The Home Zoo.....Ideal homes with brilliant architecture

Text and Pictures by – Nisarga Srinivasa

Nisarga Srinivasa is a budding naturalist who lives in a residential layout in the outskirts of Mysore and has the privilege of having the Urban Wildlife at her door step. Her interest in them has prompted this observation. She has joined in an Engineering College to do her computers.  Hasiru Hejje congratulates her on her first article. 

Nest of an Indian Robin

The mother earth provides equal opportunity for every living thing. My parents purchased a piece of land and built a house on it. This was being used by many other living beings prior to that. There were a few shrubs grown, insects made their homes in them- Grasshoppers, beetles, butterflies and moths. Ants and termites too must have had their burrows and tunnels in the ground; there must have been many other living things that visited or occupied the land upon which we built our house. How selfish are we! We demolished so many homes of others' to make ours. But now I feel happy because my home is being home for many other wild friends as well. For the past ten years many birds have constructed nests in and around my house and they have successfully introduced healthy and fit progeny into this world. Among many such nests there are few nests which fascinated me and my younger brother. I would like to share a few of my experiences with you about those nests.

NEST-1: It was a Sunday and I was helping my mother clean the shelf which was in the backyard. I stood up on the stool and had a cleaning cloth in my hand. I was about to clean the upper shelf but suddenly noticed a small heap of twigs and plant fibre at the corner of the shelf. To my surprise it was a nest of a bird. The nest was placed in the corner of the shelf and contained 4 nestlings of Indian Robin.

I was very happy to watch the ‘to & fro’ movement of the parents with food in their beak. Every time they went near the nest the nestlings would make little noises. It appeared that they made noise as soon as they sensed the presence of their parents. After a week,to our surprise, the nestlings were ready to fly from their nest. Only two of them successfully flew away but the other two could not make it. The successful just hopped out from the upper shelf and landed on the ground without harm on to the ground. The parents and the nestlings seemed to have a vocal debate and the nestlings remained huddled on the ground for almost half a day. The parents must have fed them right there. Later they succeeded in flying out of the house along with their parents. The parents bid good bye to their nestlings in some time and left the backyard.

NEST-2: I had been watching Sun birds in my backyard with something in their beak which they would attach to the mopping cloth hung on the cloth line. I knew what was happening and informed everybody at home not to disturb the cloth. After a few days a beautiful nest was ready. Never could I believe that these birds could tuck in their nest between the folds of a cloth.  More astonishing was the trust that these birds had developed upon all the inmates of our house that included my inquisitive brother, tidy conscious mother, a dog and an occasionally visiting cat.

Nest of Sun bird attached to a cloth  hing on a line

Two eggs were laid in the tiny nest. In a week’s time both of them hatched and were rapidly growing. I found them cordially adjusting inside their cozy home. They grew up healthy with all the care and constant nourishment their parents brought in. I saw them feeding on small spiders, tiny aphids, soft bodied larvae and pollen combs.  One day they silently flew away.

NEST-3: My father had made a wooden nest box and attached it to the grills in our backyard. One day we saw some kind of dry grass and other fibrous materials inside it.

Nest of an Ashy prenia

A closer look revealed that, it was the nest of an Ashy prenia and had two eggs in it. Within a few days I saw the parents nurture their young with food and protection. Here they brought up two broods successfully, in spite of the presence of a cat lurking around.

NEST-4: Post, Post.....the post man called. By the time I could go and receive the post, he had dropped it inside the post box. I opened the post box to pick up the letter. I picked up the letter and found something beautiful. It was the nest of INDIAN ROBIN with nestlings inside.

The Indian Robin nesting in the Letter box

This time I watched the parental duties of both the birds. They meticulously search for the food and feed their young ones. I wonder how the parents determine what their babies are in need of. They bring in a variety of food species with in no time. They are always scouting around on the ground and bring in tiny, soft bodied larvae, nymphs of grass hoppers, small grubs, aphids, and late in the evening the termite alates !

They are vocally communicating all the time and always keep a watch on their nest. They enter the post box only after confirming their security and privacy.  

