When my friend prashanth asked me if I can do a nature walk for the kids of the Bannerghatta zoo club, I gleefully accepted the offer. I messaged my friends around and finally Deepti and Nikhilesh joined the walk. It's an overcast day (1/12/2019) and rain was on cards. I managed to reach the zoo, a little later Deepti and Nikhilesh joined us driving a long way from other end of the city. The kids rickled in and by 8:30 we divided the kids into groups and started off a walk through herbivore safari to the Jungle lodges.
Our group agreed to discover the birds together than each of us going through pocket guides. So i tucked all pocket guides in my pocket. We noticed a milkweed plant and we noticed how one tree is growing from another (didn't tell them yet about loranthus). We spotted a coppersmith barbet and a crow. We joked about how we all saw a "rain"deer!!. With gaurs around, the zoo employees were ensuring we stayed safe by ushering us and asking us to move on.
We spotted some deer droppings. We used the opportunity to take note of different deer droppings and we discussed why elephant poop has lot of grass while the deer dropping doesn't have. One child pointed out how some droppings changed. Some bulbuls flew over but thanks to the rain, the bird activity was low.
We spotted a red wattled lapwing which together we identified in the pocket guide. We reached a lake where we spotted a lone Grey heron. We had a discussion on whether it is Grey heron or Striated heron and understood the differences. By then the rain intensified, so we quickly walked to the Jungle lodges entrance.
While we waited there for other groups to join, one child noticed a leaf, picked it up, smelled and announced that it smelled nice. Using that as an opportunity we tried to find out where that leaf came from. We initially suspected a tree. On closely comparing the leaves the kids discovered, it can't be that. Finally after a few minutes of investigation they zeroed in on a Eucalyptus tree. This tree leaf has a lemon like fragrance, unlike the regular Eucalyptus. We touched the bark, tried smelling it, noticed the resin around and briefly talked about Jurassic park and amber.
After all of us regrouped, we were driven back to have breakfast and attended an event where Dr.A.J.T. John singh was supposed to address the kids. Since we had time, I used the opportunity to talk to children about birds using the bird count india's Introduction to Birds. It's a interactive experience as I tried to make some analogies for them to explain bird feeding behavior.
The talk by Dr.John singh was fun with some jokes thrown in here and there. He shared some of his experiences and observations on wild animal behaviors. He mentioned how free ranging dogs are becoming a mess for wildlife. He shared his experiences with wild dogs, imitated it's call. His encounter with tiger on foot, notes about nilgiri tahrs and his recommendations on wildlife re-introductions were interesting. We wound up the day asking kids to look for the seeds of Terminalia arjuna (without giving them the id). I hope some of them discovered it...! Overall a great day despite of rains, made new friends - Deepti and Nikhilesh and headed home with a sore throat that worsened.
Our group agreed to discover the birds together than each of us going through pocket guides. So i tucked all pocket guides in my pocket. We noticed a milkweed plant and we noticed how one tree is growing from another (didn't tell them yet about loranthus). We spotted a coppersmith barbet and a crow. We joked about how we all saw a "rain"deer!!. With gaurs around, the zoo employees were ensuring we stayed safe by ushering us and asking us to move on.
We spotted some deer droppings. We used the opportunity to take note of different deer droppings and we discussed why elephant poop has lot of grass while the deer dropping doesn't have. One child pointed out how some droppings changed. Some bulbuls flew over but thanks to the rain, the bird activity was low.
We spotted a red wattled lapwing which together we identified in the pocket guide. We reached a lake where we spotted a lone Grey heron. We had a discussion on whether it is Grey heron or Striated heron and understood the differences. By then the rain intensified, so we quickly walked to the Jungle lodges entrance.
While we waited there for other groups to join, one child noticed a leaf, picked it up, smelled and announced that it smelled nice. Using that as an opportunity we tried to find out where that leaf came from. We initially suspected a tree. On closely comparing the leaves the kids discovered, it can't be that. Finally after a few minutes of investigation they zeroed in on a Eucalyptus tree. This tree leaf has a lemon like fragrance, unlike the regular Eucalyptus. We touched the bark, tried smelling it, noticed the resin around and briefly talked about Jurassic park and amber.
After all of us regrouped, we were driven back to have breakfast and attended an event where Dr.A.J.T. John singh was supposed to address the kids. Since we had time, I used the opportunity to talk to children about birds using the bird count india's Introduction to Birds. It's a interactive experience as I tried to make some analogies for them to explain bird feeding behavior.
The talk by Dr.John singh was fun with some jokes thrown in here and there. He shared some of his experiences and observations on wild animal behaviors. He mentioned how free ranging dogs are becoming a mess for wildlife. He shared his experiences with wild dogs, imitated it's call. His encounter with tiger on foot, notes about nilgiri tahrs and his recommendations on wildlife re-introductions were interesting. We wound up the day asking kids to look for the seeds of Terminalia arjuna (without giving them the id). I hope some of them discovered it...! Overall a great day despite of rains, made new friends - Deepti and Nikhilesh and headed home with a sore throat that worsened.
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