A DAY IN THE WILDERNESS

Monsoon Magic 2 At My dearest TUNGA

2006-07-31T22:57:00.000+05:30

##PLANTS##

Cistanche- A root parasitic plant.. It is seen growing below the Karvi Plants... Flowering seen In monsoon.. Belongs to the family Orobanchaceae or Broomrape Family.
Commelina forskalaei- Commonly called Bearded Commelina...Belongs to the Spiderwort family known as Commelinaceae.. A monocot...

Impatiens chinensis- Chinese balsam is its common name.. Again a regualr onsoon herb.. Belongs to the family Balsaminaceae...Beautiful tiny pink flowers are the wonder....!!!
Brynea- A plant flowering in the months of June-July. Commonly called Cup and Saucer plant... The picture shows the opening of the fruit.. It belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae where there is a typical presence of Tricarpellary fruit tht can be seen here clearly...
Begonia crenata - A monsoon plant growing on the elevated part of land or on slants...
Belongs to the Family Begoniaceae

Begonia crenata
Ensete
Impatiens chinensis
Lagerstroemia parviflora
Commelina forskalaei
Brynea (Fruiting)
Curucuma pseudomontana
Curculigo orchiodes
Cistanche
Lia

CEC's Monsoon Dhamaka - 30th July

2006-07-30T10:24:00.000+05:30

Enchanting and MAgical Green--- Thats (Funsad) Phansad

2006-06-29T22:01:00.000+05:30

Dear all i have posted the Pics on my flickr site too.. THis is the link.. ENJOY...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30956481@N00/show/

Flowers of Cup ans Saucer Plant - Brynea
Broken Twig moth
Common hedge blue
Black Prince
THe group lost into Bird watching
Angled pierrot
Pair of Vultures

Enjoy the Pictures !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wil be loading my report and lists too...

CEC - A MarVeL (The trip of boons)

2006-06-16T15:27:00.000+05:30

Hot Birding trip At TUnGArEShWAr

2006-05-04T15:43:00.000+05:30

AT TUNGARESHWAR ON MAHASHIVRATRI DAY--

2006-03-01T23:06:00.000+05:30

THE ULTIMATE MANGROVE TRIP

2006-02-08T10:26:00.000+05:30

Mangroves have always fascinated me from the day i have started knowing about them. I am quite passionate about the enchanting world of mangroves though i have hardly been regular in going to visit them. After long time i got to go on a trail specially meant for MANGROVES. Nevertherless i have been seeing them whenever i went to any wetland habitat for birding.... THis trail was organised by me for the BNHS NORTH MUMBAI GROUP on 5th Feb to commemorate WORLD WETLAND DAY which was on 2nd of february. I along with Mr. Paralkar lead the trail with an aim to promote the importance of mangroves. We were apporx 14 of us. Though the trail was scheduled at 8.00 am, i along with a friend went on the trail at 7 am so as to scan the area and present the best to the people. Doing so we got to see the sun rising and great SUNRISE shots.... THe whole area was bathed in pinkish orange and to go along with it was the pale still purplish water body. Walking along we were looking for subjects of importance for the trail. Apart frm the beautiful morning and sun rise the other things that enthralled as totally was an forest calotes. We found him on a the same branch aft the an hour when i came back again with the group. LAZY FELLOW. We walked for half hour clicking panoromic shots as that was the only thing possible due to bad light. We returned back to find the group assembled. After a brief introduction and a small talk by me on the aim of the trail we started off. I intially stressed more on plants, talking about mangroves and their uses. Slowly we also started talking of other aspects like birds and lizards, insects, etc. We talked about Avicennia marina var marina, Avicennia officinalis. I wil make a brief mention in my list at the end. The activity of the ashy prinia was worth noticing. They were busy jumping around, chirping loudly and showing off their tail proudly.. We walked discussin on Mangroves in details. We had to cross a bridge which connects the small outlet of the thane creek along whose shores lay the beautiful mangroves. From the bridge we saw the Pond heron waiting patiently for its prey absolutely still, a small blue kingfisher who sat on a branch for a while, a green sandpiper, and pied starlings at an distance. Turning to the path parallel to the creek we saw our first mangrove plant flowering. Its the Mangrove apple tree or Sonnertia apetala . On the same tree we saw a climber which is an mangrove associate called as Derris trifoliata. We walked along for some more time. We saw the juvenile of preying mantis, White cheeked bulbul, Rosy pastors, on our way. THe day was turning terribly hot which made us wrap up the trial officially. I wanted to show the group one of the rare mangrove species which was on the Naigaon west. All agreed to it and we walked back to station to cross and go to west. While walkin along the salt pans we saw a beautil WESTERN REEF EGRET, solitary and roamin around hunting for food. We refreshed ourselves at one of my friend and also a participant of the trail Sharon's house. Aft a quick brunch we walked to the mangrove patch. Most of them refused to walk through. I agree on their part as it was filthy, smelly and dense patch. THerefore we were just 4 who finally went in. We got pictures and then turned back. One of the person accompanyin us was a Phd student in plant taxonomy and he was quite happy to see it.We were so lucky to get Rhizophora flowering and fruiting. ANother friend showed as one dead specimen of A beautiful baby russels viper. It was clearly killed. WAlkin back i got a great image of the Long tailed shrike as if posing for me. OVerall a great trip. To end it in a better note i got a lift in rickshaw by my friend till vasai which was a enjoyable ride by itself as passed through beautfil green patches.

ENJOY THE PICTURES!!!!!!!

THE EARLY MORNING VIEW. THE RAILWAY TRACK LIES ON THE RIGHT.

THE GLORIOUS SUNRISE

EARLY HOURS OF THE DAY IS AMAZING. tHE BEAUTY IS STUNNED AND STILL

vIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE BRIDGE IN MY 1ST ROUND WHICH WAS AT AROUND 7.AM

THE GARDEN LIZARD SUN BASKING.

thE SOLITARY BEAUTIFUL WESTERN REEF EGRET

wESTERN REEF EGRET AGAIN!!

SOME KIND OF RESIONOUS EXUDATION FROM THE shirish PLANT

pREYING MANTIS WAS A ENCHANTING INSECT TO SEE

thE 1ST MANGROVE SPECIE WE SAW IN FLOWERING. Sonnertia apetala belonging to family Sonnertiaceae. Commonly called Mangrove apple!

Long tailed shrike gave me an excellent pose. I love this bird!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Same fellow on a bare twig. Loved taking his picture!

THE mighty SNAKE. ONE OF THE DEADLIEST VENOMOUS SNAKE COMMONLY FOUND IN MANGROVE AREAS- Russels Viper

THe beautiful Rosy starling . THey were found in abundance every year during winter. But this year they were quite less.