Rewards for a Night Patroling Naturalist

Night jar the Master of Camouflage............ Pic by Guruprasad B S 

Sangamesh is a budding Naturalist who has begun to register his observations. He is perceiving his graduation in Life Sciences in Yuvaraj's College in Mysore. This is his first piece on his observations of  urban wildlife in Mysore. We wish him a warm welcome and a long journey in the field of Natural History. 

-Picture and Text -Sangamesh Matad

A Night jar by night..... 

Chuk chuk tukaroo. Chuk chuk tukaroo!!!  The sound persists all through the evening around our house in the outskirts of Mysore. It was mainly regenerating scrub jungle all around that stood upon fallow lands. There were a few patches of grass that told the disuse of agricultural plots. Soon after dusk I hear this very prominent and common call. Me and Anirudh a friend in my neighborhood decided to find the source of the call. We were both interested in the activities of nocturnal wildlife around us. With my earlier experience I was able to confirm that it was a bird not any insect.

 One night we set out equipped with the best of torches and camera we could have. My friend was keen to photograph it. It was dark and we tiptoed towards the direction of the call. It was quite exciting to walk in the dark without the torch on. We went by the direction of the bird call. Every time we got close to the sound it used to come to a halt making it impossible to find the creature.

A pink pebble like egg on day one

All species active by night exhibit a special phenomenon. When a beam hits their eye their nictitating membrane glows, making it easy to find the animal. I used this technique to spot and found out that it was a bird. I held the flashlight close to my eyes; almost in line with my vision- there on the ground I saw a bright brick red fleck. Only the dot was visible, we had to move further closer. Our presence disturbed the bird and it flew away in the dark. After several attempts we were able to get close to the bird. We crawled inch by inch and with help of flashlight I could see the markings in the bird. Its unique sitting posture on the ground, black markings on the body and more than half a dozen whiskers on its moustachial stripe on the head region where clearly visible. After a few minutes it took a leap into air. As we were close enough we got a glimpse of the white patch on both its wings, in the primary region. It did not fly very far but just took a flit. All these actions confirmed me that it was an Indian Night jar (Caprimulgus asiaticus).

We patrolled the fields for a couple of weeks and gradually got used to move around in the dark and find the bird. Out of curiosity I added one more activity to my night patrol. I took stock of the locations that the bird frequented and stared to visit them at dawn. I could not get a clue about what exactly it was doing at night. There used to be anywhere between 5-10 locations we visited every night. The following morning I regularly went to inspect the spots. During my morning visits I used to see reed warbler(Acrocephalus arundinaceus), white backed munia (Lonchura malabarica), Indian robin(Saxicoloides fulicata), jungle babbler(Turdoides striatus), turtle dove(Streptopelia orientalis), ashy prenia(Prenia socialis ) and few more bush birds, very common to the area. As usual, I never found the night jar in daylight for many days.

One day I saw the same pattern of a bird flick off from the ground at a distance in the direction I was approaching. The flight pattern and the brown body with black patches made me sure that it was night jar. It was actually in the eucalyptus plantation of around 50-60 tress. I was very close to spot from where it took a leap. All I could see from where the bird took off was leaf litter and tiny twigs fallen of the tree. There was no appreciable grass. A healthy acacia sapling that must have been browsed by a passing goat sat there with its branches spreading out at ground level in every direction. I avoided going close because of its uninviting white thorns. I just stood staring at the sapling and suddenly saw a very fine pebble with smooth and polished texture standing out from the rest of the innumerable pebbles stewed all around. The pink pebble like object got my attention. On closer observation it showed pale reddish patches all over it. I walked further closer and was delighted to see an egg. Now, I wanted to find out if it was of dear Night jar. I was busy that day and couldn’t check it out immediately.

An additional egg the following day enhanced my joy and curiosity by two folds

 The next day morning I could not hold back my curiosity. The first thing I did was to walk away straight to the location. The bird sensed me from a distance and took a flick. Well my doubt was cleared now. The night jar was sitting on the egg to incubate. With the bird not being on the spot I went closer and was delighted to see another egg.

