How the wolves changed Yellowstone National Park

I read about the process of 'Trophic Cascade' for the first time in a Kannada daily very recently.
Trophic Cascade- a phenomenon which changed the flow of river and eventually the whole eco-system in the Yellowstone National Park, USA.
Detailed information about this phenomenon can be gone through here:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1669736/trophic-cascade

As I searched for more information on this process, I became more curious about it.
One can only marvel at how the entire ecological system can be balanced or imbalanced through Trophic Cascade.
It was just an introduction of wolves at the Yellowstone National Park- one can say.
But those wolves changed the course of a huge river in turn bringing back the balance of America's first national park which has world's largest collection of natural geysers.

With the re-introduction of wolves into this park, the population of deer came down who ate up almost all the vegetation of the park. Also, the deer started avoiding certain areas of the forest in the fear of being attacked by the wolves. This, in turn, regenerated the trees in just a few years.

With the re-generation of trees came a variety of birds. The wolves also killed the coyotes. This raised the population of rabbits and mice. Hawks' visits became more frequent as they wanted to hunt the rabbits and mice. Bear population too rose as there were more berries available because of the regeneration of shrubs.

But a major breakthrough arrived when they changed the course of a river flow. As the trees grew, the soil erosion came down which in turn formed more pools. The rivers started flowing in a set direction.

So, these wolves not only changed the eco-system of Yellowstone National Park but also the geography of the park.

Coincidentally, a very similar program was broadcasted in the Discovery channel wherein the animal species in the Canadian forests helped indirectly in the out growth of magnificent trees. Trees which would last for almost 500 years!

Major changes can be brought about in the eco- system with the introduction of such minor changes!
If only all these lessons could be learned by everyone in saving our entire ecology.

Lotus Pond

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the Hyderabadi lifestyle lies- Lotus Pond, mostly hidden between Banjara hills and Jubilee hills.

Though we could not find Lotuses in the pond (probably wrong time), there were quite good number of fish of different varieties.

We were happy to find a place which promised to give us fresh AIR.

Here are a few pictures...




A caption aptly written...which is in the next photo.




I liked the pattern of these leaves...




A prayer of the forest...Click on the photo to read.

Casuarina Tree (gaali mara)

Images of Casuarina tree (gaali mara in Kannada) that was taken at Apsarakonda view point near Kumta...

His brilliance was visible in between a thin strip of arch.
His pure golden shade vibrated through the arch as though melted metal was oozing out from a furnace.
His presence would be felt only by countable people who happened to venture out on such a gloomy day.
The present days being covered with the hues of grey all around the sky, it would be difficult for someone to even imagine a sight like that.
Thanks to the birthday party which made us get out of our house and witness the beautiful scenario.
But there was no way of capturing HIS image in an electronic gadget.
All we could do was to fill our eyes with his spectacular rays that were waiting to hide behind the clouds once again.
Amid the pillars of iron and cement his rays pierced through our eyes.
He forced us to shut our eyes the moment we saw him but they didn’t stop us from looking back at him again.
This shade of his colour was never known to us (or rather to me) as we always saw him a tinge of orange with gold.
But this time the colour was PURE GOLD.

Book, Nature, Nostalgia...

Tagore's Omnibus IV still lies on my table only half-read.

I read it every afternoon when A goes to sleep and after I am done with semi-finished household work. No sooner do I read a few lines than it's time for A to get disturbed and wake up.
I hurriedly close the book, run towards her, offer my arms to her to go back to sleep. After 10 mins. when she is back in her dreamy world I stealthily withdraw my hands and resume my position to read again (though with lot of apprehension as to when she will get up next).

Today's read said:"When are you coming down from your three-storeyed building to meet your love (love of nature) under the shade of trees?"

"When are you coming down to meet me on the green grass under the rustling leaves, where you have the freedom of the sky and of sunlight and the tender touch of life's simplicity."

As I read these lines, I stop and recall the days I was in Mysore's University Fine arts campus attending NCC camp (though it was years ago). I have a hazy picture of the whole campus- the rooms we shared, the greenery, the low-lying branches of various trees just outside our room. But what I recollect the most is the way we all slept under the trees after our heavy work out and during lunch break.
The cool breeze would touch our sweaty body only to make us feel cold and soothing. The nap wouldn't last for more than 30 minutes yet it rejuvenated us all for the next session of rigorous parade.

Those were the naps which I will miss forever.

Keladi and Ikkeri

It's a beautiful sight to watch as I travel through the roads of Western Ghats each time: hundred of years old trees withered as compared to the present day 'green plants'. They are worn out and keep collecting dust on the leaves due to constant commuting of vehicles. Yet they stand strong and mighty spreading their branches far and above.

