An exhilarating bird sighting at the lake

Early this morning we received by email a photograph of a bird spotted at the lake by Gautham who lives at Brigade Millennium. Even as our eyes popped out in surprise, South City resident and birder Madhurima sent an sms saying she'd just spotted the same bird. She managed to take some pics before it hid in some bushes. This was enough to send us into a excited frenzy! Which was this bird that brought such a huge smile on our faces? A Peahen! Yes, a female peafowl! 

Pic: Gautham

Pics: Madhurima

It is likely that the bird flew in from the Arekere Reserve Forest but indeed, it is being sighted at our lake for the first time ever. Did it come over to feed on the snakes? Or perhaps because the swampy environment at the lake is a granary of insects, seeds and other food? More than these questions, the ones that rise in our minds are - Will the dogs leave her alone? Will a peacock follow her? Will they breed? Time (and our bird watchers) will give us the answers but for the present, we are hugely delighted about the Peahen at Puttenahalli Lake!

For me, in particular, this sighting takes me back to my childhood when we had a pair of peafowl, rather briefly, but among the more memorable of our pets. I wrote about them in a fortnightly column called Kookaburra Laughs. "Mr. and Mrs. Peafowl" can be read here.

Best

Usha

Hares in the Arekere Reserve Forest

The cleaning session at Arekere (Dorsani Palya) Reserve Forest on Sunday 29th June 2014 had many of the morning walkers join the effort. The extra hands really helped the volunteers (who have pledged their support to the clean-up campaign) do more than they had expected. 

However it was noticed that apart from plastic, a lot of rubbish, including wet waste, gets thrown from the road, over the compound wall. People are using this like a road side garbage dump! For a proper clean-up of this part, the group decided to engage paid labour or rag pickers.

The forest is known for its birds, butterflies and other insects. But mammals? The highlight of the morning, and the most surprising find was the spotting of wild hares in the forest. Prasanna, one of the volunteers wrote to the PNLIT email group, "Yes you can call it a miracle that these beautiful creatures are still surviving despite all odds". 

With stray dogs frequenting the area, Prasanna wonders how long the hares will survive. The Forest Department and others will need to make a focussed and concerted effort to keep the dogs out and preserve the habitat for the hares so that they can breed. In the huge 130-acre area, surely if there is a will, it should be possible, with the support of the Forest Department.  

We need to go beyond making the forest a beautiful place for walking and exercising. We need to save the hares that have made this their home. If you have any ideas on how the hares can be protected and would like to join the effort, please email  Prasanna Vynatheya .

Read about a rescued hare on the wrrc website here.

Weekend cleanup at Arekere Reserve Forest continues

​The incredible forest

Please join the Arekere (Dorsani Palya) Reserve Forest team on Sunday, 29th June 2014 at 7:00 a.m. The task at hand will be to continue cleaning up from where the volunteers stopped last week. For the exact location, please see the earlier post here. Children are most welcome to go along with their parents/ grandparents. 

Mr Saravanan, who is coordinating the cleanup efforts, had this to say about the start they made on 21st June:

It is quite interesting to see our first baby steps towards this cleanup drive. It was a successful and motivating event with remarkable response not only from our volunteers but also from public. There were about 40-50 people collected close to 35 bags of garbage.

Our sincere thanks to Dushyant, Sujatha, Arathi, Selvakumar, Usha & Manjunath, who put lot of efforts behind the scene. Also, special thanks go to Hariprasad representing forest department. Not to miss, enthusiastic Vishal showed real forest warden skills.   The list will go on and on....in nutshell.... THANK YOU ALL.

Words from Sanjay about this event:
It's said that Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and Nature is God... so we got a double deal last Saturday morning when we went to clean the forest. Though I must confess that much like the Indian police in a Bollywood movie, I went after everything was over, but managed to catch some of the volunteers before they went home.  It was a really lovely gathering with people of all ages and plenty of ladies too, enjoying hot steaming delicious idlis soaked in tasty chutney. There was a huge pile of garbage bags as evidence of all the work of that morning. 

​Some of the volunteers

The garbage

A yahoo group <dpfr_blr@yahoogroups.com> has been formed to keep the team in touch. If you would like to volunteer for Arekere Forest or stay posted about the cleanup progress, please subscribe to the group by email <dprf_blr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com> or get in touch with Saravanan <saravanan_ss@yahoo.com>.

Thanks to Saravanan for the pics.   

Volunteers required - Arekere (Dorsani Palya) Reserve Forest

The Arekere Reserve Forest is located in Arekere-Mico Layout (off Bannerghatta Rd), near Puttenahalli Lake. It is home to several species of birds, butterflies and other life forms. Information on the efforts to get it cleaned can be found on our blog post here.

Please see the message from Mr Saravanan, the coordinator of the clean up effort.

-------------

Hi All,

We have the following events scheduled as part of forest restoration at Dorsani Palya Reserve Forest.

1. Cleaning the reserve forest scheduled on 21/06/2014 (Saturday) at 7 am onwards
2. Neighborhood campaign following Saturday (28/06/2014).

