DMW: Begur Kere, Saturday, 30 March ’24

Part of the group at the start

Announcement:
DMW: Begur Kere, Saturday, 30 March ’24

Where: Begur Lake
When: Saturday, 30 March ’24
Meeting time: 6.30am

Approx parking location:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/mgyGuEtYV8uHk6hJ7

(direct access from Begur Lake Rd/Manipal County Road to the entry pointt was blocked last time we visited. If it is still blocked we have to go a little further on the road and take a right to the approx parking location.)

MeetingWalk starting point:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/DfonV5CoTHPzBHhC8

Duration: about 2 to 2.5 hours
Level terrain.

Not a circular walk, people can leave any time they wish to.
Washrooms not available.

Bring: Binoculars, cameras, bird apps, books, pads/pencils
Wear: Dull-coloured clothes, hats/caps (no shade at the lake), comfy walking shoes
Bring plenty of water and snacks if you like to share (we do!)

Those who would like to participate in this walk can join the WA group for the outing at

https://chat.whatsapp.com/GqyhYrQm37P05qZpX90jjc

Post-outing breakfast point:

Shir Bhagya Sagar Veg, location:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/CZ3MVo3KMyutNVcy6

hIn case of need, contact:

Deepa Mohan, 99800 10366

See the Code of Ethics for birders, here:
https://deponti.livejournal.com/1041772.html

Cheers, Deepa.

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I am informed that access to the entrance of the lake is now clear, so the meeting point/parking point will be the same, ie,

https://maps.app.goo.gl/DfonV5CoTHPzBHhC8

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Used the P900. Not very much difference. but the camera is much heavier than the SX60. I will have to get used to it.

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eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S166434157 (76 sp) (shared with: pinkoriole,ehravindranath,shalini_ukunge,Ethereum,ablaz44,bindums,diracht)
iNat:https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2024-03-30&place_id=any&user_id=deemopahan&verifiable=any
Flickr: https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720315785307/ (50 photos0
FB: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10160433785938878&type=3

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Flowers of West Indian Elm (Gauzuma ulmifolia)

Garganey

A variety of waterfowl

Comparison of size of Little and Median Egret

Glossy Ibis, Black-winged Stilt

St Ignatius Church on left, Panchalingeswara Temple on right, with high rise buildings in between

Crismon Rose nectaring on Lantana flower

Passion flower

Red-rumped Swallow taking mud for making pellets into nests

Ditch Jewel

Making holige at Sri Bhagya Sagar Veg, post-walk

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Bangalore Landmarks Flickr album, 160423

depontiApril 16th, 17:23

On a drive back from Yelahanka to south Bangalore, clicked the photos in the album, at

Part of a larger album, Bangalore Photos:

Tags: bangalore, cities, flickr, landmarks, photography

Dabba Chetty Kadai, Kutcheri Road, Chennai

Lakshmi Priya Pakanati, MADRAS LOCAL HISTORY GROUP, 300422

On Kutchery road, amidst a number of other small establishments is Dabba Chetty Kadai (shop) established by Krishnaswamy Chetty way back in 1885. – An article by Lalita Iyer in The Deccan Chronicle
Ordinarily, the Kutchery road, just off Luz crossroads at Mylapore, is busy with two way traffic on a narrow single road. Shops and other establishments add to the general chaos. But business continues. Honking is incessant and the noise with the sweat factor is an irritant for the outsider but the denizens of Chennai carry on.
And here on Kutchery road, amidst a number of other small establishments is Dabba Chetty Kadai (shop) established by Krishnaswamy Chetty way back in 1885. Then the shop sold paints and kirana and herbs too, but over a period of time the two brothers split the shop and separated paints and kirana and kept the herbal drugs as a separate entity and thus was born the Dabba Chatti Kadai, where people in the know throng here for ‘natu marundu’ (or natural drugs) for every single ailment.
Koonala Badrinath, the current owner of the shop, sits there, cool, unfazed, handing over medicines with ease and comfort. People too come with regular requests, for ‘pana kalkandu’ (palm candy) or ‘natu chakkarai’ (palm sugar) or other regular medicines which are now packaged and ready to sell over the counter.
So, the transaction does not last long, but there are some who come there and sit on a stone ledge, kept for these purposes, catch their breath and have a chat with Badrinath or his wife Shobana, who has also been coming to the shop for a long time now. Then they discuss their ailments and as Badrinath says “depending on the time you have and the time we have, we give suggestions for the kind of medicines to be taken for a certain ailment.” Just then in that crowd a huge car stops, a gentleman rushes up and asks for something. Badrinath turns and says proper use is necessary or else it is poison’ but as he completes the sentence the second person comes out of the car and Badrinath smiles.
Meanwhile, the crescendo of honks increases exponentially, till the purchase is made and the car moves away. Kutchery road in those days must have been a quiet street and so was chosen by Krishnaswamy Chetty. It also happened to be close to Arundale Street, where he lived. The name of the shop came by when people who saw all the neat tin containers and started calling it ‘Dabba Chetty Kadai’. Krishnaswamy later officially named it so. There are close to 200 to 300 items in these steel tins and Badrinath says he and his wife and girls would know about every product in every tin. That probably speaks of the 40 years of experience behind the counter.
“I completed my commerce degree and would come and help my father. I would sit there and watch ardently what Appa was doing and then one day I was sitting on the other side of the counter. My father had grown old and then he would sit on the ledge and watch me and never complained,” says Badrinath. He has two sons and while they do come to lend a hand once in a while, Badri and his wife have given them the option of doing what they want.
In those days they would sell raw materials for the medicines and then as times changed and the race for time became obvious, “we started preparing the medicines and kept it over the counter making it easy for people to buy. Basically it was at people’s request that we have started making readymade marundu’, (medicine).” Soon after Krishnaswamy Chetty passed away, his son K. Rajamannar Chetty took over the shop. With the Venkataramana Ayurvedic college being next doors helped. The hospital opened its own dispensary in 1905 and soon this shop became an automatic prop to the Ayurvedic college. Also the beginner’s luck helped this shop since they were the first around in that area. They source their raw material from various places including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and other places and this specific trouble is taken because Dabba Chetty is looking for quality. In 1905, when the Venkataramana Ayurvedic Dispensery began, the shop’s popularity grew and R. Kannaiah Chetty, Badrinath’s father took over and Badrinath joined his father at the shop after 1975. Of course in the period that Badrinath has spent here, he has seen a number of changes and not all of them happy. According to him, noise pollution has increased as has the need for immediate cure, which belies the Ayurvedic philosophy of slow cure. The shop is very popular for its Deepavali ‘marundu’, or a delicious ‘legiyam’ a mixture of herbs, to be taken in small quantities after all the indulgences during the festival time. It acts as a digestive, getting you ready for yet another day of indulgence. They are also famous for their post-natal medicine. “We get customers wanting the post-delivery medicine that we sell,” says Badrinath and shocks one by saying that their Deepavali legiyam though popular is sold only for about 15-20 days around the festival. The post natal legiyam is also extremely popular, with a number of boxes flying off the counter regularly. Along with the box of legiyam is a small plastic Dabba which contains a ‘vasambhu’ bangle, Kajal Dabba, Pottu powder with different patterns, amulets and anklets. No doubt it is popular. “For about ten to 15 years business had really slowed down, but now things are beginning to change,” says Badrinath with a smile and that he attributes to people’s attitude towards ‘Natu marundu’. “People are beginning to believe that we use raw materials which are used in our daily diet and hence can only be good. Herbal or natural medicine is just food that cures,” he says. While Kutchery road is equated with Dabba Chetty Kadai, Badrinath also has no intentions of moving from here. “Maybe I will add a glass door to cut the noise factor and so the customer has to come in and we can discuss problems if they want any suggestions,” he says with a smile. “I have also shifted to an electronic scale,” he smiles, “Whereas they used ataras’ earlier. Earlier they would hand over the medicine in paper packets but now we put them in
plastic bags. We have brought in enough changes,” he says.
Currently, the parents have also given a choice to their two sons, telling them to prioritise on their education and then decide on the path they want to take.
There is a slight regret that everything till now has been lost or forgotten or gotten hazy thanks to the oral tradition. “The older generation knows more, probably because they paid attention to what was happening in their kitchen and what their mother was doing,” says Badrinath, when discussing the lack of young people using these medicines. But he says with confidence that the return to roots is imminent and Shobana also says “I have been coming here for 20 years now and I see a slight change when younger people come for natural medicine.”
“This work is tough and strenuous,” says Badrinath. “It is labour intensive.” There are peak hours for the shop too, when employees going to and from work stop for a breath and buy what they want and these are crowded times. Now there is no question of demand and supply, things are always there at the shop.
“I also suggest to the customers who come with an ailment that if they are in a rush and are looking for immediate cure, then they should go to allopathy, because ours is slow in showing effect, but it definitely helps,” he adds. Having said all this, the products here are also affordable and so it is easy to chat with Badrinath and keep adding to your basket.

