Riot of Yellow Tabebuia at the lake and more

Different parts of the city are aflame with the glorious colours of pink and yellow of the Tabebuia rosea and aurea. Just these two flowers in profusion make our city a very special place to live in. Our lake is not lagging far behind. We have only one pink Tabebuia but the yellow ... ah! It's truly a magnificent sight of a line of the Tabebuia aurea ... a shower of gold indeed! Even if you don't go anywhere else to see the blooms, do visit the lake. 

Tabebuia aurea

These are extra special because they were planted by our residents in July 2010 and because next to these is our pergola on which two of the climbers are flowering as well. 

Racing to catch up with the yellow Tabebuia are the line of pink Cassia at the Brigade Millennium end. The branches are already loaded with buds. 

While you are at the lake, do look out for the bird nesting boxes - One each on the Kadamba and Buddha Coconut. We plan to put up a few more. Heartfelt thanks to naturalists Mr. Uday Kumar and Mr. J.N. Prasad for donating these nesting boxes. 

Bird nesting box on the Buddha Coconut Tree

Our gardener Soma fixing a nesting box on the Kadamba Tree

Visit the lake and enjoy the riot of colours!

Best

Usha

Photos: Mrs. Parthasarathy, Nupur, Usha  

Hope in many forms

The fire that raged through the lake on the 16th of March almost killed our spirit. By burning several of our trees, it had made a mockery of our effort to increase the green cover in the area. The sun's heat, rapidly evaporating the water in the lake, sapped our enthusiasm as well. Whatever little water was present was getting covered with the Salvinia Molesta. Our many efforts to mobilize skilled labour to remove the Salvinia were making no headway. Attempts to get more residents to strengthen our effort drew a blank as well and only our regular volunteers attended our recent assessment meeting. Despite all these, we couldn't throw up our hands in despair. Not yet at least. Not while our trees and shrubs are growing so well. Not while our resident birds are, well, still resident. 

We got our gardeners to water the plants every day buying a tanker load of water every three or four days (we still do not have a reliable water source at the lake) in the hope of reviving them and they did! The ground around the trees may be black and the few dried leaves cling obstinately to the branches but new leaves are sprouting!! Fresh, green and tiny but spelling hope and promise of a new beginning. 

Peepal sprouting new leaves 

Flame of the Forest sprouting new leaves

Two trees, the identity of which had puzzled us resolved the issue once and for all by flowering for the first time. The trumpet shaped yellow coloured flower tinged with honey brown is unmistakably Gmelina arborea (Shivani in Kannada, Gamhar in Hindi). The other is the Tabebuia rosea (Pink Trumpet Tree), and there are two of them growing tall in the corner near the encroachment, adjacent the main road from Brigade Millennium. 

Gmelina arborea (yellow flowers on tree) and Bougainvillea (pink flowers)  

Today morning, birder Srinivas called excitedly to say that while passing by he'd spotted a Painted Stork in the lake. What? Despite the little water and the salvinia? This had to be seen to be believed. We rushed to the lake and what do you know? There was indeed one big Painted Stork foraging for fish! Giving him/her stiff competition were a large sized Egret (Intermediate?) and a Grey Heron. 

Painted Stork foraging for fish

Three large birds - Painted Stork, Intermediate Egret, Grey Heron

The things that give us such great pleasure may seem trivial and small to others but may the lake continue to surprise and enthuse us all!

Usha