Wonderul !!! Do you have photos of the Swifts? Thank you for the report. Kishen
On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 9:24 AM, Avisek Chatterjee < exploring.hori...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Hi All, > > SAFAR(FIELD TRIP) ORGANIZED BY PRAKRITI SAMSAD > > Date of Trip: 12th September 2010. (Sunday) > Duration of Trip: 6:10 am to 6:00 pm > Location: Indian Botanic Garden, Sibpur, Howrah near Kolkata. > Temperature: (As in Alipur) Max 31.9°C and Min 25.2°C. > Humidity: (As in Alipur) Max 99% and Min 71%. > Weather: Cloudy Morning. After 8:15am gradually clear > sky. Slightly humid and sultry. > Habitat: Area approximately 800 bighas. As name > suggests, the garden has many exotic tropical plants apart from many > indigenous species. It also accommodates 27 large and medium ponds. > River Ganga flows on one side of the Garden. A few ponds are connected > with the water of the river Ganga. Ponds contains many kinds of fishes > such as (only Bengali names given) Rui, Katla, Mrigel, Bata, Kalbose, > Desi Puti, Tith Puti, Mourola, Dankona, Gol Chanda, Kath Chanda, > Chela, Nylotica, Telapiya, Shol, Lata, Sal, Buri Kholse, Pata Kholse, > Bele, Chakali, Techoka, Dhopachi, Koi etc. > > BRIEF REPORT:- > ------------------------- > This week our SAFAR(Field Trip) was organized by Prakriti Samsad to > Kolkata’s famous Indian Botanic Garden. Every month Prakriti Samsad, a > well known and well established NGO in Kolkata, arranges for a field > trip in biodiversity hot spots in and around Kolkata and we, members > of this NGO participate in this SAFAR. This week the venue was Indian > Botanic Garden. Botanic Garden covering an area of more than 800 > bighas (273 acres) is situated in Sibpur, Howrah near Kolkata by the > side of river Ganga. > It’s Rainy Season now. The garden has become spectacular glossy green > with touch of life everywhere. We reached there early morning and > started our trip from the main gate through the middle lane inside the > garden. It was mostly cloudy from the morning with cloud gradually > disappearing as the day progressed. Divided in 2 separate groups > (mainly due to walking speed) we started walking down the lanes when > suddenly Soumik Chatterjee pointing out a tree flitter butterfly, a > rare finding in this spot. Also we were able to spot a Great Cormorant > which is an uncommon find in B Garden. As usual Soumyajit Chowdhury > was helping us a lot in identifying wild flowers and recognizing > Hesperiids, which were in real lots, while Rahi Soren took the charge > of identifying spiders and helping us in getting aware of the species > type and species name. Sights of Moorhen and Waterhen with its chicks > here and there were just beautiful. Bronze-winged Jacanas with their > juvenile ones were almost everywhere and gave some beautiful snaps to > the photographers. Soumik Chatterjee, Prasenjit Dawn and I was busy > checking out the odonates and was really surprised to see so many > Rodothemis Rufa or Rufous Marsh Dart all over a particular pond, > moving here and there, mating and female laying eggs. Copera Ciliata > or Black-kneed Bush Dart as we call it, are also found in numbers in > this