Why you should visit a nature reserve closer to home.

March 27, 2016May 11, 2018 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ Leave a comment

Invite an expert and take your family along.

We have a saying in India, “the home-bred chicken is as ordinary as your daily dal (lentil)”. If you have a nature reserve or green and wide open spaces in your backyard, you’re likely to take it for granted. You don’t visit it because you think it’s not going away. That’s how I felt about Jaberkhet Nature Reserve (earlier known as Flag Hill), which is only a twenty-minute walk from my home. I walk the forest trails often but not often enough. I visit the reserve to click photographs without quite observing or consciously listening.

Recently I joined an organized walk with expert environmentalists from two different fields: Chris Hails and Dr. Gopal S Rawat. Chris Hails who works at the Director level for WWI in Switzerland was recording bird sounds at the JNR while Dr. Gopal S Rawat, Dean, Faculty of Wildlife Sciences, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, was walking us through the local ecology of the area.

A demo of bird song recording

Dr Rawat

It was a rare opportunity and privilege to walk with these two very knowledgeable people besides being a great way to spend a morning. I began to hear and learn new things every step of the way. The JNR* has undergone an astounding transformation in a short span of time. Revived species of plants are visible everywhere. The forest is resounding with bird calls. One sees a variety of scat. The reserve takes on a different look every season. Right now, the Rhododendron trees are adding vivid bursts of red to the hillside. JNR is also home to various animals and birds that we didn’t know existed in our vicinity but for camera-traps that have digitally captured them. Seeing is believing!

I came away with a deeper appreciation of the space I share with wildlife and more respect for conservationists like Hails and Rawat, and their fellow environmentalist Sejal Wohra, who runs the reserve with a lot of passion and sparse funding. Moreover, it made me realise that the onus of preserving wild spaces like this rests equally on people like me and you – the community.

Sejal with visitors

Visitor with Viru the guide

Nature reserves and green spaces are vulnerable and do disappear to make way for “developmental” projects for several reasons. When that happens, species disappear overnight. So please, if you haven’t already, do visit a nature reserve or forest/lake/natural open space close to you. Pack a picnic lunch. Learn about species you share the habitat with. You may well be surprised by who and what resides so close to you. Take your friends along. Donate. It’s easy. Volunteer. It’s a little harder but certainly doable. Contribute in any way you can. Start a club. Share on social media. Keep your backyard and enjoy it too.

Rhododendron Buds

Tell tale signs

In full bloom

*JNR is a part of an initiative set up as a private partnership between the owners of the land (the family of the Late Shri J P Jain) and Sejal Wohra (Programme Director WWF-India). Thanks to their joint efforts JNR is a perfect example of what can be achieved with the cooperation of locals and the know-how of professional environmentalists.

: The local villages are involved in the protection of the reserve. Tree lopping and cow grazing have altogether stopped. The local are receiving training and employment and have turned into protector of the forests

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If you would like to get involved with JNR write to sejalwohra@gmail.com or visit http://www.Jaberkhetnature.com

Black-and-Yellow Grosbeaks Return to Woodstock School

November 16, 2015March 18, 2016 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ Leave a comment

The Black-and-Yellow Grosbeak (Mycerobas icterioides) is of the finch species(Fringillidae family). Old schoolers, they return every year to the same trees on campus in the quad*. You can hear them before you can see them because they are so well camouflaged. All you hear first is a gentle clicking sound as they nibble away. It’s almost relaxing! The stout conical bills are quite distinct and they’re fascinating to watch… if you can find them!! The male is a brighter egg yolk yellow and black. The female is speckled. They seem oblivious to the sound of school children and the bell, and they return faithfully eachyear. They’re obviously at home in Woodstock…like many of us.

The Black-and-Yellow Grosbeak. Photo: Lalitha Krishnan — The Black-and-Yellow Grosbeak (Male).

P1110968-3 — The Black-and-Yellow Grosbeak

*I did spot one in June though.

Grosbeak Alert From My Neck Of The Woods

#Black-and-yellow grosbeak (Mycerobas icterioides)

July 26, 2015February 6, 2017 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ 1 Comment

Last month I was drawn to a new sound. Turned out to be a Black-and-yellow Grosbeak. I have seen them here in winter, in clusters on a bare tree. Their bright foilage and distinct bills made them hard to miss. Frankly, I think the word ‘gros’ is bit unflattering.

Here is my recording of the solitary (June) visitor who seems quite content with perching and pecking. Watch:http://youtu.be/A0D_BTcW6TQ

The ‘Himalayan’ Deodar Outside

May 26, 2013May 20, 2015 ~ Lalitha Krishnan ~ 3 Comments

Before I pour myself a coffee in the morning, I sometimes find myself grabbing my camera as I just can’t ignore the latest arrival atop the Deodar tree outside my porch. Over the past couple of years, I have seen and heard multiple species of birds creating a ruckus with langurs sometimes foraging in the surrounding oaks or yellow throated pine martens scrambling up pines in search of bird eggs and fledglings. Hope you enjoy the photographs. They’re not the best quality because I’m way slower than my flighty subjects. While the majority of shots are taken from my porch I have also included photographs of birds from surrounding areas. Do let me know if I got the names wrong. I’m no expert!