What I was unconvinced was that there was no nesting material as such under the eggs. Both the days I found the eggs on the ground. The place seemed a little bit cleaned and that’s all. As I had seen the bird incubating, I had to be very conscious in proving that it was the nest of the bird where it sat with its clutch. I’ve come across many incidents where the bird had abandoned its nest because of the handy work of photographers. Sometimes very little interference such as pruning of twigs for the requirement of photography or inserting a twig for providing a perch has become deterrent to the nesting birds. Some often clear the surroundings of the nest in order to get their desired picture. To them it is a simple drab looking leaf or twig almost dried if not dead.

A creature so perfectly adapted to live by deception. Thanks to its camouflaging colors .

They play a very important role in protecting hiding the nest from predators as well as giving it a mechanical support. As the nest was on the ground, the eggs where very close to the acacia sapling and the thorns on the plant gave an efficient protection.

 That acacia sapling adjacent eucalyptus tree was my reference. After two days when I visited the place, I was disappointed to see a small branch fallen on the sapling. I rushed to the spot as I was at a distance to check on the eggs. And I was surprised to see night jar there. It was so camouflaged that I thought it was a piece of wood. For a minute I thought that I was deceived by the bird and wondered how many others it would have. Of course it took no time for me to realize that the very its survival relies upon deceiving others. It’s been more than a week since I began these cautious visits to observe the nest. I’m waiting with eager to watch the arrival of the chicks. I am desperate to know what the night jar does with them and where will it take them to.

From all these days of observations, I’ve some questions to be answered by the night jar. I always used to see only one night jar upon the nest; I’ll assume it to be its mother. Where is the other partner gone? Doesn’t it show up and change over upon the duties of the parents? Or are they have been doing it and I haven’t observed it? How will they manage to protect the chicks once born?

Chintu's Birth to colour of Silence

Satwik Mishra- a poet in the making

Last evening I had a phone call from an old student who introduced himself and mentioned the publication of his first work of poetry.  I was overcome with joy and for moment fumbled to recollect old memories. A collection of poems Colours of Silence is brought out by Partridge Publication, a sister concern of internationally renowned Penguin. For the time being this is available on the net edition and one can purchase for their ‘kindle’ reading. By the time I glanced through the book I could recollect the character and the sequence of events of the yester years…. My collection of books had his first hand made publication titled ‘Chintu’s Birth’ intact. I had repeatedly made its mention in the class for years to inspire other students.

 

A testimony of perseverance

Someday darkness will not have sturdy feet,

Someday, it won’t wear the mask of defeat.

But it shall regain another shape and new idea,

And creep into the vast oceans of life and death.

-          Satwik Mishra

I read through “In the last minute” of Colors of Silence, a collection of poems and amazed by the ability of this boy as he turned in a young man. I have been reading his writings since he was in class 7. That was my first year of service at Amrita Vidyalayam, Mysuru and was handling Science and English for his class. Being a class teacher I still have fond memories of that bright boy, Satwik who wrote stories and poems in the class.  He was a voracious reader and had finished reading all the poetry and fictions in the school Library. His affinity for literature was felt by his classmates and he had carved out a special niche for his taste for literature.

A teacher's best reward- a Student's  sincere effort  

One day he also came out with a self-published, home-made, handmade book. For him, a writer had dawned in his debut creation ‘Chintu’s Birth’. It was a neatly typed booklet with a jacket made of pink art card. There was no graphic on it but plain hand written text beautifully inscribed with a typo in the author’s name. There were a number of mistakes in the book but the joyous moment never made me look at that adventurous fete as an examination script. I was thoroughly impressed by the boldness of the boy in expressing his creativity and novelty. Many of his classmates would not have even made observations about the physical structure of a book. Many students will fail to recognise out of the way extra-curricular pursuits at that age and those of whom who pick up will sustain it for long. But Satwik is persistent in his literary creations. As a good sign his poems like ‘the Walk’, ‘the poem’ and ‘the last glance’ have appeared in Bizz-Buzz magazines.

