Memories of my childhood

Isn't it unfortunate, when its there you take it for granted, and when its gone you sorely miss it. I was reminded of my maternal grandfather's home when I read this quirky description. The Green Ogre:A tree may be our primary connection with the universe.

Summers spent hanging around under a huge peepul tree there, watching the huge black ants scurry among the roots and fallen leaves. Teasing and getting teased by cousins and my brother, reading a book a day, wandering off to the cow shed to feed the calf. Nungus from the tree in the evening, picking parijatha with my grandmother in the mornings, listening to the never ending koels. Slapping the gigantic evening mosquitoes with irritation and frustration. Mosquito nets, dim lights.

A lifestyle disappeared?

Semmozhi Poonga at last

Sunday Aug 20th. Madras Day Celebrations. Tree walk by Nizhal.

Dr Vijaya retired HOD from Stella Maris led the walk, ably assisted by Chitra.

I quite like the design of the entrance, though the gate could have been wider?
Terminalia arjuna. I have not seen such a magnificent specimen.
Strychnos nux-vomica. Loved by Agatha Christie and ayurveda!
Erythrina indica and the diamond shaped leaves of the kalyan murungai
The light fades as we reach the Brazilian Ironwood

Valley of Flowers - the trip that never was

We bought our trekking shoes
and paid our travelling dues.

We were off to the mountains, we three
From our town in the south by the sea.
But it seems it was not to be
Oh, so woe is me!

No monal pheasant, no whiskered yuhina
No Himalayan Poppy, no Potentilla
Himalayan Griffon I shall not see
Nor the snowy peaks of Badri.

Valley of Flowers, I missed for sure, but dear Raji and Gapi, most of all,
with you two it would have been such a blast, we would have had such a ball!

Valley of Flowers - cancelled

The VOF trip ended even before we started.
Rain & landslides continue.
The trip is wisely called off.
Deflated
Disappointed
Relieved
Our little loss minor in comparison to what those living there must be going through.

Valley of Flowers - the state of Uttarakhand suffers

Uttarakhand tourism, power paralysed by incessant rain

My going (or not going) on the trip is a small matter. People have died.

Valley of Flowers - will the weather gods be kind?

Raji emails that there are landslides in Uttaranchal, and schools are shut until the 18th. I pretend to be blasé, oh we are only travelling after that.

I casually look up accuweather, and oh no, bad idea. The whole of next week has rain forecast fr both mornings and nights. It will be no fun if we get rained out or rained in.

My trekking shoes have settled in well, and gear is falling into place, and what a letdown if we don't go. Raji has her medicine kit all organised, Gapi has picked up a nice indexed book on flowers of the valley.

All we can do is wait and watch.

A Lemon Pansy stops by

It stopped for a while on my bathroom floor

Almost stepped on it, as I walked in the door.

Lemon pansy, did you flee from a foe?

And after a while, where did you go?

Maybe out of the bedroom window,

or protein for my house gecko?

Sunbirds

Mr Ramanan saw these sunbirds as they came seeking nectar to a male papaya tree, at Gandhigram.

As he sat watching their antics, Mr Ramanan also witnessed the resident cat stalk and kill one of a group of babblers that was feeding noisily off some grain. It caught the babbler by its wing, and just like its larger cousin the tiger, bit into the neck with its canines, bringing a swift end to the bird, and resulting in much indignant calling and cawing by the other babblers as well as the crows in the vicinity.

Male Purple-rumped sunbird. Photo by Mr Ramanan
Male Loten's sunbird, with the longer, curved beak. Photo by Mr Ramanan.

The female sunbirds are olive coloured, as seen here, as they picked up nesting material.

This was a sunbird's rather untidy nest I came across at my mother's home some months ago.

Nash and me

You Can’t Get There from Here

by Ogden Nash

Bird watchers top my honors list.
I aimed to be one, but I missed.
Since I’m both myopic and astigmatic,
My aim turned out to be erratic,
And I, bespectacled and binocular,
Exposed myself to comment jocular.

We don’t need too much birdlore, do we,
To tell a flamingo from a towhee;
Yet I cannot, and never will,
Unless the silly birds stand still.
And there’s no enlightenment in a tour
Of ornithological literature.
Is yon strange creature a common chickadee,
Or a migrant alouette from Picardy?