THe STILT ROOTS OF THE RED MANGROVES- Rhizophora mucronata /apiculata --need to confirm.
THe LAZY Lizard. He was the same fellow who stayed on the same plant, same branch for more than hour after the time we had spotted him earlier.

LOOK AT THE IRONY HERE.

climBERS IN ASSOCIATION. SO MANY TOGETHER
tHE MANGROVE ASSOCIATE- Derris trifoliata. A climber with beautiful pink flowers belonging to family Fabaceae

Rhizophora flower buds

Our birding area. THis is how it looked after the sun was completely out. In the picture u can see the Western reef egret and the Cormorant!!

Rhizophora fruits

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY
Plants
1. Avicennia marina var. marina ( Grey Mangrove)
2. Avicennia officinalis (G M)
3. Salvadora persica ( Fruiting)( Seen gregariously and been liked by birds)
4. Derris trifoliata ( Beautiful pinkish flowers)
5. Sonnertia apetala ( Beautiful off white colored flower; flr without petal, with a umbrella shaped stigma and numerous anthers)
6. Acanthus ilicifolius ( Sea holly)
7. Exocaeria agallocha (Milky mangrove)
8. Sesuvium portula-castrum
9. Ziziphus jujuba (bor)
10. THespesia populnea
11. Clerodendron inerme
etc

Insects
1. Preying mantis
Butterflies---
2. Grass jewel
3. White orange tip
4. Salmon arab

Birds
1. White cheeked bulbul
2. Western reef egret
3. Rosy starling
4. Asian pied starling
5. Pond heron

6. Green sandpiper

7. Black kite

8. Ashy prinia

9. Little egret

10. Median egret

11. Common tailor bird.

12. Crow pheasant.

13. House sparrow.

14. House crow

15. Long tailed shrike

16. Small blue kingfisher

17. Greater cormorant

etc

MIsc

1. Garden lizard

2. Forest calotes

3. Russels viper (snake dead)

THE AMAZING HSBC BIRD RACE

2006-01-26T10:49:00.000+05:30

This report is completely on the bird race that i participated. The HSBC bird race 2 was an amazing experience.
Date - 22nd January 2005
Participants- Rahul Chavan, Neelam Mukherjee, Dr.Sangeeta Dhanuka, Devyani Sahastrabuddhe, Myself ( Team captain)
Team name- Chestnut shouldered Petronias
Visited Places- Tulsi lake area around SGNP, IIT powai lake, Forest club garden in hiranandani, Sewree, BPT road....

### REPRT WUD BE ON SOON!!!!@@@@

Walking through the interiors of forest!!!! Amazing experience.!
The view from the small dam on TULSI LAKE
The beautiful view of the lake through the TREE COVER

The purple sunbird that we found in abundunce

A part of the tulsi lake again where we saw the paradise flycatcher dippiing itself in water!!!!

I christened this fellow FAN_TAILED DRONGO. It was the bronze drongo in flight!!!

A solitary Black drongo

This is a lifer for me!!!! Hold on !!! I dont mean seeing a CROW or SILK COTTON FLOWER!!! I have never sen a crow Feeding on silk cotton nectar. After this shot was taken that smart fellow took away the FLOWER ALong with it !!! CROWS ARE REALL FOOD ENTHUSIASTS. !!

A flock of cormorants near the tulsi lake. COOOL SIGHT!

THE POWAI LAKE- our second birding spot!!!!!!! The place sported a beautiful panorama with lots of birds and also cool breeze!!!!!!

The Whiskered TErn flying fast in the Powai lake

The purple swamphen and purple heron at the Powai Lake.

THE OSPREY WITH A CATCH !! This was one of the bird of the day. We stilll ae unable to figure out wat he caught. We did see the whole thing happen. I mean we saaaw him swoop down, grab something and fly off in majestic fashion!!!!!!!!!!!

The Beautiful GREEN BEE EATERS. Rahul took photo thinking that there was only one bee eater. It was after seeing the image he realised there were 2 in his frame.

The female Golden oriole completely camouflaged actually. I had a tough time spotting it to my team as it was looking as another green leaf. I saw it perching so i knew where she was!!

The Long tailed shrike which we saw on the BPT road while returning back.

NIC visit 3rd sept

2005-09-04T13:38:00.000+05:30

Tailed jay, the most difficult butterfly to photograph
A skipper
Leopard butterfly

