Haralur lake walk

We started the first walk of the new year at Haralur lake. I got in touch with the Haralur lake conservation group and proposed a nature walk for the adults and children of the group. My friend Shalini, Aparna and I planned to do the walk. On the group, we received a positive response. So we proposed 5th January , Sunday morning, 8 AM as the walk time.

Shalini and I reached the spot by 7:50 and we waited for 20 minutes until a decent crowd turned out. We spent some time discussing about the first tree, the Pongamia. We explained its nitrogen fixing capability, we discussed about the leaf mites and gals that cause the leaf damage and how the tree recovers from it. 

We moved over to the Terminalia Arjuna aka Arjuna tree. We pointed out the bark and discussed the "child" who made the marks on the leaves. We spent a lot of time under this tree as we discussed about boring beetles and how the woodpecker catches the boring beetles. While the kids seems to be very interested and interacted as well as guessed the answers, the adults still had their inhibitions. Someone in the audience shared folklore where they were told that some snakes make the marks on the leaves, interesting!

While explaining the woodpecker behavior we found a ant-mimicking spider . This guy was very shy and after a lot of probing, I could show it to the children. As usual everyone guessed it to be ant, only on close observation and watching it jumping and witnessing the silk thread they concluded it to be spider. We discussed briefly on what advantages does the spider have for mimicking the ants. The kids pretty much again guessed some of the answers.

Shalini explained the "Yellow trumpet tree" and kids guessed how the seed pods look like trumpet. We spotted a moth and stink bug and why it's called so. We realized we spent an hour and finished only 3 trees!. A gentleman who attended the walk was kind enough to sponsor some snacks for all. We took a break and had snacks. In between we managed to spot a spot-billed pelican. A grey heron too turned up flying away. We had fun watching the little cormorants fishing. 

Post snacks, we explained the magic of "Fig pollination". We also told them how a small fig wasp can help pollinating figs and how the wasps helps keeping the checks and balance of nature intact. How some non-pollinating fig wasps can be hyperparasitoid. We gave a glimpse to new world of wasps to them.

At the end of the walk, while we wrap-up and head back, a pied kingfisher turned up and showed us its fishing skills. The adults and kids were fascinated watching it dive and fish. 

My personal favorite of the day though was a moth that has an interesting behavior. I missed clicking it's photo in the previous walk. This time, I could record it. You would notice a tiny insect perched on a leaf. As you approach closer, suddenly it transforms and appears like a "jumping spider". It's amazing to know how it lifts its wings up to appear like it's predator,a jumping spider. My friend Hayath helped me id this moth as a Choreutidae. See how its posterior look like a jumping spider while the front portion looks like a moth.

This made my day as I went home ahead of the promised time (unusual) as the gates of the lake are closed at 10:00 AM. The feedback from the walk was positive and we are glad we could stir the curiosity among some of the kids and adults. A parent messaged that their kid was fascinated by the fig pollination story.