place in a particular patch. The butterfly Common Grass Dart, > which was in plenty there, moved us all as it is regionally a rare > species. Due to festive season, many people gathered all round the > garden and all were in festive mood. By noon the garden was almost > filled with crowds. Our day ended with the sight of a Green Sandpiper > by the side of River Ganga. Although with less number of bird > sighting, the trip was very successful and all the members of the team > were happy that they got to learn something new from the trip. > As locally grown fruit bearing trees, which attracts lots and lots of > birds, are less here, an obviously decrease in the concentration of > birds have been noticed. Also less number and variety of fishes in the > pond can be a reason behind less number of water birds in the garden. > > TEAM MEMBERS: > 1. Subhankar Patra. > 2. Jayanta Manna. > 3. Rahi Soren. > 4. Soumyajit Chowdhury. > 5. Avisek Chatterjee. > 6. Prasenjit Dawn. > 7. Ushnish Das. > 8. Soumik Chatterjee. > 9. Animesh Manna. > 10. Saroj Kumar Tula. > 11. Ishandeb Tula (11 yr old son of Mr. Tula). > 12. Srikanta Dhali. > 13. Susantha Bag. > 14. Subhendu Das. > 15. Aritra Mishra. > 16. Pradipto Bagchi. > 17. Supratim Chatterjee. > 18. Abira Pal. > > PLEASE NOTE THAT AN APPOXIMATE NUMBER OF A PARTICULAR SPECIES OBSERVED > IS INDICATED IN BRACKETS () BY THE SIDE OF THE NAME OF THE SPECIES. > > BIRDS OBSERVED DURING THE TRIP: > 1. Lesser-whistling Duck(4). > 2. Rufous Woodpecker(1). > 3. Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker(3). > 4. Streak-throated Woodpecker(1). > 5. Black-rumped Flameback(5). > 6. Blue-throated Barbet(15). > 7. Coppersmith Barbet(12). > 8. Lineated Barbet(10). > 9. Common Kingfisher(6). > 10. White-throated Kingfisher(6). > 11. Stork-billed Kingfisher(10). > 12. Common-Hawk Cuckoo(5). > 13. Plaintive Cuckoo(2). > 14. Asian Koel(12). > 15. Greater Coucal(9). > 16. Alexanderine Parakeet(4). > 17. Red-breasted Parakeet(25). > 18. Rose-ringed Parakeet(50). > 19. House Swift(7). > 20. Asian Palm Swift(35). > 21. Spotted Owlet(12). > 22. Rock Pigeon(30). > 23. Spotted Dove(20). > 24. Eurasian Collared Dove(7) > 25. Yellow-footed Green Pigeon(35). > 26. White-breasted Waterhen(25). > 27. Common Moorhen(6). > 28. Green Sandpiper(1). > 29. Bronze-winged Jacana(30). > 30. Black Kite(10). > 31. Shikra(3). > 32. Little Cormorant(12). > 33. Great Cormorant(1). > 34. Cattle Egret(20). > 35. Intermediate Egret(1). > 36. Indian Pond Heron(12). > 37. Black-crowned Night Heron(5). > 38. Asian Openbill(5). > 39. Rufous Treepie(15). > 40. House Crow(30). > 41. Large-billed Crow(15). > 42. Black-hooded Oriole(10). > 43. Eurasian Golden Oriole(2). > 44. Black Drongo(15). > 45. Bronzed Drongo(2). > 46. Common Iora(1). > 47. Orange-headed Thrush(2). > 48. Oriental Magpie Robin(5). > 49. Chestnut-tailed Starling(25). > 50. Brahminy Starling(2). > 51. Asian Pied Starling(30). > 52. Jungle Myna(35). > 53. Common Myna(30). > 54. Great Tit(2). > 55. Barn Swallow(8). > 56. Red-whiskered Bulbul(5). > 57. Red-vented Bulbul(20). > 58. Common Tailorbird(20). > 59. Jungle Babbler(30). > 60. Pale-billed Flowerpecker(15). > 61. Purple Sunbird(50). > 