Huge clumps of Brackett fungus
Grey Pansy

A small common flat

PIED MINIVET BALSAM PANSY BLUE BOTTLE WOOLY SCARE- BASSEIN FORT

2005-08-16T00:00:00.000+05:30

On 14th august 2005, a Sunday I had been to Bassein fort for a nature that was organized as programme for BNHSnorth mumbai group. We had a great outing covering decent number of sightings of different categories.
We started at 8.30 sharp from the bus station at Vasai. We soon reached our starting point and started of right away with introductions. The first things to welcome us were the huge dilapidated walls of the fort and the Palms and Baobab trees. We also encountered the Pink Balsams in bloom which was a great sight. We passed by a lot of butterflies that were attracted to these balsams. We stopped at regular intervals to take pictures of the monuments and the wildlife around it. The exciting surprise at the start was an beautiful camouflaging nest of an Purple rumped sunbird which was active. We saw the bird and nest for quite a time from a distance. Thanks to adesh’S spotting scope we had a good look from a distance. Further ahead as we walked along we saw various butterflies like the great orange tip, yellow orange tip, cerulean, white orange tip, common crow, lemon pansy, choclate pansy, grass yellow, common gull , etc. I and Nelson were following up taking their pictures. Nelson was completely lost and engrossed in those butterflies. I had my first unforgettable moment for the day when I saw a woolly bear moth caterpillar creeping over my arm. For few moments I just got scared as I felt him go under my sleeves. I called out for the rest and one of my friend came to my rescue and removed it with a stick. The eerie feeling followed me to the rest of the trail. Then we went past a beautiful chapel where we saw the excellent architectural work. We looked around to see if we see anything interesting amidst the greenery there. Then walking along we saw white browed bulbul and jungle babbler both on the same tree. Then we came across the vibrant bird of the day- The Small Minivet. We saw both the male and female pretty clearly as they were steady and conspicuous on they seated themselves comfortably on a tree. We saw them very clearly thru the scope. Walking past the ruins which were covered by moss and wooly bears and spiders , we were greeted by some beautiful nests of the weaver birds. We saw a amazing Brookes gecko on a wall of an graveyard. We also saw the spotted dove under the scope. Here again the wooly bear didn’t spare me as I had one again this time on creeping near my neck. I had enough of them for the day and every time checked around for them. The next sighting of the day was the Pied crested cuckoo which was giving us its beautiful call and its magnificent sight. We had an excellent view thru the scope. Walking past these natural beauties we reached our break stop, a canteen near the Fort Jetty. At this point you tend to even see some water birds. While resting I spotted a weird bird flying. As I had no binocs I asked Ashwini to look at it. She jumped with joy and told that it was an Curlew probably. Adesh too saw and thought it could have been an Whimbrel or an Curlew. We also saw the a tern which adesh told could be a gull billed tern. Then we moved along and saw copper smith barbett, crow pheasant, a pair of cute White cheeked bulbul sitting with each like girl friend and boyfriend, Small blue kingfisher in a pair flying along, White throated kingfisher, baya weaver birds and Ashy Prinia. One of the wonders of the trip along with the Mighty baobab trees where the Baya weaver birds’ nest which were easily more than 50 on a single palm tree. Most of them where quite active as we could saw lots of birds flying around the nest and making a lot of ruckus. The Key attraction for the whole group was the Clumps of Nirgudi bushes which were thronged with Butterflies. We were amazed to see so many varieties at the same spot. The butterfly of the day was the Blue bottle and Tailed jay. Other attractions where the Peacock pansy , wanderer, rounded pierrot, striped tiger, etc. We ended our trail with an revision taken by adesh on the sighting of the day and boarded the bus by 3.30. It was a day of mixed feelings. First the eerie and sacary feelings of the wooly bear, second the excitement of using my new camera for my first wildlife photography expedition , discontent of having unable to take pictures of Minivet and Blue bottle and Tailed jay as my battery got exhausted and finally a joy and delight with the results of my camera and our sightings.
The list goes as follows,
BIRDS
1. Pied crested cuckoo
2. Small minivet
3. Cattle egret
4. Purple rumped sunbird
5. White throated kingfisher
6. Small blue kingfisher
7. Baya weaver bird
8. Scaly breasted munia
9. Red vented bulbul
10. Red whiskered bulbul
11. Common iora
12. Greater coucal
13. White cheeked bulbul
14. House crow
15. asian palm swift
16. Ashy Prinia
17. Common tailor bird
18. Eurasian golden oriole
19. Common myna
20. asian pied starling
21. Coppersmith barbett
22. white browed bulbul
23. Alexandrine parakeet
24. Rose ringed parakeet
25. Jungle babbler
26. Puff throated babbler
27. Brahminy kite
28. Black kite
29. White breasted waterhen
30. Pond heron
31. Gull billed tern?
32. Spotted dove
33. Whimbrel or Eurasian curlew
34. Cormorant

BUTTERFLIES
1. Lemon pansy
2. Peacock pansy
3. Chocolate pansy
4. 5 ring
5. White orange tip
6. Great orange tip
7. yellow orange tip
8. striped tiger
9. glassy tiger
10. blue tiger
11. Plain tiger
12. Common wanderer
13. Common gull
14. Common emigrant
15. Mottled emigrant
16. Common pierrot
17. Psyche
18. Pale grassyellow
19. Danaid egg fly
20. Great egg fly
21. Pioneer
22. Common jazebelle
23. Common rose
24. Common mormon
25. Tailed jay
26. Blue bottle
27. A common small flat
28. 2 skipper group ones unidentified
29. 2 unidentified
30. Painted lady
31. Plum judy
32. Common lime
33. Blue oakleaf

Some unidentified moths

Plants flowering
1. Impatiens balsaminae
2. Cleome viscosa
3. Vitex negundo
4. Lantana camara
5. Oxystelma esculentus
6. Wild bhindi flower
7. Justicia speices
8. Costus speciosus
9.Wild turmeric

Many more of them in non flowering condition along with moss, ferns, lichens, algae, mushrooms.

Misc
Crab spider having caught danaid egg fly
Giant wood spider
2 unidentified spiders
Brookes gecko
Bull frog many hopping around
Bats
Grasshoppers
Wooly bear caterpillar

THE AMAZING BASSEIN FORT

2005-08-15T23:19:00.000+05:30

A flat. Which one wil confirm and inform.

CEC's JADU

2005-08-10T23:46:00.000+05:30

photo courtesy Mr.Murlidhar

NAGLA WAS MIND BOGGLA

2005-07-30T23:41:00.000+05:30

Sorry for the late report. Due to Bad weather we had problems with power supply and my net started functioning just yesterday.
Entomology outing to Nagla block, an extension of the Sanjay Gandhi national park on 23rd july was my first entomology outing. We had a great time there and saw ample of insects.
I had not revised much before the trail except for reading on the orders. I was quite excited as this was my first fultooo insect outing.
The first thing which caught our attention was the PLAIN TIGER on milkweed. We saw small caterpillar and egg on the underside of the leaves. Here shybha explained us how the caterpillar feeds on this poisonous latex. The caterpillar first makes a circular trench which enables the sap to concentrate on the other side of the trench. The Cp starts feeding on the central round portion which has minimal latex. It poisons itself in a small dose. Later when it grows big it stops the latex supply but cutting the main vein of the leaf.
We saw the female of the Danaid egg fly.
We saw a nymph of a grasshopper where shubha explained us about metamrphosis.
We sighted the enchanting Blue oakleaf butterfly which just melted our hearts.
Male common mormon
We saw the Striped tiger and Common grassyellow fluttering around.
We also saw the lady bird beetle. I donno why they call it so. Any idea?
Viren helped us with differentiation of Bugs and Beetles.
We saw a couple of frog bugs one after the other. The second one definitely confuse me. But they are really cute.
Then our fortune continued to shine on us as we got to see the Bird droppin moth pretty close.
Noctud caterpillar
Chinese Impatiens ( A beautiful small monsoon flowering plant)
Mitragyna parviflora, the mighty tree which is the food plant of Atlas moth.
Commelina benghalensis.
We saw a couple of cute looking weevils on a plant. I have only seen them in our lab bottles exemplifying pests.
We saw a carpenter bee in our magnifying jar and observed the pollen basket.
It was followed by the beautiful , unsteady and never stable Tailed jay on sitting on Wild tulsi which was giving as a tough time to photograph.
Humming bird hawk moth
Skipper butterfly
We saw a few weevil’s house. They were beautifully rolled up like a bidi. The weevils first give a cut to the leaf and then fold it and gradually make a roll like a bidi. Leaf starts drying up and falls off. Soon they rot and the grub ( young one) feeds on it.
Unidentifyied hawk moth caterpillar.
Yam hawk moth caterpillar
Bag worm moth
Plum judy butterfly
Slug butterfly caterpillar
Yam fly on Dioscorea
Forest cockroach
Malabar flat
Blister beetle
Bush cricket
Bark mantis
Looper caterpillar
A pansy caterpillar
Jewel beetle
Many Plant bugs on an single twig. Amazing sight.
Wooly bear moth caterpillar
Bush brown butterfly
Chocolate pansy
This is just half of the things that we Saw as my listing ended as I started of with photography using CEC’S camera.
Anil pinto and a few others wee fortunate to see a Oriental dwarf kingfisher. I was unlucky again.
Another interesting part was the encounter with another blue oakleaf specimen who made me and Doreen built a huge gap between the group and us. We took a few picts of it with open and closed wings.
Whenever I have been for plant trails I have seen many ppl crib aft a certain time abt how many plants to rem. I felt quite the same as soon my recording capacity of the brain stopped. There was so much insect life around , one cant imagine.

KALOTE MOKASHI WATERFALLS

2005-07-21T00:36:00.000+05:30

Write will be put up soon. MEanwhile enjoy the images.

A RAINY RETURN

2005-07-18T23:53:00.000+05:30

Yesterday that is on 17th August we* had been to a bird watching trip in Vasai Mudflats. It was the BNHSnorthmumbaigroup programme. The place has a small borderline of mangroves left as the whole place is converted into saltpans. This place can be very well seen from the train while traveling between Naigaon and Vasai. I have seen 20 odd flamingoes and Painted storks in these region from the train. Therefore with an objective to see some waders and Flamingoes we left for this place at around 8. The climate wasn’t so rewarding in terms of rain at the start of the trail. Therefore we did get good pictures of the trail.
To begin with my first bird was the flock of Black headed munias in the Swampy marshes. We proceeded further and were welcomed by calls of Ashy Prinia, Plain Prinia and the egrets. We saw these prinias at regular intervals. Mr.Murlidhar one of the persons in the trail captured beautiful images of them which u can see in this following blog. http://vasaimudflats.blogspot.com/
There were 3 new birders in the group who were overjoyed to see the birds though there weren’t many. Walking further along we saw huge flock of egrets. A few of us also saw 3 painted storks flying at a distance. The other sightings included the western reef egret, Pond herons, Cattle egret, 2 flamingoes in the immature or non breeding plumage, Black winged stilt. We saw a raptor soaring above us and very close which is more likely to be an Honey buzzard. Other than these birds we saw the Derris trifoliata and Clerodendron inerme both mangrove associates flowering along the trail. We also saw a garden calotes virtually doing acrobatics in the Meswak bush. There were lots of mudskippers and Frogs in the muddy waters.
The overall trail was for apporx 2 and half hours. The weather all along for an hour and half was gentle and pleasant. We also saw a rainbow which displayed its 7 colors beautifully in the sky. Thanks to rakesh who spotted it while seeing some birds. The return part was incidental as it rained heavily to my satisfaction and dismay of others as they all had to travel back in train wet and soggy. Ofcourse no one complained and all enjoyed the rain. Trail yielded very less birds nevertheless it was fun as we got to interact with new naturelovers and also got the essence of rain in beautiful surrounding.
Samir has also taken some photos which he wil post soon.
Team- Myself, Mr.Paralkar, Mr.Murlidhar, Mrs.Jyotika kini, Samir, Kunal, Viral, Aparna and her father, Rakesh.

Dhab Dhab gire waterfall

2005-06-29T22:39:00.000+05:30

I had to go to Pune on 28th of june. I was to take the deccan express which is scheduled early morning. I had been told that it was raining pretty heavily in pune and I therefore knew what I can expect on my journey. As soon as I crossed the urban areas , the land occupied by building and constructions were taken up by open green patches. Within half hour the clouds became generous and started off pouring. I did a weird thing to the surprise of the other co-passengers. I wore my raincoat and kept the window open. No one had an objection to it as I was the only person occupying an 6 seater bay. We passed lands that looked like green ribbons with darker green paths in between and also beautiful hillocks. The best part was when we were approaching lonavla and khandala. The complete scenario changed as we approached the tunnels and the ghats. As a child the dark tunnels and the landscapes outside it fascinated me . I remember I used to run here and there in the train trying get a glimpse all the beautiful views which these ravines and hills offered. Though I had an window seat I envied the person sitting at the other end because he was getting to see the best landscapes. It was number of waterfalls, green meadows and thick woods. But envy short lived, as I proved to luckier. Many waterfalls were at close quarters to my window side. There were few massive falls which just made me faint with joy. I was attempting to take pictures but train was fast and I could not have put the camera out in the heavy rain. I passed the beautiful wallpaper scenes. I have totally freaked over these waterfalls. I was so tempted to get off there and just walk along the beautiful path. I was jumping off my seat every now and then with every fall passing. The sky was overcast and showed no intention of stopping the downpour. Finally this journey of paradise was slowly ceasing away with the urbanization coming in. This journey was unforgettable one as I was traveling alone for the first time to that destination and also kept myself awake to feast my eyes with those beautiful landscapes though I was feeling dead sleepy. The tree Acacia arabica was also in full bloom with the beautiful yellow flowers.