He is growing up, literarily, intellectually, emotionally and academically. A second year student of engineering in SJCE, Mysuru, he is showing promises of being a potential writer. AS a teacher I anticipate more from his pen in the years to come. In Chintu’s Birth he wrote ‘I wish you would have liked the story. Well, Chintu was five year old. Well, see you in the next series’.  Years have passed; I have come to like his success story and waiting for the next series.

Post Script:

Shall I say that I taught this boy English in Seventh grade? Rather I choose to say I learned English better with him. Students like Satwik are a source of inspiration to learn for any teacher. I wish all success to this budding Indian poet.

- Geetha H

Post Workshop Pondering

Looking for a quarry of ants

There has been a lot of coverage in the news about the two workshops we conducted over the past two weeks. And writing about the same thing in the blog would look like self boaster. However, all the dozen newspaper reports are just about the inaugural function and wholly contain the statements made by the chief guests. The prologue of the workshop or the stuff it delivered to the participants were not mentioned anywhere. Without these matters getting across to the public and the target audience the Workshops become meaningless and self defeating.  We felt that there should have been a mention of at least the follow up activities that are planned as part of this year long programs.

Participants indulged in Specimen collection

Both the workshops were aimed at enhancing the capacity of the Life Science Teachers.  We believe the teachers would be able to inspire the students much better with a practical hand-on method of teaching rather than the conventional rote method. The content of the workshop included a lot of activities to be done within the classroom as well as the out doors. Every resource person endorsed the same irrespective of their topics.

 Dr. Prasanna of the Azeem Premji Foundation who spoke about the power of the outdoors advised ‘you just give a small toy lens to the child and show him the way to look through it; it becomes a microscope or a telescope in the child’s hands, one day’.

Some basic lessons under the fig tree

 Dr. Soumya Kumar, who spoke on the varying interactive modes out rightly belittles the strength of verbal mode of teaching and defends the power of hands on experiences. He holds to the fact that the single most important challenge before the teacher is to make learning a participatory exercise. The concept of participation in most cases bypasses the role of the teacher because of the mental blocks we have as teachers. A teacher is also a participant and should be a collaborator instead of an authoritarian. Adding pun he calls such a mind set as that of a "dictator" (one who just dictates notes). Beyond that a whole set of negative factors such as the size of the class, location of the school and a number of bureaucratic set ups puts our education system not only malfunctioning but absolutely non-functional in this regard. However he did not leave the session with a depressing note. He brought in the concept of the eighth intelligence and mentioned eminent personalities like Galileo, Newton, Charles Darwin, Rachel Carson, and Jane Goodall as the personalities who possessed it. He stressed the need to nurture such traits among

Mrs. Mujeeba interprets the Western Ghats for participants

st the younger generations.

Celebration of Vanamahotsava during the Workshop

Smt. Geetha suggested a number of classroom activities as well as the ones to be done in the outdoors. She endorsed the newness of the CCE method in her session titled ‘Out door Activities for Life Science Teaching’. The participants were introduced to numerous activities that come handy in teaching Life sciences….those that could be suggested for individuals, groups or that could be taken into a mode of a game involving the entire class.

Of course Smt. Champa Jaiprakash, clinical psychologist who spoke about the Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder also mentioned the remedial measure Nature can bestow upon the normal and children with special needs. S J Srinivasa and Mujeeba Khanum proudly took the participants round the museum galleries and explained the way teachers could make use of the galleries as an extension of their class room teaching. The Nature walk and the theater component introduced in the workshop were a hit in itself because of their participatory Nature. Thanks to Dr. Roy, the Nature walk had made the participants realize that they had learnt more in a matter of hours than in all the three years of their stay in the degree course. Probably it was the clarity that they achieved about things they had already heard about, that got them so impressed.

Theater person Jeevan Kumar exposed the participants to the basics of theater exercises and tried to throw light upon subjects like body language, expression, intonation and the kind of etiquettes that the teachers would find it very essential for their profession. In case of the second workshop it was the would-be teachers and they couldn’t simply say good bye after the valedictory function on the evening of  Saturday, the 11^th on the lawns of the Museum.

