On the Garden Birds of Lalbagh

The cumulative total of the bird species known to have occurred at Lalbagh from the nineteen seventies onwards, could be anywhere between 140 to 170 species. However, if we just consider the last half a decade and species with an occurrence frequency of more than thirty percent of the months, the list drops to just 44 species.

The list of birds seen was prepared by Mr Kishan SB and is at: 

https://krishnamb.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-common-birds-of-lalbagh.html?m=1

Out of these 44 species, just three non aquatic species could build their nests closer to the ground in shrubbery. And then again, they may not, building their nests higher in the vegetation. We have no ground nesting non aquatic birds at Lalbagh.

However if we consider the bird species which come down to the shrubbery, or the ground to feed, (including those coming to artificial food), which are non aquatic, it could be about fourteen species. All the other species out of the thirty odd garden species with an extended duration of presence in Lalbagh, live on trees. 

Now, if we begin to wonder why, some explanations stand out. We have too little shrubbery in Lalbagh. We do not have places where fallen leaves stand at the base of trees, near trunks, or under low vegetation. The Covid19 lockdown showed that given enough isolation and no interference, lush meadows and ground vegetation comes up. But they are not allowed to be, and are cut close to the ground to maintain an open, almost barren, manicured look. And herein lies the problem for our birdlife. 

Making Lalbagh Greener

https://krishnamb.blogspot.com/2017/06/making-lalbagh-greener.html?m=1

~ in good faith, mbk.

On the nature of greenery at Cubbon Park

What I notice from the conversations and points people have put up, is that nobody is thinking of learning and education. Especially of informal experiential learning.

The single largest source of tomorrow's technical manpower is going to be the cities of today. And we need to do something about experiential environmental education here! Even the Supreme Court thought it fit that a knowledge of the environment is good at the school level itself. So, parks could be a bit more rustic, a bit more wilder, and serve as educational resources for the "nature" around us.

The Government Archaeological Museum and the Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum are close by, and "nature" could be a part of the educational complex too! If one thinks of art in nature, then Cubbon park should be a part of the "complex" with the Venkatappa Art gallery there.
So, why can't we just have more rustic areas and more greenery in our midst?

--krishna.mb, 03.09.21

~ in good faith, krishnamb.
making free time is culture!

Mowing and undergrowth removal at Lalbagh

Grass and undergrowth are being drastically cut down at Lalbagh. This needs to be seriously reconsidered.

Both the mowing of grass and brush cutting is happening to within an inch or so of the ground, rendering the lawn and other areas bare and brown. This would lead to, amongst other things, more wasteful loss of soil moisture directly, than that by plant transpiration which is controlled. Transpiration at least leads to carbon fixation and growth. Water evaporation and loss from the soil surface is of benefit to none and is just wasteful, which could be better utilised by plants.

The benefits of the mass blooming of herbs is also lost which would benefit pollinators like bees and boost their populations. The loss of this greenery would also reduce insects and other biota which would have been a part of the food web there otherwise. This would disadvantage the bird life there too.

There needs to be an immediate map based transparent management plan for the herbs, shrubs, grass and ground cover of Lalbagh. This should be a plot by plot plan which is debated and well considered before implementation. Ad hoc efforts would only fall victim to individual whims and fancies.

There needs to be a serious re-purposing of Lalbagh which gives priority to the education of the visitor and the student alike. For we should remember that the largest body of tomorrow's technical manpower comes from today's cities and we cannot fail in the education of the youth of today. To maintain it like an open playground for people to waddle all over is a banal and wanton mal-utilization of a valuable green space of Bangalore. The urban green sensitises us to the life around us after all!

~ in good faith, krishnamb.
making free time is culture!