A trip to Paradise

2005-06-27T22:40:00.000+05:30

26th june, a Sunday is one of those days which has made a permanent mark in my memory. After months of stress and tiredness this nature trail came to an rescue. Monsoon is indeed the best time soothe urself and wash away all the tensions and one place that is a must visit during monsoon is Tungareshwar sanctuary.I went along with a group enthusiastic and nature loving group coordinated by Doreen. The rest included Marge, Jayshree, Meera, Naseem, her 2 nieces, 1 nephew ( the youngest and most enthusiastic 5 yrs), Sakina, Harish, my bro dhananjay and sujata. I joining the grp came as a surprise as I contacted them in early morning b4 the trail.We left for the sanctuary from naigaon as the journey is very beautiful. U pass through beautiful green pastures which is indeed enjoyable. We started walking down from the main gate. At the start we saw a golden fronted Leafbird, heard Indian cuckoo too. We were not very lucky otherwise with birds as it rained frequently which made us keep our binocs inside. We passed patches of green and also rocks flowering with chlorophytum and many climbers. The vitis is flowering and therefore attracting a lot of butterflies. I was highly fascinated by the color of the leaves which were maroonish when young. We also came across a Calotropis plant which had around 10 painted grasshoppers on it. The crowd went wild with excitement. All the cameras were out and we could not decide which was the best specimen. PG of different sizes were on the plant. It was simply gorgeous. We also saw housefly mating. As we moved further we passed through farms and farms of the Wild turmeric ( Curcuma pseudomontana) and ground orchid. We also saw big patches of the chlorophytum lily. We also saw Sheval ( Amorphophallus commutatus) scattered all around. One local lady was plucking those and when asked she told us that when cooked it’s a delicacy. We took our first break at the tea stall near the temple. Till the time tea arrived we 4 of us went behind the tea stall to have a view of the beautiful waterfall and the landscape around. From there we proceeded for the biggy that is the waterfall at the top. The whole journey was just awesome as it was raining cats and dogs and the whole place was covered with fog. The level of visibility was also minimum. The trek was pretty long one and time consuming. Ofcourse we didn’t realize the time running and also specially noon time. Rather than being hot it was chilly. The wind whipped through us sending shivers throught he spine. I was getting drenched completely as I had not carried any rainwear on purpose. That was an major reason for my joy as I would not have had a better opportunity to get wet. We saw many birds flying around and hiding in the thickets. The ravines and valleys had a number of waterfalls which were small now but would become huge gradually. I was at optimum level of excitement to pass through the mist and fog. We also passed the waterfall which was quite small now. We drank the water there. We finished our late lunch nearby and returned back. The wind was very strong there and we could see nothing in the valleys or also the paths as it was just pure white. Our next stop on our return was the tea stall at the temple. Our group split there as half of us decided to go to the waterfall to get wet. Initially we walked upwards and realized that we were at an higher level and going down towards the falls from their would be challenging and impossible with kids. So we retreated back from there and walked thru the stream. As we were running short of time we stopped at a small fall and a decent part of the stream. We bathed heart out and returned back pretty contented. We were dead tired and worn out. I have heard of matheran being beautiful and also seen pictures supporting it. But let me tell u this was quite similar that of an Matheran monsoon time.

Day with FLAMINGOES ( Dec 2003)

2005-03-26T12:21:00.000+05:30

An Evening with Flamingoes
After having an eventful day in the morning we had had a splendid evening. I and Sagar had been to Shewree for bird watching. The place was the dockyard near the colgate factory. There were many asian palm swifts welcoming us and so were the crows and pigeons.
Reaching the place which was exposed to the sea we grounded to our feet after seeing the sight which was waiting for us. Their were thousands of flamingoes on the muddy areas near the mouth of water. There were around 5000 of them. While walking along the shores we noticed mangrove plants and some beautiful birds like the white wagtails moving around making beautiful sounds. Kentish plovers, common sandpipers, accompanied them. We walked a little further down; we climbed on to a motorboat to have a better look at the birds. We got more birds to see like the gulbilled terns, ruddy turnstones, Eurasian curlew, black-headed gulls, little terns, lesser flamingoes and greater flamingoes.
The prized sights were the flight of these pinkish red colored flamingoes. It was a precious and million-dollar sight. To observe with a photographer’s view was something different than a normal vision. I was awed and struck by the beauty of the flight of the flock of these pink beauties.
Overall it was a great day and I immensely enjoyed my experience.
Rgds
vidya

TRIP TO GLORY ( 22nd august)

2005-03-26T12:04:00.000+05:30

Dear friends
Well here goes another report of mine. This Sunday i.e. 22nd August I had been to Gawalideo hills in Navi mumbai. It was a trail of the BNHS navi mumbai Chapter lead by Mr. Isasc Kehimkar and Mrs. Daya Tilwe. The participants were bubbly kids of the St.Marys school and few collegians along with the rest of the BNHS members. I have been to this place last year exactly during this time and this is how I got introduced to Navi mumbai’s flora and fauna ( and BNHS navi mum chap).
The walk was planned in the Gawalideo hills which is actually a regenerated forest and promises beautiful flowers and a magnificent Waterfall.
After a brief description of the group leaders and the members and a introduction of the place the walk began. With the enthusiasm filled in the hearts to see the flowers esp glory lily the trip we were in the conquest of the glorious red flower. We began with Daya mam talking about the flowering and non flowering plants as mentioned by Dr.Tarin in his mail. She explained skillfully the difference between a moss ( non flowering) and the flowering plants ( cocks comb, etc) She also explained in simple words about the monocots and dicots etc. As it was a regenerated forest the trees and shrubs along the path were made of Hibiscus, Cashew nut tree, Vilayti chinch, Pongam, ixora, agave, bamboo, etc. Further the rest of the patches were filled with the beautiful pink beauties ( cocks comb). Here I caught a baby garden calotes. Its body colour was attractive yellowish green colour unlike its mature adult colour. Isaac sir mentioned that it would have just hatched. It was indeed very beautiful. Further we walked to discover that there was no actual path seen which indicated that it was still not disturbed by human explorations. We could work out the path which we had taken last year. The only difference between the path now and last time was that the paths are very well hidden by the bushes and herbs which fortunately proved that it is still safe from the human interruptions. The resultant spot where we reached was the patch of purple pink and red. Streams of cyanotis and Murdania made ground look purple with cocks comb and Balsam gave a beauty upliftment to the place. The star of the place was the tree plant of Glory lily. The beauty of the clusters of flowers was mesmerizing and enchanting. We had a quick brunch there and returned back. We also saw a spotted dove, spittled bug, frog legged bug, etc.
I was expecting to a snake and felt unfortunate not to see one. My sorrow short lived as my joy knew no bounds when one girl exclaimed that she saw a snake. Isaac sir hurried to the spot and held a baby bronze back snake. It was so beautiful. I got the opportunity to take it in my hand for a long time. It was in my last visit I got the opportunity to release a rat snake and now a bronze back. This place is indeed lucky for me in terms of plants and snakes. Honestly the enthusiasm to watch these flowers and insects took away our much attention from birds. Nevertheless we heard sunbirds and robins calls. We also saw many butterflies. Well I end the report here giving a list of the sightings. Please add if I have missed anything
Plants- ( F- flowering , NF- Non flowering, FR - fruit)
Gloriosa superba F
Morinda tinctoria FR
Ceiba pentandra NF
Lagerstroemia reginae FR
Sesamum orientale F
Celosia argentea F
Cyanotis fasiculata F
Murdania sp. F
Neanotis lancifolia F
Anacardium occidentale
Cassia tora F
Pongamia ppinnata
Grewia tiliaefolia F
Lantana camara F and FR
Calotropis gigantea
Ixora coccinea F
Momordica dioica F
Curcuma pseudomontana F
Justicia procumbens F
Eriocaulon sedgewickii F
Trichodesma indicum F
Physalis minima F
Impatiens balsamina F
Neuracanthus sphaerostachyus F
Sida acuta F
Tridax procumbens F
Carissa carandas
Bamboo
Adansonia digitata
Sterculia urens
Bauhinia purpurea
Tectona grandis
Adiantum ( maiden hair fern)
many fern species
Anthoceros
Riccia
Bracket fungi
Misc
Crabs
Baby bronze back snake
Short horned grasshopper
long horned grasshopper
Frog legged bug
Baby garden calotes
Juvenile preying mantis
Common immigrant butterfly
Common crow butterfly
Danaid egg butterfly
Great Egg butterfly
The trip was a great success as we got to learn so many new things. I am just in love with that place and I am just wishing for another monsoon visit there. Thanks to Isaac sir and Daya mam for their info, we really learnt a lot. We also enjoyed a lot woth the enthusiastic kids.
We missed u Deepa, Adesh and Vijaya mam for the trip.
Rgds
NATURELOVERVIDYA

