The woods are lovely..

This revisit for field work has meant an opportunity to go back to most of the villages and forests that I have worked in, in the past 10 years. I have always come away each day after field work with a feeling of contentment because honestly the forests are looking as lovely as they did from before. They may not have grown in size, but somehow look better in quality and yes in some places they have grown more dense in abandoned agricultural sites. I wish I could say the same for the adivasi villages and people though.

Chandran's mother-

M.Chandran is an Irula from Keelkoop village, who is also a colleague. When I first joined the team I used to spend a lot of time in Keelkoop doing up the conservatory, experimenting with seeds, measuring the forests, identifying trees, bee and bird watching.. Chandran's mother was one of the first elders who took me around the village sharing her world view on plants, nutrition and traditional knowledge. I still remember the day she took me out to gather Pheonix leaves. She realised I have a jeep at my disposal and thought it would be a great opportunity to go harvest from Ariyur slopes, where she hadn't been for a long time. We scaled the slopes to get to the top where the plants were growing. I sat, watched, made notes, took pictures while she and her daughter Kanaga labored away. What I remember most was that she was done with her bundle of leaves by 2pm and came up and sat with me and talked away while Kanaga labored on. I was hoping we could both help Kanaga with her harvest so that we could leave the place early, but she was very clear that each one just had to do their bit and that's how this system works. She wasn't going to do my research and I wasn't going to do her harvesting! I did not argue and just waited. I met Chandran's mother after many years recently, she has aged and the lines on her face have grown deeper. She still called me by a nick name she has for me and then told me how she wasn't able to see well these days. I offered her my glasses in jest and she was all game to try it on.

A many storeyed Apis dorsata apartment.-

On the Geddesal road, the bees are now a common sight on the tall Eucalyptus trees. I must have seen these nests for over 5 years now and their numbers are definitely growing. They have found good refuge in these tall plantation trees and according to Rajendran, by choosing to nest on thin branches they can't make a lot of honey, since the branch cannot hold that weight. The tall Eucalyptus trees are difficult to climb and no honey hunter is scaling the trees. Have the bees finally found a spot which is safe from human beings?

Riot of colours-

We do need some rain here in the mountains. The forests were looking dry, trees shorn of leaves and dry air hitting one's face. Was sure that even if I said the word 'fire' the forest would burn. It was lovely though, golden and brown interspersed with the riot of red and orange of the wild silk cotton and the flame of the forest.

Wild dogs after a long time-

On the forest track from Bedaguli a pair of Wild Dogs chose to run ahead of us for more than 2 kms. We slowed, we waited but they preferred to run ahead of us on the road. At one point one of them stopped and was panting and we thought at least now they will go off into the forest but they kept on. It was only after sometime when they came to a herd of Sambar deer that they stopped and moved off the road.

Every time I travel on the road to Geddesal, I am reminded of the rock that Murugan and Ayyasamy pointed out years ago as the 'Jujikal" which means trickster rock or something equivalent to that, because you can aim as good as you can but you can never hit that rock with a stone.  So we always stop and try, I am happy to believe the local team when they say ' you can never hit that rock' but some people always have to prove a point. And the human spirit you see, it has to keep trying!

Woodpecker stop killing my tree

Wood shavings at the base of the tree

A resin rimmed nest for the woodpecker

One of the Canarium trees has a nicely shaped hollow, made by the golden backed woodpecker. I have never seen the bird but Rangan, my field guide has and I believe him. The nest has been carved out so beautifully and has a resin lined rim. Only wish the woodpecker had chosen a larger tree, this one is too young to be bored into so much. Not only has the bird been nesting since the past 6 months, he/she has been actively chipping away at the wood, as is evident from the wood shavings all around the base of the tree. Rangan is mighty upset and was looking at the tree and the nest yesterday and asking out loud to the bird, "did you have to pick on such a young tree, the tree will fall very soon."