DMW: Five to Sixteen: Begur Kere, 300422

5 people at the start

9 of the total group of 16

Sunrise

eBird list

https://ebird.org/checklist/S108436292 (56 sp)

Videos:

0062 (1) Male Streaked Weaver building nest, Begur Kere, 300422: https://youtu.be/Loun-TUN_Ac

0067 (2) Male Streaked Weaver building nest, Begur Kere, 300422: https://youtu.be/PcR4vp-3cX4

0089 (3) Male Streaked Weaver building nest, Begur Kere, 300422: https://youtu.be/bT_HzPduUZA

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720298514557

Paddyfield Pipit

Glossy Ibis

Male Streaked Weaver building nest in reeds

The video:

If they are having fun with a pole, are they Polish?

The ancient Panchalingeswara Temple on the bank opposite where we were birding.

Doddabasti/Kommaghatta Kere, 030422

Meeting/Parking Point at Doddabasti:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/si5iVUkDQ23CQFReA

Parking point and entry at Kommaghatta Lake, which is 2.4km away:

https://goo.gl/maps/dP5VG85WTbg3bGKM9

Thatte Iddli/Chitranna/onion vada hotel near the entrance to Kommaghatta Lake for a quick breakfast (7.30am to 11.30am it says, but food gets over)

https://goo.gl/maps/mqMQs4hYsPeMSaJe6

Chai, at the Nandini shop opp. the lake gate:

https://goo.gl/maps/8jMXvx2Dvp4X4jg5A

eBird checklists:

Doddabasti Kere: https://ebird.org/checklist/S106140643

Kommaghatta Kere: https://ebird.org/checklist/S106147453

Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720297825334

Tower Grove Park with Edge Wade, 071014

Edge drove down all the way from Columbia to take me to Tower Grove Park, and it proved to be an enormously rewarding outing.

We started with cloudy and overcast weather, and it took a while for us to see some birds; but suddenly, there was an eruption of Warblers in just two or three trees,not too far from the Cypress Grove…. and other birds, too!

Edge emailed me later, ” Warblers we saw were Yellow-rumped (Myrtle subspecies), Tennessee, American Redstart and Nashville. Also saw several Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-headed Vireo,Carolina Wren, Eastern-Wood-pewee, Carolina Chickadee, and Tufted Titmouse, as well as the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers.”

I learnt a lot, too. For example, when Yellow-rumped Warblers arrive, it means that most of the other Warblers have already left. And that there are about 33 species that pass through Missouri during the migration period!

Here’s one

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER:

A

TUFTED TITMOUSE

pecked for insects among the leaves.

Here’s a

BLUE-HEADED VIREO

which, Edge said, was quite a special sighting:

I was able to catch a

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH

on the tree-trunk:

And just when I thought I’d hit the highlight of the morning…we saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker, and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, on the same tree, too! It was Woodpecker Central, and we just needed a Northern Flicker, a Pileated Woodpecker, and a Red-headed Woodpecker to have a complete smorgasbrod of them!

It was quite amazing to me to be able to actually see and compare a Downy and Hairy Woodpecker at the same time, on the same tree.

Here’s the Hairy:

Here’s the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker:

This photo definitely shows that it’s a wood pecker!

Here’s the

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER:

Look at that checkerboard back!

An

EASTERN PEEWEE

against the light:

Edge told me that these

WARBLERS

are very versatile; they exhibit warbler, thrush and flycatcher behaviour (flitting through the trees, turning over leaf-litter on the ground, and hawking insects from the air)…

A female

NORTHERN CARDINAL

was around, too:

The

CAROLINA WREN

seems to be the American counterpart of our Ashy Prinia…a loud voice in a small bird.

Edge’s call brought the bird out in a militant mood; they do not like intruders on their territory.

We sat for a while at the Bubbler; there were no birds to be seen, but the peace of the place seeped into my soul.

We saw some Mallards on the water, and it struck me how, for a colourless liquid, water takes on the most amazing hues!

It reminded me of the water around this Wood Duck in Forest Park:

Edge shared a lot of knowledge about plants, too; this meant that when we didn’t sight birds, there was still a lot of interesting stuff to see and learn about.

This is the Hedge Apple, also called the

OSAGE ORANGE

Here’s one fruit on the tree:

The tree trunk is quite amazing:

Edge said that she’s usually seen trees being much smaller than these. The fruits are not eaten by any animal or bird, and many lay there on the ground…quite an unusual sight in Nature!