Your participation along with kids, friends and colleagues will encourage outdoor activities. This will also give you an opportunity to share your ideas/suggestions.

Thank you,   
Saravanan

To confirm your participation and for more info, please mail Saravanan <saravanan_ss@yahoo.com>.

This is to make arrangements for refreshments. 

Update on the Arekere Forest meeting and discussions

The Resident – Arekere Forest Officials meeting on 24^th May 2014 as previously announced went well. It was well attended by about 50 to 60 residents of the neighborhood.

Residents were invited to voice their opinions on what they wanted the Reserve Forest to be and how they in turn could help the Forest Department (FD).

The suggestions coming forth from the residents were as follows:

• ·       That the place should be well secured from all sides to prevent encroachments.

o   FD's answer: No encroachments will be allowed.

• ·         More vigilance for the safety of walkers.
• ·         That there should be more lights and sitting benches.

o   FD: Yes for more benches.

• ·         There should be toilets for public.
• ·         Walking path all around the inner periphery of the Reserve.
• ·         Should make it a good biodiversity area by growing indigenous plants and trees.
• ·         Should try to install bird nesting boxes

  Staff of FD made notes of all that was suggested.

  Next Steps

1.       Residents of the area should come together to clean the place of plastic waste.

2.       Perhaps focus group to be formed to address different aspects as:

a.       Water related issues.

b.      Regeneration of Native species of plants, bushes and trees.

c.       General upkeep of the place.

d.      Amenities related matters, etc.

3.       From the Forest Dept side Mr. Hariprasad who is a Forest Dept staff was deputed by the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) to be the coordinator of all future initiatives.

At the end of the discussions the CCF suggested that a group be formed to take this forward, and thus 12 (6 from ladies and 6 from men) person's names have been included in the informal group.

It was also pointed out by the FD official that it is a Forest Reserve and hence it was not realistic to expect all the amenities that are  normally found in a public parks or gardens.

Previous communication on this can be seen here.

Prasanna

Our forest, a stone's throw away

The Forest Department (FD) held an open house meeting at Arekere Reserve Forest yesterday (15th May 2014), to share its concerns and invite suggestions for the healthy existence of this huge urban Reserve in our vicinity.

This initiative has been taken by the individual forest officers who believe in taking inputs from citizens for the betterment of these places. This is a great opportunity to help the FD and in turn help the region to regain some of its past biodiversity glory.

The concerns expressed by the Addl. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF)

* Surrounding residents insensitiveness in disposing garbage inside the Reserve.

* Depletion and even lack of water table – this made the FD abandon its Nursery.

What APCCF expects from the citizens

* Be a part of the decision-making group for rejuvenating the Reserve.

* Give them a hand in areas such as spreading awareness amongst people to keep the place clean and help them do the initial cleaning up.

Expected benefits to the public

* Public will have access to this huge Reserve to enjoy the health benefits.

* Children will have a superb place to discover nature within a stone's throw from where they live.

* As nature lovers we will have a great biodiversity region to observe birds, butterflies and insects, plants and trees and much more.

Facts about this Reserve

* Approximately 40 + 10 hectares.

* Once called Jalari Kaadu – named after the Jalari trees (Shorea Talura).

* Once connected to Bannerghatta National Park.

* Unfortunately the indigenous Jalari and other trees have been mostly replaced with Acacia and Eucalyptus variety of trees.

* The water bodies that were around the forest a few decades back have been drained out and the urban sprawl has taken over.

* Officially called 'Doresanipalya Forest Campus'.

  

The next informal get together with the officials and public is scheduled for Saturday, 24th May 2014 at 4:45 pm at the Reserve. Mr. Sarvanan who has taken the initiative will be updating us on this and other initiatives. Some entertainment and fun for the family is planned to make it an enjoyable evening.

Please come with children and enjoy  the evening at the Reserve, and also be part of the group to help save this fantastic forest.

Prasanna

Protect Arekere Reserve Forest campaign

Senior officials at the Arekere Reserve Forest (near Ganesh Temple) want to promote awareness of the importance of trees and forests especially among the residents in the area. They want volunteers to work with them so that the effort is sustained even if they are transferred elsewhere. This is indeed a much needed effort to protect the trees not yet felled in our "Garden City." 

According to a recent study conducted by the IISc, green cover in the city has reduced to 0.1 tree per person whereas to maintain a healthy urban environment the ratio should be 1 tree per person. 

PNLIT is a very small team and we do not have the strength to take on this responsibility as well. However, given the vital need to protect not just our lake but also trees in the locality we can consider doing whatever we can with your help. 

Mr. Saravanan, South City resident, has very kindly agreed to coordinate this initiative. Please spare a little time and volunteer to save at least the trees in our area. 

The next meeting with the Forest Dept. officials is on May 15th at 3.30 p.m. If you would like to participate in this Protect Arekere Reserve Forest campaign, please email Mr. Saravanan <saravanan_ss@yahoo.com>

Thanks

Usha