Few pictures of two places our family visited which is sheltered midst these ghats: Rameshwars temple at Keladi and Aghoreshwara temple at Ikkeri both belonging to the Vijayanagar empire era...

ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯಲೊಂದು ಗುಬ್ಬಿ ಗೂಡ ಕಟ್ಟಿತು ...

Just a few days back I had started teaching my daughter as to where a bird lives. And this week the birds have started that process next to our window. I had just observed these birds sitting next to the window for the first time. I enjoyed the sight as I had not witnessed it from quite sometime now, especially after shifting from Srinagar colony where it was more usual and accessible. There, being on the first floor, the branches of Guava and Pomegranate protruded generously into the balcony making it easier to watch the birds that found shade on those trees.

Whereas here it is an uncommon view. It was S who told me that the birds (do not know the name, they look like sparrows but they are slightly taller and are in dark brown colour) are looking for a place to build their nest as they were all sneaking into the half opened window which could not be closed fully due to some reasons. We were, at first, apprehensive whether to allow these birds to nestle there as we thought they might be scared if our girl knew they were there and meddle with it. But later on we decided to make a few arrangements for them to hide from our daughter and let them continue with their preparation. I too wanted Anvitha to see this sight (sometime later) to give a hands on experience of what she is learning.

We pulled the widow curtains to their side, tied the half-opened window tightly to the grills (to make sure it doesn't open when the wind blew) and put a barricade between the mosquito mesh and the window (just to make sure it is not visible to our daughter if she opens the curtains). All arrangements made we waited for them to start their job. They made their way patiently selecting each grass carefully. They first laid a layer of dry grass and upon that started with the wet grass. In just two days time they have covered up completely leaving a small gap to move about. Now and then, I sneak at them just to see what the bird is up to but in vain. I know they too need some privacy. It is only through their sounds and flapping of their wings one can make their presence felt.
Yesterday when my girl threw a tantrum they started flapping their wings- a sign of fear or danger. I worried they would find another place. But in the evening when Anvitha started her Music classes (so called) I was consoled and wanted the birds to be there. And in the night, when S was late and I laid my hands on Tagore's book (my first attempt on His book) a perfect backdrop was created with the chirping of these cute birds. The movement of the curtains made me think of the endless efforts they were making in perfecting their nest and its occupant.

How I wish to show their nest to Anvitha but I know I have to wait.

Jog falls

I was excited to go the Jog falls this time after a long time as i had rained heavily the previous week and in all the news papers there "was" a picture of the falls one day or the other.....

With all the excitement we at last reached Jog only to be shocked by the number of tourists..... its indescribable......

Not only this put me off but it was also the fog which took all the excitement away......

As soon as i saw falls my first thoughts were...ok this is it 'this is Jog falls, let's go back'.....

But as time elapsed there were glimpses of the waterfall now and then but the constant distractions were the "people"- innumerable people present there (later we learnt that there were some 60,000 people there that very same day)......

Only beautiful sight of the falls came when we were near the British Bunglow......

But to reach that destination we had already taken some 2-3hrs as the number of vehicles were lined upto 5-6kms!!!!!!!

As usual bored with the long traffic jam me and my friend decided to walk....and we walked and wlaked and walked.....which was really great as i was craving for this kind of a change from a very long time......

As a whole nice experience both looking at the people and the waterfall....more of the people than the waterfall i guess:)))))

Breathtaking Agumbe Ghats

I had heard about Agumbe ghats from the time i was a child but i always 'thought' that there isn't anything great about that place.....
Don't know why i always felt that its just another place to drop by and there can't be anything interesting......
Many times i felt it would be something similar to Charmadi ghats which i used to pass by every month as i was studying somewhere near that area........
But all these thoughts were indeed proved wrong when i was travelling this time from Udupi to Shimoga.....
I still have its picture in mind so clearly that i can hardly get it out of mind for a few days.......
Wherever i could spread my eyes i could see only trees and trees and trees and nothing but trees......
Only on reaching at the 9th curve i could see the roads below and few buildings and that was possible because we had reached the highest point there!!!!!!!!(God knows how many feets above the ground:0)
I had again 'thought' that 9th curve was the higher most place but nooooooo there was still more to come.....
We totally passed 13 curves but ofcourse nothing was as beautiful and stunning as it looked from the 9th curve......
After passing all curves i realized that i had to breathe because all that time i was holding my breath without my knowledge......
Though am quite phobic about heights i could manage to look below (that's coz i was in the bus:))
But whatever it is i should admit that it's not a place to be missed out in one's life time.....
I now know why it's been labelled as "the Chirapunji of South India".....