Fortifying trip at the BAssein fort

2004-11-13T01:41:00.000+05:30

Yesterday evening I along with my friend Keith and Mr.Anil Pinto went to visit the Vasai Fort. We had been there to mark a trail at the fort as a nature trail for BNHSnorthmumbaigroup has been proposed there on December 12th.
We had a great time as we got to see different aspects of nature. It was around late noon (4o’clock) when we reached there by Keith’s car. Did quite a good bit of trailing.
The place is quite close to the coast and inhabited by the fisher folk. We were welcomed by scrutinizing looks of the fishermen who were working near the fort premises. As we got down from the car we saw the beautiful creatures of the insect world. The striped beauties and eyed pansies blessed us in huge numbers. Looking around for more such butterflies we walked past number of flowering plants and spiders.
In fact I realized the true sense of the term spooky yesterday when I saw in a small patch 15-16 cobwebs hanging with big bulky female giant wood spiders waiting for their prey. They were sssssspppppoooooookkkkyyyy!!!!!!! It was so certain that if one doesn’t watch his/her step he/she would definitely land into a cobweb. But I should say what a masterpiece of architecture. We could observe these spiders closely that even the marks, lines on the bac all were clear. The butterflies indeed were successful escaping these danger zones.
As the place was filled with rocks, stones and boulders we kept our eyes and ears open to notice any movement. We passed many broken remnants of the fort. At one place we saw a rana tigrina, commom toad, brookes gecko and a reddish bodied gecko. No clue what it was. We walked past a small pond like thing which I suppose was the bathing place for the earlier rulers. The paths being narrow and green all along made us more excited. The climate was very pleasant little chilly. There were number of plants flowering like the Barleria , Hygrophila auriculata ( Talimkhana), Plumbago zeylanica ( insectivorous plants), Vigna vexillata, lantana camara, Costus speciosus ( spiral ginger), etc. We also saw the khakhujli ( Mucuna pruriens) fruit and another fruit of which I have no clue. The fruit was like the dry seed of mango with thorns and brown coloured. The Leaves were pinnately compound and had curved prickles on the underside of the leaflet rachis. Looked like a member of leguminosae family.
I have listed down the different butterflies seen at the end. We also saw a ahsy Drongo, spotted dove and some other common birds. I was lucky enough to have a quick glimpse of the fleeting paradise flycatcher female. It flew from one plant to another finally disappearing from the vision. It was gone before I could tell it to others. We saw the cricket frog tooo. The white stripe was so prominent. Another exciting sighting was a caterpillar of a moth/butterfly which was just ready to pupate. The caterpillar was bright reen in colour and had built a beautiful web around itself on a dry leaf. When I looked down it looked like stings but on close observation u could see the golden green threads. What a creation!!!!!!!!! All along the untrailed paths there were plenty of these talimkhana plants with their defending thorns. It was a difficult task passing them withour getting scratched.
We had to hurry up as we had another place to check out before it got dark. We got back to naigaon then and we ( keith, Sharon and myself) went to the mangroves along the railway. We saw a dog faced watersnake very well camouflaged under the wet and mud covered with water. It was awesome with its black bands. Size was around a foot. Before it got completely dark we saw long tailed shrike, pond heron and small bats, heard black headed munias too.
It was indeed a splendid day but unfortunately no photographs taken to show the great moments and ask some doubts.
The lists are –
Birds
1. Cattle egret
2. Pond heron
3. Spotted dove
4. Asian palm swift
5. White throated kingfisher
6. Ashy Drongo
7. Red vented bulbul
8. White cheeked bulbul
9. Paradise flycatcher female
10. Magpie robin
11. Purple rumped sunbird
12. Black headed munia
13. Long tailed shrike

Butterflies
1. Common grass yellow
2. 3 spotted grassyellow
3. Plain tiger
4. Common wanderer
5. Cerulean
6. Common gull
7. Choclate pansy
8. Common crow
9. Peacock pansy
10. Common psyche
11. Common rose
12. Crimson rose
13. Striped tiger
14. Blue tiger
15. Sailor
16. Lemon pansy

Plants
Lots seen but have written down the flowering or fruiting ones.
1. Barleria ,
2. Hygrophila auriculata ( Talimkhana),
3. Plumbago zeylanica ( insectivorous plants),
4. Vigna vexillata, lantana camara,
5. Costus speciosus ( spiral ginger)
6. khakhujli ( Mucuna pruriens)
7. Urena lobata. And many more.

Misc
Cricket frog
Rana tigrina
Common toad
Giant wood spiders in plenty
An about to pupate caterpillar
Dog faced watersnake
Brookes gecko
Garden calotes

