All new - flower, winter migrant, booklet

We weren't actually accumulating the news but all these happened together. As November came to a close we received our booklet (with little text and loads of photographs) on the evolution of Puttenahalli Lake; a couple of days ago we spotted the first flowers of the Passion Flower and yesterday morning  Madhurima, our bird census recorder, spotted a new winter migrant, a Striated Heron at the lake. We are unable to choose which one is more exciting hence sharing all three with you! The pictures may not do complete justice to the original but take a look. 

The PNLIT booklet is courtesy Earthwatch Institute India, our partner to bring citizen science and experiential learning to lake conservation. It is a beautifully brought out though in limited edition. The booklet may be seen here.

The Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata) has many petals arranged in a ring hence referred to as "Kaurav Pandav." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_incarnata.  It is growing on the pergola, giving company (future competition?) to the Clock Vine (Thunbergia coccinea). 

Passion Flower (Pics: Nupur Jain)

Clock Vine (Pic: Prakash Ananthpur)

The Striated Heron is a rarity in an urban lake like ours according to our in-house birder S.K. Srinivas. He himself has not seen it and is hoping to spot it today.  According to online info on the bird, it is also called Green Heron because of the iridescent colour of its back. It is said to be a creative fisher that uses a bait such as a leaf or a small twig which it flicks on the water. The curious fish  becomes food for the heron. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striated_heron  

Striated Heron (Pic: Madhurima Das)

We do hope Srinivas, Madhurima or indeed anyone of you reading this mail will go to the lake, spot the heron and photograph the bird baiting the fish. And send us the photograph/video. :-)


Madhurima also sent another photograph which simply had to be shared - a Little cormorant landing on the head of a Kingfisher. Tsk .... tsk ....! Birds are no less than human kids. 

Cormorant on Kingfisher (Pic: Madhurima Das)

A happy Sunday to all. 


BestUsha

Lake stories

Once in a while our best laid plans go awry at the lake. For instance, from the time the lake was getting rejuvenated in early 2010, we had reserved a prime space for a Red-Silk Cotton tree (Bombax ceiba). It is deciduous but the flowers more than make up for the absence of leaves. The beautiful bright red flowers attract birds in hordes. They visit not just for the nectar but also for the water that collects in the cup like flower. But it seemed impossible to get a sapling. Finally, Mr. Ramachandran, a regular visitor to the lake got us a packet of seeds from the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun!  

In our enthusiasm, we planted the seeds directly in the soil instead of soaking them first. Out of 10 or 15, two sprouted. We planted one ceremoniously in the reserved site and waited for it to grow and flower. It did but what do you know, the flowers were white! It was a Ceiba pentandra  and not Bombax ceiba

By the time it flowered, it had already become a young giant. Apparently, the Kapok tree can grow up to 150 ft! Fortunately, the space should be enough. Let it grow and flower all it wants. We've shifted our hope to another silk cotton we'd planted some years ago. It is yet to flower. To be on the  safer side, Mr. Ramachandran got another batch of seeds, this time insisting on Bombax ceiba. For want of space, we have kept the seeds safe. 

White silk cotton, Jan 2018

Space constraint for trees led us to think of planting vines. Climbers on the fence, we knew, would invariably flower outside and not share their glory within the premises. We decided to put up a pergola. Out of three designs, we chose one by Mayapraxis. Grants from  Misys and VMWare gave us a pergola that, by the looks of it, will outlast even the youngest among us, trustees. 

We needed three species of climbers which Nupur and I chose and planted in Feb. 2018. Her favourite was Passion flower (Passiflora incarnata, "Kaurav Pandav") while mine was Indian Clock vine (Thunbergia mysorensis). Our mutual preference was for Clematis terniflora (Sweet autumn clematis). To my delight, the Clock vine quickly climbed and began to spread. Exactly as we had imagined, the flowers drooped from the height but they were red and small, not shell like maroon and yellow! It was Thunbergia all right but coccinea not mysorensis!

Thunbergia mysorensis, Oct 2018

We recover from these googlies quickly because, well, one beauty is replaced with another. It is not so easy to reconcile with shocks humans give us. Recently a gentleman telephoned and posed question after another. The only one for which I had no answer was this: "But why do you want birds at the lake?"

Ouch!

Best regards

Usha