The fruit had a tart, tangy smell, and seemed very fibrous.

the

STAGHORN SUMAC.

is so called for the shape of its infloresence. I was lucky to see a small tree in full bloom. Here’s Edge, showing it to me:

We saw the plaque for Torrey Berger, who, Edge informed me, invented the term “Birders’ Direct Route”…which could take a birder one to a thousand miles off the mapped route!

These berries were beautiful.

Here’s a

BLACK WALNUT:

The conifer had gall that looked like brains!

Here’s a pic to show the tiny berry-cones and the gall:

We don’t know what tree this is, but it’s so beautiful!

The

SYCAMORE

tree-trunk is a work of abstract art!

Edge told me this ground cover plant is called Gill O’Ground.

This tiny flower is Cinque, a kind of Clover:

I clicked some of the landmarks, such as this Turkish Pavilion (dating from 1872!)

This is the Bandstand:

It’s surrounded by the busts of Western classical musicians.

Beethoven:

Wagner:

and several others.

How old is this seat, I wonder?

Here’s Edge, eating the Uppma that I made, and liking it…she shared some lovely dark chocolate and pickled gherkins with me!

I loved the punny slogan on her cap!

Edge dropped me home, and there were these two Grasshoppers, which I had to click:

A collage of fall leaves is foliage follage!

I hope you enjoyed my outing as much as I did…thank you, Edge, for a wonderful time!

Tower Grove Park with Allen and Lois Smith, 300914

I got a very affectionate email from

Allen Smith

(click on his name to go to his journal and photos)

and Lois, and we fixed up to meet in Tower Grove Park, which I have long wanted to visit as a birder. This time, armed with my trusty Metrolink monthly pass, I figured out a route (and Allen gave me a good alternative one), and we met up, as planned.

While waiting for them to drive in from Bridgeton, I was clicking a lot of interesting things that caught my eye. Some pavilions at the Park:

The Palm House:

The Kyrle Boldt memorial fountain:

A tiny rainbow that was as beautiful as its big cousin in the sky:

A baby

COTTONTAIL RABBIT:

Some late-blooming Irises:

The beauty of Foxtail Grass against the stone:

This artistic arrangment of mushrooms and leaves (done by Nature):

A tiny grasshopper:

A tinier fly:

Sometimes berries hide a common friend, such as this

NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD:

Even dead leaves are grist to my mill:

Al and Lois introduced me to some of the hotspots in Tower Grove Park. We started with the

Gaddy Garden

We entered the wooded area to quite a cacaphony of bird calls, and I could not help remembering how Bob Bailey, Mitch Leachman and others who regularly come to guide newbies on the first Saturday bird walks at Forest Park, identified so many birds just by ear. There were a lot of warblers and thrushes; but looking right up the trees into the sky was not a great way to id them, and I must say, I couldn’t tell them apart at all. Al told me about the occasion when they sighted a rare Connecticut Warbler there, and showed some lovely pictures and a video of its behaviour, too.

As we entered the path, I found that the berries on this plant seem to be bird-magnets:

I got a beautiully-plumaged

AMERICAN ROBIN

in the berries:

This Robin seems to be a juvenile who hasn’t grown his feathers yet (or else the salon visit didn’t go too well):

We waited for a while at the Bubbler, which, according to Al, was very low on water this time. We saw quite a few birds, but they were high up in the foliage, making for Pain-in-the-Neck birding! And they were so elusive that they were all Binocular Birds, not Camera Birds. It was lovely to see a bench provided there, where Al and Lois posed for me:

It had this memorial plaque:

I only managed to click this bird, which Devin Peipert id’s as a Nashville Warbler:

The warbler made the CBPDMP (Classic Bird Pose for Deepa Mohan ):

At the pool, I spotted this

BOX TURTLE

lifting its head up to the light:

The turtle and the

MOURNING DOVE

made a nice sight together at the Bubbler:

However, on our second round into the path, I did manage to get this beautiful little

DOWNY WOODPECKER:

As a great finale, a

RED-TAILED HAWK

flwe in and settled down on a tall tree, and later soared in majestic circles, looking for food.

A passerby with colourful fall leaves in his hat shared our sighting of the beautiful Hawk.