KHARGHAR-SIMPLY AWESOME

2004-09-26T00:55:00.000+05:30

The final Sunday of this month was spent amidst nature again in the kharghar hills in Navi mumbai. The nature trail was organized by the BNHS navi mumbai group. Having Isaac sir and adesh to lead it was definitely a treat for all of us. I was quite excited about the trail as it was a new destination. The actual trail or the path rather was of 6km one way. It is a small hill called the chandbibi hills having a village settlement at the top. Though v had planned to trail along along the whole path v could not as most of the time was consumed by exciting and interesting birds, butterflies and plants all along the way. The first exciting thing was a barren tree loaded with birds. We saw couple of hoopoe, White throated kingfisher, long tailed shrike, red vented bulbul, black Drongo, laughing dove, pied myna, Indian robin on the same tree. I again had a plenty of first time stuff like the hoopoe bird, Datura metel plant, Sopobia plant, sesbania plant, mucuna flowers, many more butterflies too. Thanks to Isaac sir and adesh for the information given. Also thanks to adesh’s spotting scope which enabled us to see the birds very close. As v started climbing v saw plenty of frogs dead on the tar road, reasons only speculated. We also saw the Eurasian golden oriole being chased by the black Drongo twice. Moving on v came to a spot were there was a small but beautiful waterfall. The whole path seemed to look like v have come to lonavla and have been crossing those tunnels. The dusky creg martins were in good number were seen collecting nest material. I was mesmerized by this enchanting place and dying to go there again. The flora and fauna is pretty impressive. With the balsams ceasing away the color of yellow has taken over the purple. Its still beautiful.
It was altogether a very ‘DIFFERENT ‘ experience in terms of Adesh and in my terms
“AWESOME”
Please add in if I forgotten something. I wish we had vijaya aunty with us too.
I am also eager to click snaps of the people again.( esp vinay, divij, ria,). Wanna me take one???? It was fun. 1…2….3… click.
Bird list
1. Hoopoe
2. White breasted Kingfisher
3. Laughing dove
4. Indian Robin
5. Pied Myna
6. Common Myna
7. Long Tailed shrike
8. Small Green Bee Eater
9. Greater Coucal
10. Rock Pigeon
11. Spotted Dove
12. Black Kite
13. Oriental Honey Buzzard
14. Eurasian Golden Oriole
15. Black Drongo
16. Common Iora
17. Oriental Magpie Robin
18. Red Whiskered Bulbul
19. Red Vented Bulbul
20. White cheeked bulbul
21. Ashy Prinia
22. Plain Prinia
23. Common Tailorbird
24. Yellow eyed Babbler
25. Scaly breasted munia
26. Red munia male
27. Red munia Female
28. Dusky creg martin
29. Paradise flycatcher male

Butterfly List
1. Common grass yellow
2. 3 spotted grassyellow
3. Common Castor
4. Cupid
5. Plain tiger
6. Danaid Egg butterfly female
7. Skipper
8. Common wanderer
9. Hedge blue
10. Cerulean
11. Common gull
12. Common jazebelle
13. Great egg fly female
14. Yellow orange tip
15. White orange tip
16. Choclate pansy
17. Danaid egg fly male
18. Great egg fly male
19. Common crow
20. Gram blue
21. Peacock pansy
22. Common pschye
23. Syke
24. Common rose
25. Crimson rose
26. Striped tiger

Plant List
1. Datura metel ( Angel’s trumpet) Flowering . A herb with big white flowers.
2. Ipomea chinensis ( Morning glory)Flowering Creeper with purple flowers.
3. Alternanthera strictus Flowering . A herb with small flowers in clusters at the axils of the leaf.
4. Malachra capitata ( brazilian jute) Flowering. A herb with yellow flowers belonging to mallow family or bhindi family
5. Tridax procumbens ( Ek dandi )Flowering . A herb with pale yellow flowers of sunflower family
6. Sopobia delphinifolia Flowering . A herb with very reduced thin leaves and purple flowers with dark purple tinge inside the petals.
7. Celosia argentea ( Cock’s comb) Flowering. A herb with pink flowers.
8. Adiantum ( Maiden hair fern)
9. Ipomea sp. ( Red star glory) Flowering. A creeper with bright red flowers.
10. Sesbania bispinosa ( Ran shevri) Flowering. A big erect herb with yellow flowers with red dots on the back of the petals.
11. Crotolaria sp. Flowering. A herb with yellow flowers.
12. Crotolaria sp. Flowering.
13. Cyanotis cristata Flowering. A small herb with blue flowers. A monocot.
14. Commelina benghalensis. Flowering . A small herb with lots of bracts enclosing little blue flowers having 2 types of petals.
15. Mucuna pruriens ( Khaj khujli) Flowering . A annual climber, with dark purple flowers, sepals with silky and bristly hairs,
16. Trema orientalis Iron wood tree. Flowering. A tree with small white flowers on the axils of the leaves similar to the amla.
17. Urena lobata. Flowering. A small herb with small pink flowers belonging to mallow family.
18. Hibiscus lampas. Flowering . A erect herb with drooping yellow coloured flowers looking like a lamp post. A mallow member.
19. Cassia mimesoides . Flowering A herb with small narrow pinnate leaves having a shiny colour. Flowers yellow.
20. Teramnos labialis. Flowering. A herb with pink Flowers, fabaceae family member.
21. Heptis suavolens . ( American mint) Flowering. A herb with thick leaves having strong aroma. A member of the tulsi or Basil family or mint family. Flowers purple.

Misc list]
1. Fungoid frog ( dead)
2. Cricket frog( dead)
3. Blister beetles of various sizes in plenty
4. Spittle bug in plenty
5. Frog bug
6. Grass yellow butterfly’s caterpillar
7. burrowing frog ( dead)
8. Robberfly
9. Damselfly
10. Dragonfly
11. Garden lizard juvenile and adult
12. Painted grasshopper

MY FIRST TRIP TO URAN

2004-09-07T01:04:00.000+05:30

Well I have heard a lot from my bird watcher friends like Adesh, Shashank, Sagar etc about Uran as being a paradise for bird watching. I did not get a opportunity to be there till then. My expectations were very high when I went there. Adesh, myself, Shashank and Gaurav all of us boarded the Uran bound bus and got down at last stop and began our walk. Well it was indeed a huge walk and the result was great. No regrets walking and no muscle strains too. The opportunity to watch so many birds so close is worth than walking a few miles.
The panoramic view enchanted me and I was spell bound. With many first time birds, nests, bird sightings in close proximity, wild flowers , butterflies and moths, dragonflies and damselflies the place came alive. I was very excited and did not what to see first what next. I had to roll my eyes my around on the ground for flowers and on the sky for birds. It was indeed great experience. As heard about the place it is heaven not only because it has such beautiful birds but because it also promises many wildflowers that again are not seen everywhere.
Few sparkling moments or features of the day
# Number of plants belonging to Fabaceae family ( touch me not family)
# Saw nest of plain Prinia with 4 eggs
# Saw Baya weaver bird male very close
# More than 50 species of wild flowers
# About 70 glossy ibis
# ducks, coots, shovller, etc
#Dragonfly eating away a damsel fly partner when the damselflies were mating
As far as I recollect these are those golden poins. I w am adding the list now.

