Bioblitz event at Puttenahalli Lake

The continuous rains this week didn't deter us from planning our first Bioblitz event at Puttenahalli Lake. The overcast sky this morning did make us wonder if the participants would turn up. They did and the drizzle stopped just in time for 15 participants - a good mix of college students, high school students and a couple of nature enthusiasts - to start their walk around the lake to capture and document their observations. The next two hours opened our eyes to a whole new world.

The highlight was the first sighting of fruits on a Buddha coconut tree (http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Buddha%20Coconut.html). We have four of these trees in our lake, all planted in 2010, over the years they have grown very tall indeed! For the last two spring seasons, we have been eagerly waiting to see them flowering. This year too we missed spotting the flowers and would not have noticed the fruit either if it hadn't been for today's event. It made us slow down, look around, and observe the flora and fauna. Bingo! We saw the fruits!

Buddha coconut fruit

Incidentally, this was the tree which a drunken miscreant had broken in Aug. 2011. Fortunately, we were able to get our gardener to match the broken piece to the trunk and 'bandage' it without any delay. The tree survived. 

Patching up the Buddha coconut tree, Aug 2011 (Pic: Usha Rajagopalan)

One of the younger participants was the first to spot a fungus kind of growth on the Singapore Cherry.  "Thanks to the rain," said Dr. Kaustubh Rao, who led the walk. "You can expect to see more fungi varieties."

Fungus on Singapore Cherry tree

The participants will be uploading their observations on iNaturalist platform, do check them out at https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/puttenahalli-lake

If you want to spot the natural wonders at the lake, do come and join us in our next Bioblitz event (watch this space for the announcement of the next event).

Photos taken by: Govindan Iyer, Usha