62. Purple-rumped Sunbird(6). > 63. House Sparrow(12). > > BUTTERFLIES OBSERVED IN THE FIELD TRIP: > 1. Common Jay(8). > 2. Tailed Jay(6). > 3. Common Mime(8). > 4. Common Mormon(15). > 5. Lime(15). > 6. Common Wanderer(2). > 7. Common Jezebel(4) > 8. Psyche(3). > 9. Striped Albatross(6). > 10. Common Emigrant(15). > 11. Mottled Emigrant(10). > 12. Common Grass Yellow(9). > 13. Three-spot Grass Yellow(3). > 14. Common Castor(1). > 15. Great Eggfly(5). > 16. Danaid Eggfly(3). > 17. Common Leopard(7). > 18. Commander(5). > 19. Grey Pansy(8). > 20. Peacock Pansy(10). > 21. Common Baron(1). > 22. Sailor (Unidentified) (1). > 23. Common Bushbrown(15). > 24. Darkbrand Bushbrown(15). > 25. Common Three Ring(2). > 26. Common Four Ring(20). > 27. Common Five Ring(2). > 28. Common Palmfly(6). > 29. Blue Tiger(18). > 30. Plain Tiger(5). > 31. Striped Tiger(3). > 32. Common Crow(15). > 33. Brown King Crow(4). > 34. Common Pierrot(8). > 35. Quaker(9). > 36. Gram Blue(4). > 37. Lime Blue(8). > 38. Dark Grass Blue(5). > 39. Pale Grass Blue(6). > 40. Tiny Grass Blue(3). > 41. Common Cerulean(4). > 42. Ciliate Blue(4). > 43. Common Silverline(3). > 44. Yamfly (2). > 45. Common Branded Awl (1). > 46. Bush Hopper (7). > 47. Indian Skipper (5). > 48. Common Grass Dart(12). > 49. Chestnut Bob(16). > 50. Grass Demon(2). > 51. Common Redeye(1). > 52. Tree Flitter(1). > 53. Rice Swift(6). > 54. Bevan’s Swift(1). > 55. Straight Swift(8). > 56. Large-branded Swift(1). > 57. Small-branded Swift(5). > 58. Indian Palm Bob(1). > > DRAGONFLIES OBSERVED DURING THE TRIP: > 1. Common Clubtail(3). > 2. Anax Indicus(1) [We locally call it Yellow Blue-tailed Yellow Darner]. > 3. Trumpet Tail(4). > 4. Scarlet Marsh Hawk(5). > 5. Rufous-backed Marsh Hawk(5). > 6. Little Blue Marsh Hawk(1). > 7. Ditch Jewel(50). > 8. Ruddy Marsh Skimmer(50). > 9. Ground Skimmer(10). > 10. Pied Paddy Skimmer(3). > 11. Green Marsh Hawk(25). > 12. Blue-tailed Forest Hawk(10). > 13. Wandering Glider(15). > 14. Rufous Marsh Glider(50). > 15. Common Picture Wing(15). > 16. Black Marsh Trotter(4). > 17. Crimson Marsh Glider(20). > 18. Greater Crimson Glider(30). > 19. Long-legged Marsh Glider(3). > > DAMSELFLIES OBSERVED DURING THE TRIP: > 1. Coromandel Marsh Dart(50). > 2. Orange-tailed Marsh Dart(7). > 3. Pigmy Dartlet(15). > 4. Senegal Golden Dartlet(1). > 5. Black Marsh Dart(3). > 6. Blue Grass Dartlet(1). > 7. Copera Ciliata(9) [We locally call it Black-kneed Marsh Dart]. > > WILD FLOWERS/PLANTS (HERBS AND SHRUBS) OBSERVED DURING THE TRIP: > Acanthaceae > 1. Ruellia tuberosa > 2. Ruellia prostata > > Amaranthaceae > 3. Amaranthus spinosus > 4. Amaranthus viridis > 5. Alternanthera sessilis > 6. Alternanthera ficoidea > 7. Gomphrena serrata > 8. Justicia procumbens > 9. Achyranthes aspera > > Amaryllidaceae > 10. Zephyranthes citrina > > Araceae > 11. Colocasia esculenta > 12. Typhonium trilobatum > > Caesalpiniaceae > 13. Cassia allata > 14. Cassia tora > 15. Cassia sophera > > Cannaceae > 16. Canna indica > > Cleomaceae > 17. Cleome rutidosperma > 18. Cleome viscosa > > Commelinaceae > 19. Commelina benghalensis > 20. Commelina diffusa > > Compositae (Asteraceae) > 21. Eclipta prostata > 22. Synedrella nodiflora > 