A Naturalist’s Journal

by M. Yuvan

Our country is under the plight of a plethora of invasive species introduced from the New World, ranging from the Prosopis thorns to the pestering Cockroaches but one also hears the woes of Sweet Lime cultivators in the West facing the peril of our very own Lime caterpillars which I suppose have been unexpectedly taken back on return journeys.

Keeping a distance or even the concealment of one’s droppings is yet another attribute prevalent not just among insects and their larvae but all creatures that feature in the menu cards of many others.

Katydid. As soon as it relieves itself, the insect perfectly times a powerful back heel kick at the falling pellet, hurling it several feet away!

It doesn’t blare at any time of the day like a barbet just to keep reinstating that it too has a voice.

Firstly it knows very well that any sound carries best and unattenuated in cold and misty air, and hence it renders its song only at dawn.

the bird largely sings on a whole tone scale, a musical scale with equal intervals between its notes, which is the reason for the slight gloominess of its tune.

And probably like us, birdsong too evolves with changing times and merges and mixes when different styles amongst them meet.

The bird must have surely been touched by something beyond itself to sing a song so elaborate and evocative.

One can’t help but wonder whether the creature is inspecting for fish or contemplating over its own reflection.

many puzzled looks from lungi clad men who were all headed behind the bushes for the morning.

Hence wait, wait like K.Ramesh describes in his poem ‘not like an impatient child waiting for his father to bring gifts but like the tall trees in silence at night waiting to face the sunrise,’ as waiting is the act of witnessing life unfold beyond the constraints of one’s will.

Common Tree Frogs. But in comparison to the latter, toads are far more polite and discreet in their manners. For starters they don’t jump on your head or anywhere else from a window or a wall if they get frightened nor do they fall into dining vessels along with the tap water or clog wash basins by aestivating under the drains nor do they leave their frothy foam of spawn in drinking water cans. Worse is when an ill fated Tree Frog chooses to come and park itself right on the hinge of a door which is shortly going to be shut closed and then its skeleton remains stuck there for years to come.

it leaps into the air, several meters high, and on reaching the apex, parachutes down with its short wings out-stretched whilst uttering a series of shrill pitch perfect whistles. It lands now on a different bush or a different part of a fence, catches its breath and just when you would think that the bird is done with its display, it will leap forth into the air again and sing another succession of sweet whistles. Hear though that it whistles exactly thirteen or fourteen times during it descent. If its jump happened to fall short a bit then it would continue calling even after it has perched but the number of its calls remain constant. If you did bump into such a bird on your countryside wanderings then you have met with a Jerdon’s Bushlark. And this is how this lark calls out for a partner every morning.

The Skylark ascends high into the heavens till it is a tiny blotch or at times not visible at all, and then showers its song down from there while it hovers on its little pinions. It renders a lengthy improvisation which is modulated by the wind currents giving it varying dynamics, muffling its voice now and then making it loud and clear moments later, like it was playing around with the volume knob. The winds make its song more enchanting as it plays on our ears but its currents are what the bird fights, as they keep carrying it away downwind while the bird struggles to stay put where it chose to be. On a gloomy day a Skylark’s spirited song is quite enough to lift one’s spirits and so also did Shelley express in his “To a Skylark”- “Better