Birds
Little cormorant
Little grebe
Grey heron
Cattle egret
Median egret
Little egret
Cinnamon bittern
Openbilled stork
Glossy ibis
Gadwall
Eurasian Marsh harrier
Indian white backed vulture
Red wattled lapwing
Golden plover
Little ringed plover
Common sandpiper
Ruff
Pallas’s gull
Gull billed tern
Little tern
Little brown dove
Alexandrine parakeet
House swift
Small blue kingfisher
White breasted kingfisher
Ashy crowned finch lark
Common myna
Pied myna
House crow
Common Iora
Red vented bulbul
Yellow eyed babbler ©
Ashy Prinia
Plain Prinia
Indian Great Reed warbler
Baya weaver
Red munia ( M and F)
There might be a lot of birds I might have left . Please adesh, Shashank do the addition and corrections if any.
Plants
Bombax ceiba
Pongamia pinnata
Cassia tora
Hibiscus lampas
Malachra capitata
Thespesia populnea
Acacia nilotica
Costus speciosus
lantana camara
Calotropis gigantia
Vitex nigundo
Momordica dioica
Gloriosa superba
Celosia argentea
Trichodesma indicum
Physalis minima
Impatiens balsaminae
Sesamum orientale
Nymphea pubescens
Smithia sensitiva
Hygrophila auriculata
Commelina benghalensis
Leucena leucocephala
24. Tephrosia species
25. Adansonia digitata
26. Corcorus sp.
Many more not identified . I wil definitely would like to go back to find the names with resource people and books.
Misc-
Common crow
Common rose
crimson rose
Peacock pansy
Grey pansy
Yellow pansy
Danaid egg fly
psyche
White orange tip
3 spott grass yellow
Blue tiger
Striped tiger
Plain tiger
Signature spider
Garden calotes
Dragon flies and damselflies of various colors

THE AMAZING PATRI TRAIL

2004-08-20T01:00:00.000+05:30

Today being Parsi New year we did not have college. I thought why not utilize the morning to go for a nature walk and explore a new place. Therefore I along with my 2 friends ( neighbours) went to Naigaon the station next to vasai towards Churchgate.
There is a abandoned railway track that leads to unused the bassein creek bridge between naigaon and Bhayander. This bridge is now the medium of transport for the people staying in the panju village along the coast of creek. We began the walk on the patri at around 6.50 am in the morning.
We where welcomed by the melodious chirping of the tailor birds which were very active vocally. We also got to see them very close. The region along both the sides of the track were filled with fluttering streams of cocks combs and balsams that were waving gracefully along the gentle stoke of the wind. Walking further we also encountered many other plant species , butterflies, dragonflies and birds. We also saw red whiskered, red vented and white cheeked bulbul in plenty. They were very generous in appearing in front of us. We saw the ashy Prinia, cattle egrets, small egrets, flocks of cormorants, Brahminy kites etc on our way. The sighting of the Brahminy kite was also very close. Few butterflies that I could identify were the psyche, yellow orange tip, white orange tip, striped tiger, etc. We also saw certain butterflies that I could not recognize. The plant list I have given at the end.
Well it was fantastic trail as the end point of our trail was the tip of the creek where the bridge begins. We were awed by the massive waterbody that showed the ripples with supremacy and pride. The wind at the point was blowing fiercely and we had a tough time holding on to ourselves. As my friends were first timers for a nature trail , they were indeed fascinated by the beauty that a small spot like this provided. We thus ended our trail with the beautiful close encounters of birds and butterflies captured in our minds thanking God for creating beauty so close so near.
This place is worth a walk for 4-5 hrs as it also promises sightings of different snakes, birds very close and beautiful butterflies.
Plant list-
Impatiens balsaminae
Clerodendron inerme
Lantana camara
Celosia argentea
Cyanotis cristata
Trichodesma indicum
Clitoria biflora
Cyanotis fasciculata
Sesbania bispinosa
Cleome viscosa
Tridax procumbens
Acacia sp.
We saw the flowering of all the above plants

AN EVENING WITH FLAMINGOES

2004-03-19T01:08:00.000+05:30

After having an eventful day in the morning we had had a splendid evening. I and Sagar had been to Shewree for bird watching. The place was the dockyard near the colgate factory. There were many asian palm swifts welcoming us and so were the crows and pigeons.
Reaching the place which was exposed to the sea we grounded to our feet after seeing the sight which was waiting for us. Their were thousands of flamingoes on the muddy areas near the mouth of water. There were around 5000 of them. While walking along the shores we noticed mangrove plants and some beautiful birds like the white wagtails moving around making beautiful sounds. Kentish plovers, common sandpipers, accompanied them. We walked a little further down; we climbed on to a motorboat to have a better look at the birds. We got more birds to see like the gulbilled terns, ruddy turnstones, Eurasian curlew, black-headed gulls, little terns, lesser flamingoes and greater flamingoes.
The prized sights were the flight of these pinkish red colored flamingoes. It was a precious and million-dollar sight. To observe with a photographer’s view was something different than a normal vision. I was awed and struck by the beauty of the flight of the flock of these pink beauties.
Overall it was a great day and I immensely enjoyed my experience.

A TRAIL WITH A DIFFERENCE

2003-12-19T01:11:00.000+05:30

I am very happy to share my experience, which I had on 18th December with the mentally retarded children of the skills and abilities institute in Nerul. It was an wonderful experience and one of the golden opportunities to interact with these mentally challenged kids.
I am being the first person to arrive in the school was greeted with welcoming smiles by the kids playing on the ground. Returning there greets with a similar smile and words of ‘ good morning’ I proceeded towards the principal’s office. I met the principals of both the sections viz. deaf and dumb and mentally challenged Ms.Surekha Patil and Ms.Juee khopkar respectively. They briefed me about the institute and its works and showed me the splendid artwork of the children. They are true craftsmen.I short of words for appreciating the children’s work. I immediately decided to purchase a waste paper basket made from paper by the kids. It is a beautiful piece of work. Though it is a waste basket I am not going to use it as one.
Meanwhile the children were arranged in lines for prayer. The children to our delight sung the songs like ‘ man ki shakti hame de na datha, manka vishwas kamjor ho na!’. Later Sagar, myself , raghu and sunita along with some staff of the school led them to the garden near the school. By splitting the children into groups , older ones led by Sagar and me and the younger ones by sunita and raghu we completed the small trail. The children were very responsive and understanding. They correctly identified mango tree and mentioned many uses of mango.
Returning back we had a feedback session along with a slide show. The feedback was quite successful and so was the slide show. They properly identified most of the plants and animals shown in the slide show. I should say the I wouldn’t have got a better opportunity than this to be with children. The most interesting part was that the older children knew their responsibility of taking care of the younger ones and they did it wonderfully. When the time had come for us to leave we were gifted by a small bouquet made by these kids. What moved us more was the kids saying bye, shaking our hands and looking at us with a longing eyes that asked when we would be returning.