Conclusion of a successful workshop- the begging of  a Follow up.....

As part of the program it is now our turn to get back to the colleges who had sent in their students for the workshop. The response for our invitation for the B.Ed College was thin. Of course it was a bit of a wrong time for them as they were all in their practice Teaching sessions.  But we had a Saturday and Sunday; that is something too precious to be lost-especially for the salaried class of this country.

Participants of Trainee teachers' workshop

Trainee teachers workshop in Prajavani Metro!

Meeting up with the Legend

Dr.Pranjalendu Roy

On the following day the participants were called in an hour earlier than usual and were taken out into the garden for an out door session. We thought of creating a memorable moment for the life science teachers who represented some of the prestigious schools of the city by providing them a chance to meet up with Dr. Pranjalendu Roy, the retired Scientist from Calcutta. He was in the campus early morning and there were some of his old friends and enthusiastic birdwatchers from Mysore interacting with their field observations.

He is a herpetologist and specialized of frogs and snakes. Being a close associate of the legendary herpetologist Dr. Dutta of the ZSI fame. Dr. Roy had worked with the National Museum of Natural History and served in Mysore for nearly a decade between the nineties and early 2000s, before he was posted to Bhubaneswar from where he served the Regional Museum there till he retired. Like he was one of the torch bearers of building up of the Museum at Mysore along with Dr. Sethuramalingam, Dr. Roy captained the establishing of Bhubaneswar unit also.

 

Dr. Roy with teachers

His power of inquiry and the non hesitant nature in indulging with the living world had made him an excellent Naturalist of our times. He is such a field worker who excels anything from taxonomy to taxidermy.  His theoretical knowledge and logic makes him an ecologist of our time.

The teachers sat around him wonder-struck listening to his discourse on various topics. Every passing insect had a chapter of explanation with him. His narration of the mating process in dragonflies and their life cycle mesmerized the teachers. Without any comment or an iota of taunt, he brushed aside all the ignorance of the teachers and earnestly poured out information in reams. The fact that the dragonflies eat other insects and are eaten by frogs was itself astonishing to them; and accepting that, as insect larvae they take upon tadpoles was challenging.

Dr. Roy in an outdoor session

His experience of retrieving the skeleton of a wild tusker that died in a deep gorge was a breathtaking story in itself. Getting the permission to collect the specimen for the museum, physically lifting the 3 tonne animal carcass to the museum premises and cleaning the flesh…which he said the maggots did it for him! Then came another sort of beetles from out of the blue to clean up all the ligaments. The search for a thousand paper cutters required to tear up the elephantine flesh at Bhubaneswar was the first hick up. Then the empty petrol barrels required to process the huge femur bones of the gentle giant was difficult. In the era of plastic barrels finding twenty empty Petrol barrels was next to impossible and had to be brought in from Calcutta.  Then began the 'cooking- festival' of the savage-kind. The bones were boiled for days in the metal barrels to get rid of the flesh. The skull which would not fit into the barrel had to be cooked upon a huge catering vessel used during the marriages. Of course the owner of the vessels must have been wondering what great festival did the Museum have to be hiring his pots for such a long time.

Every memoir he pulled out of his undated dairy fascinated the novice teachers who had no field experience in biology what so ever. The potter’s wasp, honey bee, their communication, parasites in frogs and so many issues were touched upon in a very casual and graceful manner. An experienced teacher openly admitted the distance she had between her theoretical knowledge and actual facts in real life situation. 

He insisted that every teacher should build a small museum in the school for their children. Practical, hands on experience is the only inspiration a child could have for a strong foundation of science in him. Without strong basement of logic and spirit of inquiry no community can thrive in independence but depend on somebody who knows to apply science.

Teachers' training workshop for in-service teachers

Adding Life to Life Science Teaching: Hasiru Hejje team with trainee teachers

Adding life to Life Science Teaching: News Paper Coverage!