As we walked near the Cypress Circle on Main Drive, Lois spotted this

BROWN THRASHER:

The Woodland Pool in memory of Jack Van Benthuysen on the north side of Main Drive at the east end gave me this

GREEN HERON

on a Victoria Lily leaf:

Lois says she’s “not a birder”, but her spotting skills seemed pretty remarkable to me, especially when many of the birds I thought I was spotting turned out to be “fall”ing leaves!

It was very helpful, indeed, of both of them, to take the time and trouble to show me some of the birding spots in the Park; I hope to go there again soon!

I make this post with “everything including the birds” as Al seems to be a nature-lover after my own heart…he loves seeing anything and everything that Nature can provide, and enjoys it all.

I’ve put up photos on my FB album

here

Al and Lois….thank you “berry” much for a very enjoyable time!

Navaratri…Dashera…Pujo….

Going around, visiting my friends and also checking out the condition of lakes, I got some images I’d like to share with you.

One of my friends, Hema, has a simple “golu” this time, without the kalasha that would make it mandatory for her to stay home all the nine days and offer worship:

Here she is, contemplating it:

Here’s the rangoli she’s done for it:

and the decorated plate for it:

Another of my friends, Arun, helped his mother set up a traditional golu, with the village next to the steps, and all the dolls on them, being symbolic of the universe that the Goddess rules:

Near Konanakunte Lake, I saw this Pujo pandal:

The images had their faces covered, and would have been uncovered today (Shashti Day):

Already, trade and commerce had begun, with a little girl selling mud lamps:

My friend Mythreyi has dolls that are over 20 years old:

But when I went to visit my friend Nandini’s home, I found that her daughter, Priya, and her talented grandchildren, Meghna and Shashank, had gone a great job.

The vertical screen was also beautifully done:

However, what totally enraptured me was…Bangalore in the golu!

You can see the centre of our city, with the Metro, the Indoor Stadium, U B City, Utility Building, and the trees which still stand….

Here, have a better view of the Sheshadri Memorial Library and the High Court….a Universe in a doll’s world!

I enjoy visiting golus and sharing them with everyone!

US of A, once again….

Life-changing….that’s the right way to describe events in my life, lately, and part of the process is a journey to the USA, where I will stay for 2.5 months. I don’t want to talk about all of it now, but I’d certainl like to share one of my favourite parts of the awful, tiring trans-Atlantic travel…the View Out of the Window.

I managed, somehow, to get good window seats on each leg of my journey….Bangalore to Paris, Paris to Atlanta, and Atlanta to St.Louis. So here are some of the sights I saw:

Since I was already tired out, and the journey from Bangalore began in the middle of the night, I didn’t get any shots for quite a long time, but as we approached Paris, I got these…

Crossing the Alps:

My video monitor showed our plane approaching Gay Paree:

My favourite, of course, is this patchwork quilt of fields near Paris, with windmills all over:

When we left Paris, we crossed the chalk cliffs of Dover, mottled by the clouds and their shadows:

I enjoyed the demonstration of what the temperature was like, outside, with these ice fractals forming on the window:

We went around downtown Atlanta:

If you’d like to see a few more, just

click here

for my Facebook album.

Sorry, folks, I’ve not been to LJ at all (and I’ve been getting so much of spam comments that I don’t feel like it, either)…but I’ll keep myself au courant from now…my life is about to change very much, and I’m going to need a lot of courage for this.

Meanwhile, off, in a little more time, for my morning walk in Forest Park…it’s already getting warmer and humid-er than I like….

Flight from Orlando to St.Louis, 300611

I was going to finish unpacking, the cooking and the laundry, and post about some of our journey home…but I have other things to look forward to, and that includes

the Air Show

tomorrow,

and we are also going to see the 4th of July

fireworks

It’s going to be another packed day…and I mean “packed”, for we will be packing lunch to take for the airshow, too 🙂

Meanwhile, AM has a wonderful view of the aerobatics being practiced, from her office window…here’s a sample:

But if you’d like my fun video of our airport train taking off from one terminal at Orlando Airport (warning….NOTHING unusual, I just took it for fun!)…here you go:

Since some of the family were leaving by earlier flights, we got to spend a lot of time at the airport; and if you want to see my pics of the landmarks of St.Louis from the air (I didn’t get a window seat from Orlando to Louisville, but got a nice one from Louisville to St.Louis, and the plane made a lovely circle of the entire downtown area (including the Arch) and then the Casino over the river, and then I could see the whole of Forest Park, and was able to spot all the landmarks in it…well,

click here

for the link on Facebook.

Flying is fun if you are interested in the thousands of random people that you see….but nothing will make me like the security checks.