23. Wedelia chinensis > 24. Tridax procumbens > 25. Vernonia cinerea > > Convulvulaceae > 26. Ipomoea aquatica > 27. Ipomoea sp. > 28. Evolvulus nummularius > > Cucurbitaceae > 29. Coccinea grandis > 30. Cucumis melo > > Cyperaceae > 31. Cyperus kyllinga > > Euphorbiaceae > 32. Euphorbia hirta > > Hypoxidaceae > 33. Curculigo orchoides > > Malvaceae > 34. Sida rhombofolia > 35. Urena lobata > > Nyctaginaceae > 36. Boerhavia diffusa > > Nymphaeaceae > 37. Nymphaea nouchali > 38. Nymphaea alba > > Passifloraceae > 39. Passiflora sp. > > Rutaceae > 40. Ravenia spectabilis > > Solanaceae > 41. Solanum torvum > > Tiliaceae > 42. Corchorus tricularis > > Verbenaceae > 43. Lantana camara > 44. Lipia javanica > > Zinziberaceae > 45. Costus speciosus > 46. Globba bulbifera > > Vitaceae > 47. Cayratia trifolia > > WE ALSO ENCOUNTERED: > We casually watched a few other species which we encountered in the > field. Reporting of these species is done to give an idea of the area > which we surveyed and this is not a comprehensive report of mammals, > reptiles, amphibians or insects in that area. Any serious watcher in > these areas must watch much more than what we have encountered. > > MAMMALS: - 3 SPECIES > 1. Five-stripped Palm Squirrel(10). > 2. Small Mongoose(4). > 3. Grey Mongoose(2). > > AMPHIBIANS: - 3 SPECIES > 1. Flapshell Turtle(1). > 2. Indian Bull Frog(2). > 3. Common Toad(15). > > REPTILES: - 2 SPECIES > 1. Garden Lizard(10). > 2. Bronze Grass Skink(1). > > SPIDERS: - 11 SPECIES > 1. Phintella vitatta (Banded Phintella) > 2. Oxyopes birmanicus (Green Lynx Spider) > 3. Oxyopes javanus (Brown Lynx Spider) > 4. Argyrodes sp. > 5. Pardosa sp. (Common Wolf Spider) > 6. Argiope pulchella (Signature Spider) > 7. Plexippus sp. > 8. Telamonia sp. > 9. Crossopriza lyonii (Daddy Long Leg Spider) > 10. Thomisus bulani (White Crab Spider) > 11. Peusetia sp. > > ANTS: - 10 SPECIES > 1. Bengali Name: Kalo Sursuri Pipre. > 2. Bengali Name: Badami Sursuri Pipre. > 3. Oecophylla [Bengali Name: Nalsa Pipre ]. > 4. Crematogaster. > 5. Small Tetraponera [Bengali Name: Choto Kath Pipre]. > 6. Large Tetraponera [Bengali Name: Baro Kath Pipre]. > 7. Large Red Ant [Bengali Name: Baro Lal Pipre]. > 8. Diacama [Bengali Name: Deo Pipre]. > 9. Another 2 unidentified species. > > OTHER INSECTS: > 1. At least 12 species of Grasshoppers. > 2. At least 7 species of Beetles. > 3. At least 5 species of Bugs. > 4. Wood Roach (2). > 5. Many other insects. > > OTHER INVERTIBRATES OBSERVED: > 1. Black Millipede. > 2. Reddish Brown Centipede [Bengali Name: Tetul Biche] (15). > 3. Harvestman (2). > > Thanks to Subhankar Patra for giving me ideas, helping me and guiding > me in writing this report. His encouragement is helping us to produce > this weekly report on our field trips. Also thanks to all team members > for their contribution in bringing out this report. Thanks to Sujit > Das for formatting the report in such a good way. Thanks to Soumyajit > Chowdhury for reviewing the report and contributing the full list of > wild flowers (herbs and shrubs). Thanks to Rahi Soren for compiling > the list of spiders observed. > > Cheers, > Avisek Chatterjee on behalf of the team members. > > -- Enjoy