You can rush to consult your Nature guide
And inspect the gallery inside,
But a bird in the open never looks
Like its picture in the birdie books-
Or if it once did, it has changed its plumage,
And plunges you back into ignorant gloomage.
That is why I sit here growing old by inches,
Watching a clock instead of finches,
But I sometimes visualize in my gin
The Audubon that I audubin.

Exerpted from “Up From the Egg: Confessions of a Nuthatch Avoider”

Thank you Sheila, for sending me this!

My apologies, for an adaptation I could not resist:

Bird watchers top my honors list.
I aim to be one, but this tail has a twist.
Since I’m both myopic and astigmatic,
My sightings turn out to be erratic,
And I, bespectacled and binocular,
Expose myself to comment jocular.

We don’t need too much bird IQ, I was told,
To tell a prinia from a pipit, so bold;
Yet I cannot, and never will,
Unless the silly birds sit still.
And there’s no enlightenment in a tour
Of ornithological literature.
Is yon strange creature a common ibis, black-headed
Or an uncommon black migrant in the marsh embedded?

You can rush to consult your Inskipp & Grimmett guide
And inspect the photo gallery inside,
But a bird in the open never looks
Like its picture in the birdie books-
Or if it once did, it has changed its plumage,
And plunges you back into ignorant gloomage.
That is why I sit here writing ghastly verse,
Instead, I should be out looking, for better or worse,
But I sometimes visualize in my dream
The birdwatcher that I became, supreme!

Urban wildlife - Chennai

Welcome to wild wild Chennai - The Times of India

Arun Janardhanan, TNN | Aug 8, 2011, 05.43AM IST
From jackals, rodents and squirrels to black buck, pangolin and even slender loris, residents of the urban jungle of Chennai have spotted all kinds of wild creatures in their backyards. In the last year, forest officials in the city have rescued 3,025 monkeys and 1,200 snakes from residential areas. "Forest officials across the city rescued more than 5,000 animals from April 2010 to March 2011," said wildlife warden V Karunapriya.

Originally a coastal area with thorny bushes, Chennai is the only city with a protected forest - Guindy National Park - within the corporation limits. But as the city expands, the pressure on green spaces, which are also home to several species of snake, gecko and fruit bat, intensifies and animals lose their habitat. Thickly wooded forests and scrub jungles in Guindy National Park, IIT-Madras, Nanmangalam forest, Theosophical Society and Kalakshethra colony still provide shelter to these wild creatures, but they too are coming under threat.

IIT-Madras authorities recently cut several trees to make space for buildings, the Pallikaranai marsh, which is a source of water for the city, is being used as a dumpyard. T Murugavel of the Madras Naturalists' Society says that urban wildlife still survives in the green spots and protected forest inside the city. "What's left of the green belt inside the city surprisingly sustains a wide variety of animals, though we have lost several species, including birds like the white-headed babbler, the purplerumped sunbird and red-vented bulbul," said Murugavel, who has rescued cobras and rat snakes from his neighbourhood. "Last month, I rescued a barn owl that had been injured by a kite string. We set it free after a vet treated it," he said.

Recently, a slender loris was rescued from the terrace of a house. A limited number of this endangered species still lives in the city. Jackals can be seen at the Adyar estuary,while the Indian mongoose is spotted often in busy T Nagar, Shenoy Nagar and Adyar areas. Flying foxes still swoop through the evening skies. E Seshan, a retired chief photographer of the Zoological Survey of India, said the weather also plays a role.

"During the monsoon, animals come out of their habitat. In the city, there is no space for them as everything has been covered with concrete," he said. "The IIT-Madras campus, Guindy National Park and Raj Bhavan campus are an important habitat. But the institution has decided to proceed with major construction projects, which will affect the animals," he said. S Davidraj, forest range officer of Velachery division, said that habitat loss is the main reason for the increasing man-animal conflict. "We have taken all measures to attend to cases immediately. We are monitoring about 997 spotted deer in Alandur, Adambakkam, Velachery and Kotturpuram," he said.

Valley of Flowers - books for my trip

The Valley Of Flowers: Frank S. Smythe

An account from Smythe who "discovered" this beautiful Valley.

Flowers of The Himalayas - Oleg & Adam

A reference book for the flowers I hope to see.

Birds of North India - Inskipp & Grimmett

Some birding too I hope!