Teacher trainees' workshop- 2015

Teacher trainees' workshop Inauguration by Dr.
Pranjalendu Roy

B.S Yogendra addressing on the presidential speech 

Champa Jaiprakash on ADHD

An outdoor interactive session

Workshop for teacher trainees

News coverage in City Today: 09/07/2015

Adding Life to Life Science Teaching

The CF and Director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve presenting a serious talk

‘The World is losing 2.5 hectare of Forests every minute’ echoed the papers of Mysore on Saturday, reporting the inaugural address of the Teacher’s Training Workshop organised by Hasiru Hejje. It was rather disappointing to read the same title in many newspapers.

 The previous day, twenty five teachers of various schools around Mysore had gathered in the auditorium of the RMNH for the three days program designed to be a capacity building exercise for the in-service Science teachers. It was meticulously planned to introduce new concepts as well as methodologies for the teachers to carry back.  With a lot of newer concepts emerging in the field of Conservation biology and they being applied at the grass roots, we had decided to bring in H C Kantharaju, conservator of Forests and the Director of the Bandipur National Park, who is known for his good administration and Oratory skills.  Beyond his Inaugural address, he was also part of the Workshop and delivering a theme talk on the very first session. His in depth knowledge, and every day experience with the management of the Tiger forests captured the minds of every teacher. The simple and straight forward slide presentation had a few gory pictures of victims mauled by Wild animals; they were, as the pictures of electrocuted elephants and run-over tigers very disturbing.  The conservator held the imagination of the participants with his bombarding details of history, Natural History, Science and politics involved in his everyday life.

 He spoke of his success as well as shortfalls.  There were a lot of minute details of the Tiger issue and the numerous policy stands that the Govt. had regarding it. He did stress the need of the Science in modern day conservation, like he did upon the role of teachers in motivating youngsters to good citizenry. He mentioned the role of NGOs and the volunteers in Tiger conservation.  But I don’t know why our papers uniformly caught a very old and now stale statement of the United Nations quoted by the speaker for their headlines.

The participants went through the museum gallery and had a feel of how best it could be used to inspire their children with science and facts about Nature. It was followed by an outdoor discussion about the sixth intelligence and Nature smart kids. The day was called off after a documentary upon the life of Sir. David Attenborough.

ANTing in the campus

Participants collecting ants

In search of ants

This year we chose Ants as the subject of in-house study. The participants were briefed and sent out with voile into the museum garden to pick up a few ants for study. Even teachers found it amusingly difficult to catch these tiny creatures. Some got on all fours and crawled on the lawn and few tried to reach up the higher branches of franjipani trees. All the quarries were mounted on a digital microscope and projected on the screen for explanations. Sixteen species of ants were collected in all. S J Srinivasa, Artist and modeler at the Museum made a slide presentation on the identification and behaviour of the ants.

Ants in voile 

Fixing the ants

An insect through digital microscope

An insect examination

Participants looking at an anotomical exhibit

The post lunch session was a slide talk by Master trainer, Dr. Prasanna Kumar of the Azem Premji Foundation. He chose to talk on ‘Living with Science-Explore and Experience’ and started with a small video clip made upon the narrative of the Gia, the mother of Earth. With breath taking visuals and mystic narration the film conveyed that Mother Nature doesn’t need us but we need Mother Nature. He said what he found through years of experience - to develop love and concern for the earth, one needs deep, absorbing nature experiences; otherwise the relation remains distant and abstract without touching one deeply.  His lessons on Constructivism and Behaviourism made the concept of education more baffling to understand.  He used the examples of three Ganesha idols- one made of wet clay, the other made of hard Rock and another moulded in Plastic; the benefits and setbacks of each of the idols were explained, clarity prevailed over the topic. 

Dr. Prasanna Kumar on Constructivism

He showed the success story of Mission Mars and compared the joy the huge big team of scientists had on its completion of the mission of sending in the pictures of the red plant and the joys of success of a class room project. He insisted the teachers to give a small hand lens to a child and that will one day become a microscope or a telescope.

The day culminated with some activity based on word building that was shown in three different variations.

The workshop kick-started