In my
earlier blogs I had exalted the virtues of Jalvayu Vihar in (http://samundarbaba.blogspot.com/2010/06/bengaluru-days-jalvayu-vihar-in.html and http://samundarbaba.blogspot.com/2010/12/jal-vayu-vihar-turns-twenty.html .
I had written about the colony,
how it is managed, its people, flora and fauna. I noted that, the essence of
JVV is best captured in a poem written by poet and writer John McLeod, from a
small fishing town near Edinburgh, Scotland which beautifully sums up what the it is
all about; a colony where all of us live and spend our retirement in joy and
happiness.
If home is where the heart is
Then may your home be blessed
A shelter from the storms of life
A place of rest,
And when each day is over
And toil put in its place
Your home's dear warmth
Will bring its smile
To light the saddest face!
Merrily Tobin, visited Jalvayu Vihar for the first time in 1993. JVV
was then just three years old. She recalls “There were hardly any birds out
here. The trees were just about picking up and the campus had a dry, barren
look about it”.
Figure 1 - 1989 – Barren Main Road
and water tower
Over the next few years, JVV grew greener; the birds began to take
notice and slowly moved in and so did Merrily Tobin along with her mother, who
is a proud owner of an apartment here. Between her home and never ending demands at
the work place, she still finds time to indulge in ‘Bird Watching’. Now a
confirmed birder, she adds “My very first friends in the world were the birds
and animals in our garden. I used to
spend hours with the squirrels, the sparrows, the bulbuls, the magpie robins
and the numerous other birds that shared our garden with us. Birding to me
wasn’t just a hobby but my very existence.
Wherever I go , wherever I am,
the first things I notice are birds!”
JVV over a period of time has become lush and green with more than 700
trees in an area of 22 acres. Today we boast of variety of trees such as Neem,
Ashoka, Gulmohar, Jacaranda, Honge, Pepal, Sampige, Silver Oak, Bamboo, Teak, Tabebuia ,Akash
Mallige, Spathodea,Mango, Basavana Pada,Nagalingam,Parkar Palm,Tecoma,Gasa
Bela, Eucalyptus,Pine, Coconut, Jack Fruit, Pomegranate, Badami, Tamarind, Berry,
Butter Fruit, Papaya, Banana etc. A dedicated crew of 19 garden and conservancy
staff ensure the trees are well looked after and nourished.
Today, JVV
is lush, green and beautiful. It is no wonder that these tiny, noisy creatures
we call “Birds” have found a home here.
Figure 3 – Tree lined main road
Figure 4 - The area in front of water tower
Armed with
just a pair of binoculars, and a passionate desire to be one with nature she
has diligently kept note of the “Winged
Residents of JVV”
The number
of birds that have made JVV their home is truly amazing. Some are residents while others visit us
regularly and a few make guest appearances. She recently posted a documentation
of the birds that can be seen in Jal Vayu Vihar on the colony group E mail. I
found her work not only interesting but an eye opener to most of us. Today we
live in cocoons, enclosed in our own little make believe worlds – rushing to
and fro, meeting the never ending demands of work and home. We have no time to
reflect and ponder about life and nature. A hobby such as ‘Birding’ or for that
matter any hobby, can be very therapeutic, especially in this day and age of
high speed internet, instant communication, fast cars ,fast food and faster
pace of life. I strongly feel one should seriously inculcate some hobby and set
aside some time to pursue it. Being a part of the nature around us will
certainly help keeping one’s body and soul together.
With a view to making her work reach
wider audience, I have reproduced her effort in my blog. Hope this will enable
JVVians in particular and Bangaloreans in general to become aware of our
surroundings and help preserve the green cover of our city. May be one day we
will be truly the “Garden City” once again. When I requested her to give me
permission to publish her work - with all humility and grace she e mailed
- I went through this
document... but would like to ask you to please tone down the
"Merrily" bit... it's fine if you say "The birds in JVV sing merrily"!!!
Extracts from her E
mail in - jvvbangalore@googlegroups.com (Photographs
are from net)
1. Barbets
Our Gulmohar and
African Tulip trees have little nest holes, cut out by the“Barbets”.
2. The tiny
“Tailor Bird”
They sew the leaves of the mango tree near the West Gate each year to
create a tiny nest and manages to have quite a brood, a really noisy one at
that; it also nests in the Ashoka.
3.
Our other residents are the “Sunbirds”
The Loten’s Sunbird.Like the Tailor Bird, the Sunbirds
flit in and out of trees noisily and even visit our potted flowering plants in
search of nectar. They are usually in company with “The White Eye”,
Figure 5 Loten’s Sunbird
Figure 6 Purple Rumped Sunbird
4.
White Eye
The sunbird
is usually in company with the White Eye
5.
The Spider Hunter
6.
Thickbilled Flowerpecker
One of
India’s tiniest birds, quaint in its ability to manipulate large berries in its
tiny bill to extract pulp and juice.
7.
The Brown Flycatcher
A bird too shy and gentle to make too much of an impression
8.
The Grey Tit
9.
The Warblers
Particularly the Ashy wren-warbler, a noisy creature but gone missing
from
JVV. Cats?
