Page 1-2 Agumbe
is a small village located in the Shimoga district, Karnataka. The village is
surrounded by the majestic rainforest of the Western Ghats, they are known for
the conservational attempts and the study of medical plants Agumbe is located
in a hilly wet region, It has tropical climate April being the hottest month,
December being the coolest and monsoons during July receives the highest
rainfall of… you wouldn’t understand if I said the average being 2,697mm but
imagine the water level of a nine foot cauldron the size of Agumbe village
slowly rising till the brim in a month’s
time. It’s recorded as one of the bio diversity hotspots of India.
In Agumbe, Romulus Whitaker a herpetologist had created a
wildlife research centre known as the Agumbe Rainforest Research Society (ARRS),
it is now a field based conservational and research organization in attempt to
create a biodiversity database and conserve the rainforest of Western Ghats.
What’s more fascinating about these guys is their methodology of conducting
these researches, they believe that as researchers; its vital to observe a
specie without disturbing them, as they carry out their mundane activities in
their own natural habitat, it is only then you can make an accurate assumption
of their behavioural aspect compared to putting them in a glass jar, where they
must and only be on ‘survival mode’ as you have extracted them from their homes
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Page 3-4 Apart
from the overflowing forests on the Western Ghats there are these unique
patches of land that compared to the forest are rather more open with lesser
trees and more grass, also known as grasslands, go figure. The reason for this
unknown but the land unlike the forest is embedded with laterite stone. These
patches are commonly termed as ‘wastelands’ and are assumed so by the locals
too. This particular grassland patch in Agumbe is termed as revenue land, its
open to people for buying and selling of the land. What people sometimes fail
to understand is that just because it may feel like barren land, there are no
creatures, there is no life but these grasslands are always erupting with
different kinds of species, ecological cycles and ecosystems. Just because we
cannot see it with our naked eye, does not mean it does not exist. It does, and
you will not believe it once you get exposed to it.
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Page 5-6 The
grasslands are some of the most versatile landscapes you will ever encounter. The
face of the land during summers is so strikingly different compared to during
the monsoons. They go through a complete makeover according to seasons. In
summers, the palette is more yellow, grey with the scorching heat ways and tick
bites. Whereas the monsoons are completely green, enveloped with fog and rain
and leeches that can grab on to you at any given moment. And after all this,
almost like a gift from the beyond; is the post monsoons, when these large beds
of grass have tiny white flowers peeking out from the tips, turning the entire
place into a wave of white.
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Page 7-8 The
grassland acts as a perfect habitat setting for ground nesting birds, Ground
nesting birds, are birds that build their nest on ground rather than on trees
as their feet are not equipped to sit on trees, they can still fly mind you,
they just prefer lower grounds, and because they prefer lower ground and nest
on lower surfaces, unlike the nest in trees, these birds need open space,
distance from trees and neighbouring predators that reside and hide themselves
in shrubs and bushes. The grasslands become an exceptional place to practise camouflage;
the grass matches the colour of their bodies and conceals them from the naked
eye.
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Page 9-10 All creatures have their unique ways of
using their environment to camouflage, and because so the Lapwing’s tend to be
more protective of their nest, as they are on the ground, and become more accessible to ground and flight animals. The
open ness of the grasslands gives the Lapwings an advantage of looking around and
spotting threat, if there are any. Compared to that of the rainforest as
everything gets conceal and the chances of getting predated are much higher
compared to the grasslands.
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Page 11- 12 The
lapwings arrive to the grasslands for one fundamental reason which is breeding.
They use the space to find mates, to nest and take care
of hatchlings until they grow and are ready to depart right before the monsoon
starts and turns the yellow-grey grasslands into green.
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Page 13- 14 The
first step to this practice is Courtship,
which means finding a mate. Now
before we proceed let’s get familiarized to the terminology.
Feeding: well we already know meaning of feeding,
Lapwings generally feed on termites and other kinds of invertebrates found in
the laterite stones.
Trivia: . By this time the lapwings are actively moving
around the grasslands feeding, sometimes
in pairs, sometimes by themselves and even in small groups, the lapwings can
get quite communal about these activities, they mostly come in groups of four,
while one lapwing is looking out for threats. This activity is conducted by
taking turns.
Preening: is when they turn their heads around and use
their beaks to clean the feathers, it’s their form of hygiene and keep themselves
clean.
Calling: not the kinds we do on phones, but very similar.
Lapwings are very communicative to each other, they use their calls to grab
each other attention.
Trivia: The lapwings have different calls for different
reasons, they use their calls to attract each other during courtshiping, where
as they use their calls to alert and sometimes scare predators away
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Page 15-16
Infact they are so alert during this period that even if you entered the
grasslands and the closest lapwing is a kilometre away, the lapwing will spot
you. And announce your arrival to the rest. They are territorial creatures and
usually always aware of their surroundings. And they are in constant
communication with each other.
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