"Words can't express my astonishment when I saw this bird sitting on a tree near Doctors Road. We were trying to find orange breasted green pigeons when I spotted this odd bird. When Rama Aunty and I took pictures we were dazzled that the bird was blue and had a prominent red bull and violet throat.

Hence we went closer to the bird and it flew to a new open perch where I could confirm it to be a Dollar Bird!"

 Photo by Vikas - Eurystomus orientalis

 This bird is usually seen in the Western Ghats in south India, and it is an unusual and rare sighting for Chennai.  I have not seen this bird as yet.  I am quite sure given my poor sighting skills and my rotten sense of timing, I would have missed the pretty bird even if I had been around Vikas!

Hope you have a good time in Chennai, Dollarbird, and the weather suits you and you find a mate and a family soon.

Flamingoes on the wing!

Nov 27th - MNS members reported in of large flocks of flamingoes, flying south to north, along the Chennai coast.  Three large groups were reported.

Luckily Mr Shankarnarayan was on his terrace, and took pictures of these large flocks.

Photo by Mr Shankarnarayan

Photo by Mr Shankarnarayan

Photo by Mr Shankarnarayan

Photo by Mr Shankarnarayan

On Saturday October 29,2016, a big flock of around 2000 Greater Flamingoes were sighted by MNS member Subbu and his group of three, off ECR and Kelambakkam backwaters around 4 p.m. 

"The first group around 1500 birds were flying North, North-east from our location on ECR towards Tiruvanmiyur/Besant Nagar. They returned and joined another group of 500 birds over Kelambakkam and then flew off south and were not seen again.
A lone injured Flamingo was also observed at a great distance. "

This has been reported in eBird here:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S32294702

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S32308907

INDIAN CORMORANT AT SHOLINGANALLUR

I have always struggled to differentiate the Indian Cormorant or Shag from the little cormorant. 

These wonderful pictures from Mr Ramanan helped me resolve the difficulties. 

Notice the blue eyes and the smaller head. And the picture below shows the white threat that's restricted to just below the gape. 

Notice also the long narrow bill, which is longer than that of the little cormorant. 

The large cormorant is a visibly bigger bird and with plumage that is more black than the mottled brown black of this one.

The fig tree at the timber depot in Dandeli

Ficus mysorensis - the mysore fig, at the Timber Depot in Dandeli

As with all fig trees, an ecosystem in themselves.

The fruits loved by birds and squirrels, including the hornbills.

I could happily spend hours here.

The yellow fig fruits and the fig wasps 

The story of the fig and its wasp
Posted By Katie Kline on May 20, 2011

Inside the rounded fruit of a fig tree is a maze of flowers. That is, a fig is not actually a fruit; it is an inflorescence—a cluster of many flowers and seeds contained inside a bulbous stem. Because of this unusual arrangement, the seeds—technically the ovaries of the fig—require a specialized pollinator that is adapted to navigate within these confined quarters. Here begins the story of the relationship between figs and fig wasps.
The queen of the fig wasp is almost the perfect size for the job—except, despite her tiny body, she often times will lose her wings and antennae as she enters through a tight opening in the fig. “The only link the fig cavity has to the outside world is through a tiny bract-lined opening at the apex of the fig, called the ostiole, and it is by means of this passage that the pollinating fig wasp gains access to the florets,” as described in Figweb, a site by Iziko Museums of Cape Town.
Once inside, the queen travels within the chamber, depositing her eggs and simultaneously shedding the pollen she carried with her from another fig. This last task, while not the queen’s primary goal, is an important one: She is fertilizing the fig’s ovaries. After the queen has laid her eggs, she dies and is digested by the fig, providing nourishment. Once the queen’s eggs hatch, male and female wasps assume very different roles. They first mate with each other (yes, brothers and sisters), and then the females collect pollen—in some species, actively gathering it in a specialized pouch and in others, accumulating it inadvertently—while the wingless males begin carving a path to the fig’s exterior. This activity is not for their own escape but rather to create an opening for the females to exit. The females will pollinate another fig as queens. The males will spend their entire lifecycle within a single fruit.  Each species of Ficus has a corresponding specialized species of wasp that fertilizes it. 

There's a wonderful video on the Queen Of Trees.

The beautiful squirrel of peninsular India

Ratufa indica - another marvel endemic to India.  We saw these at Dandeli, in the timber depot, at our lodging and in the forests.

Shy and sticking to the upper canopy of large trees, their tails give them away.  More often heard than seen.

A wood spider at Dandeli

Find the giant wood spider in the enormous web that spanned a couple of trees.

Clue:  It is in the middle of the picture with a backdrop of a teak tree trunk.

And it is the female.  The males are tiny and inconspicuous.

You can also find a picture of it at Thattekad and Rishi Valley.  

Sholinganallur through the lens of Mr Ramanan

Sholinganallur in southern Madras is home to wetlands that are an extension of Pallikaranai.  Now known more for being part of the IT corridor, the area is in urgent need of preserving of the remaining grasslands, scrub, water bodies and wetlands.

These are the soak pits and groundwater charging areas for the city and support an important ecosystem.  Here are a few glimpses of that.

A beautiful capture of the conical silver bill, black tail and white breast of the White Throated Munia (Euodice malabarica), by Mr Ramanan.  These birds move around in large flocks and feed on grass seeds found in scrub and grasslands.  They are found usually in the winter months in south India.

A Black Shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris) stares menacingly, just before taking off on its hunt for mice.  Its feet are usually clutch the perch from opposite sides.  These smaller kites live on a diet of mice, and it is amazing to see them hover in the sky as they hunt for lunch, dropping silently and speedily onto their prey.  Photo by Mr Ramanan 

The streaked fantail warbler (Cisticola juncidis) displays its fantail.  I prefer to call them Zitting Cisticola which is apt, as their call is a "zit, zit", as they zip past from reed to reed.  They are easily hard, but difficult to spot through the binoculars as they are always on the move.  Photo by Mr Ramanan

In the lake, Mr Ramanan's lens captured a winter visitor, the black tailed godwit, (Limosa limosa) a large wader, with the characteristic pink bill with the black tip.  The bar-tailed goodwill is more streaked 

Meanwhile on the shores, Mr Ramanan finds the brilliant colours of a yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) in breeding plumage.  The wagtails, well, wag their tails quite incessantly and can be found on the dry periphery of lakes and other water bodies looking for insects.  This one seems to be a male with its olive upper parts.

Another species found in the dry scrub is the ashy-crowned sparrow-lark (Eremopterix griseus).  They look like sparrows.  This is a male with the well marked black collar, while the female is sandy brown.  They have an interesting courtship display with the male kind of shooting up vertically into the air, and then descending also with a whistle.  These are ground birds, foraging for seed and insect and also spending the night on the ground.  We need to leave enough undisturbed ground for these birds to survive and propagate.