With cooperation from the residents and organizations such as CUPA we
have been able to run a ‘Stray Dog’ free colony for the last 18 months. It has
taken a lot of effort on our part to prevent ingress through gates, drains,
broken fence etc. We also have a tough job convincing residents not to feed the
strays. Consequently the population of cats in the colony has increased considerably
with its own fallouts. Rodents and cockroaches are on the decline. We have once
again appealed to all the cat lovers not feed the stray cats. Humans cannot
balance nature.
10.
Koels
They are common sight
11.
Spotted Doves
12.
Barn Owls
The Barn Owls that cheer JVV through the night and help keep it rat
free
13.
Jungle Myna
14.
Shikara
15.
Pariah Kite
16.
Brahminy Kite
17.
King Crow
17 A Grey Drongo
The Sunbirds, Tailor birds, Tits, Flycatchers, and Spider Hunters can
be seen at almost all hours during the day flitting in and out of our Singapore
Cherry trees and our other flowering trees. The two spotted doves near the
school coo and coo all morning and then go about their business the rest of the
day. The others you can see and hear off and on.
18.
Now for our visitors
The Rosy Pastors flock here in huge numbers and create quite a ruckus
as
Europe);
Rosy Pastors
19.
Bulbuls
She notes the danger from cats and says, “ The majestic bulbuls would
love to find a nesting place here and do come in regularly looking desperately
for a roost, only to find grave danger in the form of the numerous cats that
lurk around all our Singapore Cherry trees that attract these beauties. Their
fluty calls are unmistakable and you know the bulbul has come a-calling the
minute it enters our campus. Unless JVV is freed of its numerous cats, it is
highly unlikely that these birds will take up residence here. They nest in
shrubs and our shrubs are too close to the cats for their liking!”
20.
Golden Oriel
The Golden Oriel comes in once in a while and like the Bulbul gives its
unmistakable flute in water call… don’t know how to describe it but for those
of you who would like to hear it, here’s a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s21FgJKZSrc
21.
Crow Pheasant
The Crow Pheasant used to come in once or so in a month. It used to
lurk around the bougainvillea creepers near the West gate and give its quaint
call. I haven’t seen it in a while, especially after a fire ruined that canopy
there. For those of you who would like to hear its call, here’s a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep0VM8WEzBM
22.
Rose ringed
Parakeet
23.
Alexandrine Parakeet
24.
Tree Pie
25.
House swifts
House Swifts and also Swallows may be seen in and around JVV. I have
seen all these birds and many more in JVV, at some time or the other. Some stay
on for a month or two and then disappear while others are content with giving
us a weekly or an annual visit. Birds favour those trees that offer them food,
nesting sites and roosting places.
26.
Swallows
The trees in JVV that fit this equation are the Peepul, a hot favorite
On a serious note Merrily adds, “But birds love all trees and so do we.
To see even one chopped down is heart breaking! The myriad other creatures that
dwell in these trees are sustenance for these birds. The first step to the
extinction of a species is the destruction of its habitat. The once immortal
sparrow is long gone, the others are soon to follow suit. JVV has thus far
helped these birds and animals fight a losing battle, must we now withdraw our
support?”
In closing she has a little advice to makers of the city.Bangalore
has lost what it was once known for; JVV is a semblance of that old Bangalore;
let’s try to keep it that way. A more practical option would be to trim the
very large trees so that they cease to be dangerous and yet continue to support
this huge life system they harbor!”
In the end she says, “This poem, I guess, would help express the
sentiments of those who love trees and birds and animals and who are constantly
charmed by Nature and feel utterly helpless at the eventual fate that awaits
us… dry barren
On Killing a Tree
~ Gieve Patel
It takes much time to kill a tree,
Not a simple jab of the knife
Will do it.
It has grown
Slowly consuming the earth,
Rising out if it, feeding
Upon its crust, absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water,
And out of its leprous hide
Sprouting leaves.
So hack and chop
But this alone won't do it.
Not so much pain will do it.
The bleeding bark will heal
And from close to the ground
Will rise curled green twigs,
Miniature boughs
Which if unchecked will expand again
To former size.
No,
The root is to be pulled out
Out of the anchoring earth;
It is to be roped, tied,
And pulled out-snapped out
Or pulled out entirely,
Out from the earth-cave,
And the strength of the tree exposed,
The source, white and wet,
The most sensitive, hidden
For years inside the earth.
Then the matter
Of scorching and choking
In sun and air,
Browning, hardening,
Twisting, withering,
And then it is done.
Epilogue
No matter
where you live, you probably have birds of some kind, where you can go bird
watching. It is probably the cheapest hobby one can develop. It requires no
money or investment, just a desire to watch God’s creation enjoying the
bounties of nature in its own habitat. On our part we can help by being
respectful to nature and provide an environment which supports bird life.
We in Jalvayu
Vihar are extremely lucky to have nature lovers like Ms Merrily Tobin who have
devoted some of their precious time in cataloging all the birds in JVV and in
turn educating us, raising our knowledge levels and helping us to develop an
interest in birds.
I for one have been impressed by her work and have started spending some time looking up at the trees, trying to get a glimpse of the“ Winged Residents of JVV”.
All is fine, as long as "The birds in JVV sing Merrily"!!!
Amazing collection of birds...
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