Friday, May 7, 2021
OHB variations
Thursday, May 6, 2021
Summer blooms
My fitness coach - A Lazy jumbled verse
He's dark and handsome
Like a shadowy phantom
This fitness coach
of mine
He caws his approval
As I work up a sweat
As I huff and I puff, burning
those calories
My coach shows no mercy,
Oh to stop would be divine!
His high standards I do not meet,
Or so I am guessing,
from the dish that is resounding
beneath his disapproving feet.
Ah the relief, I am finally done!
but hey, the phantom,
As he takes to the skies
And the wide open space.
Sunday, May 2, 2021
Saturday excursions - Edianthittu backwaters, whale bone, Kaliveli wetlands and more
Saturday March 6th 2021
5am - Sheila and I headed to Neelangarai, where we would hop into Ashish's car and head further south on ECR - my first Intertidal survey outing, armed with sandwiches of course. The MNS Intertidal survey was announced in September of 2020, with a workshop (which I did not attend), for training on the survey techniques. We were doing the areas around Chennai, with the overall broad objectives being to assess the present status of Important Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Areas (ICMBAs) along the Tamil Nadu coast,
Edianthittu is one of the survey locations, in Zone 1, which is from Tiruvallur to Pondy, a little less than 160 kms of coastline. I had missed many - Yashna beach near Kovalam, as well as Pulicat. So I was happy to be part of this, more as a tourist really - since the core team were into some transect surveying and were busy documenting mollusc and gastropod diversity.
I had seen some beautiful pictures of the previous trips - razor clams, sea squirt, and some really beautiful shells.
Sunrise over the backwaters, with a tern up in flight |
The pin was where we were headed, about 100 kms from home, on the ECR - Azhagan Kuppam road, Villupuram. |
Vikas educated me thus - "It has two species of mangroves and is one of the larger mangrove patches in that district. Mangrove dependent species of crabs have been recorded, along with birds that like the set up like the terek Sandpipier and common Greenshank. In winter it is known to attract various birds such as the Curlew Sandpipier, Dublin, stints, golden plovers and many species of raptors including falcons and harriers. The Grey-tailed Tattler was recently seen there (the second location in the country where this bird is known from, first being Pulicat). Sea grass is found near the mouth of the river, which is well known to be a nursery for shrimps."
We were going to walk along the coast, to the area opposite the Alamparai fort, where the Edianthittu backwaters meet the Buckingham? |
715 am - We set off from our vehicles. There were fifteen(?) of us, and wonderful to see so many young energetic participants. It was a beautiful morning, there was a light breeze, the sea waters were clear and the sand was as yet cool beneath our feet.
Ravanan meesai
All along the dunes we found Spinifex littoreus, eli mullu, all spiky and poky. They are said to be good sand binders |
I learnt that the grass had different female and male flowers. Those longish oblong ones are the male ones, if I heard correctly. |
These round ones are female, and they also tumble along and disperse the seeds. |
The insect life in the pools including those whirligig beetles going round and round on the surface. |
Yuvan explaining how the fresh water gets pushed up by the pressure of the sea water |
The masked core survey team noting every insect. Those pipes being held by Rohith would join to form a square, within which they would survey and note all creatures found. |
But Sheila and I saw the Pied cuckoo - four of them in fact - as we walked along the ridge of a sand dune. (Photo by Sheila) |
The Jacobin cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus), the pied crested cuckoo, with the estuary behind. (Photo taken by Sheila) |
A lot of the shore life follows....most of which I cannot identify.
Telescopium telescopium, or "Horn snail, I think |
A hermit crab in hand |
and on the sand |
Sea grass! |
Alamparai fort at the far shore |
Sunetta meroe? |
wonder if this is Sunetta scripta? |
Duck clam shell? |
Dardanus crassimanus, the mauve-eyed hermit crab |
Grey bonnet snail - a sea snail? |
Is this a Chinna Mulli Sanghu? Bufonaria crumena |
And then there was much waving and shouting by the group ahead of us, and as we approached we saw this.
Ashy crowned sparrow larks watched us from the wires above. Photo by Sheila |
A booted eagle circled in the skies above. Photo by Sheila, with the "landing lights" clearly visible. |
The complete Kaliveli list from that morning is here.
We drove back via Nemmeli on the Thiruporur road, and didn't see to much there, and then headed back home.
The Intertidal Survey led to the Young Naturalists - Suneha, Nandita, Yuvan, Vikas, Aswati and Anooja - putting together "A guide to the coastal biodiversity seen along the Chennai coast and neighboring districts. Featured species are those that have been recorded by the team from Madras Naturalists’ Society, as part of our documentation of the Tamil Nadu coast."
I was happy to experience part of the survey, and it was a lovely morning out with Sheila and Ashish, and we missed Chithra, this time.
It is May now, and Covid rages all around us, and we stay home. It feels good to relive these outings we did earlier this year, even if it was with masks and social distancing.
Friday, April 16, 2021
Summer sights
The neem has flowered as have the Spathodea and Copper Pod trees on our road.
I saw the Shikra this morning - it has been in the neighbourhood for a while, I have been hearing its calls, for the last couple of months. Finally, a sighting.Andaman visit 2024 - summary post
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