Volunteer Training Program(VTP) , Kudremukh, Day 2-190514 (Monday)

May 31, 2014

Here’s my account of day 2:

Monday, 190514, Day 2

Dr Ramesh, the RFO of the Kudremukh range, made a presentation which started with the general concepts of Protected Areas, National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, and Reserves, such as Community., Tiger, Biosphere and Elephant, and then talked specifically of the Kudremukh, which he lauded as one of the best forest regions in Karnataka, as well as being grassland habitat.

VMR gave a presentation to illustrate the value of photography in wildlife conservation:

Post-lunch, S. Karthikeyan, Chief Naturalist, JLR, introduced the participants to “Lesser” life forms, and showed how interesting they could be. Heavy rain repeatedly interrupted his presentation but it was still an eye-opener to the participants.

The pouring rain brought down the temperature as well as the sheets of rain, and it was beautiful to see this

BICOLORED FROG:

This ladybird isn’t alive; she’s been predated by a spider, but what remains of her is covered by raindrops:

I wish I had names for some of the beautiful wildflowers we saw:

This JUNGLE PRINIA hid amongst the rain-dripping leaves:

A COMMON PIERROT delighted us:

A lot of GARCINIA GUMMIGATA trees are being planted around the camp:

I am unable to get the id of this beautifully flowering tree:

The rain also brought out many LEECHES; here's one on Basava's finger:

We saw the camera traps being taken to be set up (alas, they didn't get anything much..that's the way it happens!)

This HAWK MOTH caterpillar had come out, too:

I wish I had names for all the wildflowers we saw. Some, like this OSBECKIA, were provided by friends:

Others remained unknown:

I can't get an id for these fruits and trees, either:

The ferns looked beautiful, but we learnt later that PTERIDIUM (commonly called Bracken) is an invasive species and is probably harmful for the ecosystem there: