Environment

The word 'Rodent' usually makes the hair on the back of our necks stand up. We associate the word with rats and mice which we occasionally encounter near our homes and makes us reach out for our rat traps and rat poison. In our minds they are unwanted pests that need to be dealt with severely. The three-striped palm squirrel is a very adaptable species and have made their home in the urban environment. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. However there is one rodent that we find extremely cute and which lives in our close proximity. I am referring to the common…

Everywhere in J P Nagar, I am coming across trees carved with the symbol of a political party, and then coloured:Is there no better way for the political party to flaunt their symbol? Carving the symbol into the tree saves them printing and posting costs, I suppose. Who cares what happens to the living tree? After all, we nail umpteen posters on to their trunks anyway....These are the people who are wanting to govern us.... :( ⊕

Everywhere in J P Nagar, I am coming across trees carved with the symbol of a political party, and then coloured:Is there no better way for the political party to flaunt their symbol? Carving the symbol into the tree saves them printing and posting costs, I suppose. Who cares what happens to the living tree? After all, we nail umpteen posters on to their trunks anyway....These are the people who are wanting to govern us.... :( ⊕

Shramdan on Ambalipura (lower) lake bed started at around 9:45 am on Sunday, September 19th. Residents from our Bellandur ward started coming to the lake bund from 9 am. First to arrive at lake was special invitee Dr Ashwin Mahesh, Ramesh Sivaram from Rainbow Residency and Satheesh Amilineni from Green Glen Layout. The volunteers discussed for a while on how to tackle the weeds and which equipment to use. Ambalipura lakebed wedding in progress. Pic: Satheesh Amilineni. Soon, the volunteers got into lake bed at around 9:45am and started weeding. The plan was to start from one side and proceed…

Shramdan on Ambalipura (lower) lake bed started at around 9:45 am on Sunday, September 19th. Residents from our Bellandur ward started coming to the lake bund from 9 am. First to arrive at lake was special invitee Dr Ashwin Mahesh, Ramesh Sivaram from Rainbow Residency and Satheesh Amilineni from Green Glen Layout. The volunteers discussed for a while on how to tackle the weeds and which equipment to use. Ambalipura lakebed wedding in progress. Pic: Satheesh Amilineni. Soon, the volunteers got into lake bed at around 9:45am and started weeding. The plan was to start from one side and proceed…

  For those of us who are fortunate enough to live close to the ever-disappearing lakes of Bangalore, the onset of the rains bring with it a special chorus sung during the night. I am sure everyone is familiar with it. It seems that the perpetuators of this chorus are as joyous as we are for the arrival of life-giving rain. Each new shower of rain is welcomed with a fresh bout of calling. The unseen voice is that of the Indian Bull Frog. The Indian Bull Frog is an integral part of the ecosystem of any pond, well or…

  For those of us who are fortunate enough to live close to the ever-disappearing lakes of Bangalore, the onset of the rains bring with it a special chorus sung during the night. I am sure everyone is familiar with it. It seems that the perpetuators of this chorus are as joyous as we are for the arrival of life-giving rain. Each new shower of rain is welcomed with a fresh bout of calling. The unseen voice is that of the Indian Bull Frog. The Indian Bull Frog is an integral part of the ecosystem of any pond, well or…

I went to Lalbagh this morinng, and near the Siddapura gate, Colville's Glory is in bloom now:And all over, not just in Lalbagh, the African Tulip (Spathodea) is in full bloom:All of us know about the serial flowering of the avenue trees of Bangalore, that was introduced by Gustav Krumbiegel ...and many of us can't help wishing that we had him now, when the BBMP doesn't want to plant trees but chop them for development!For more on the common flowering trees here, see Karthik's journal ⊕

I went to Lalbagh this morinng, and near the Siddapura gate, Colville's Glory is in bloom now:And all over, not just in Lalbagh, the African Tulip (Spathodea) is in full bloom:All of us know about the serial flowering of the avenue trees of Bangalore, that was introduced by Gustav Krumbiegel ...and many of us can't help wishing that we had him now, when the BBMP doesn't want to plant trees but chop them for development!For more on the common flowering trees here, see Karthik's journal ⊕

How many of us realise that they might be a bloodsucker at large in our gardens? Don't panic, this is just our Common Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor) which most of us mistakenly call ‘chameleon'. During the breeding season the head, shoulders and parts of the foreleg of the males turns bright scarlet and this is how they have acquired this rather 'derogatory' name - Bloodsucker. The Chameleon is a totally different species, well-known for its ability to change colour to match its surroundings. The Common Garden Lizard. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa The Common Garden Lizard is the most common Agamid lizard…