IUCN Red List raises more red flags for threatened species

Click Here to read the Intersesting Report

For those with strong stomach, there is pelagic bird survey

Here is the Report in The Hindu

 

Plagic Survey Munambam Coast

Here are some pictures of the event. Report will follow:

Birds sighted:

300	Flesh-footed Shearwater Puffinus carneipes
3	Wilson's Storm-Petrel Oceanites oceanicus
40	Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus
3	Parasitic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus 1 Non-breeding adult and 2 Juveniles in pale morph
2	Brown Noddy Anous stolidus     Two birds on a floating steel drum. The birds came back to     their favorite     perch even after disturbed by the boat time and again
1	Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus
15	Great Crested Tern Thalasseus bergiiin company with Lesser Crested Terns on a buoy and flying singly
50	Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis

 

CNHS partners with Bird Count India Consortium to promote Bird Watching and Monitoring Diversity

CNHS has joined Bird Count India which is  a consortium of organizations and groups working together to increase our collective knowledge about bird distributions and populations. The consortium has a set of specific goals.

Goals

We aim to document the distribution and abundance of Indian birds, from the finest scale (eg, within a city) to the largest (across the country).

Through the collection of information on birds across seasons and years, we hope to enable a better understanding of seasonal patterns of movement of birds, and to monitor changes in distribution and abundance of birds over long periods.

We try and meet these goals by conducting periodic bird events and activities; by offering support and resources to birding groups conducting their own events; and by putting together useful information on bird monitoring.

Activities

We coordinate the annual Great Backyard Bird Count in India, which provides a yearly snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds around us. In addition, we coordinate similar 4-day bird counts at other times of the year. Tentative dates for 2014 for these India Bird Counts are 13-16 June and 14-17 November.

We conduct a series of monthly eBirding Challenges, to encourage birders to look for birds all through the year and to share their sightings on a public platform.

Support

We offer support to groups who wish to conduct their own birding events using the platform provided by eBird. Previous examples of events we have supported include the Kerala Common Bird Monitoring Program, the Big Bird Day, and the Bangalore Bird Count. If your group is interested in conducting a bird listing or counting event, please get in touch!

We offer advice and support to location/regional groups who may wish to conduct more detailed projects on the distribution and abundance of their birds, monitored over time. Depending on your requirements, we can help with designing the project (based on your needs), with suggesting data collection formats and storage, and with the analysis and display of results. An example of a project we have supported in this way is the Mysore City Bird Atlas.

Information

We are working towards putting together a comprehensive set of resources

for anyone interested in bird monitoring. This will include a description of the various kinds of monitoring projects that could be done, some suggestions for how to decide between them, and step-by-step guides for how to carry out a monitoring project.

The eBird platform

In general, we encourage individual birders to use eBird to document their sightings. It often makes sense for groups running events and projects to similarly use eBird. However, for a few projects eBird may not be the best tool to use for bird surveys and monitoring. In such cases, we are happy to advise on the design and construction of a more customized system for data collection.

For more details here are the links:-

May 2014 eBirding Challenge

Bird Count India

April eBirders of the Month



 

InverteBlitz in Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary Successfully Completed

Cochin Natural History Society and Kerala Forest Department have conducted a Faunal Survey of the invertebrate fauna of the Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary on 14-16^th March 2014. This was done using a new method of monitoring and documenting biodiversity in a given place using citizen volunteers and scientists and professionals. It is called InverteBlitz a modified form of BioBlitz which has been done in Aralam WildLife Sanctuary in the past. A bioblitz is an intense period of biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within a designated area (protected Area/Wildlife Sanctuary). Groups of scientists, Naturalists and Volunteers conduct an intensive field study over a continuous time period. There is a public component to InverteBlitz, with the goal of getting the public interested in biodiversity. Total of 18 participants from different parts of Kerala and from different backgrounds like Pharmacists, Mechanics, Sociologists, Doctors,Clerks,Entomologists(those who study insects in general),Myrmecologists(those who study ants) ,Odonatologits(those who study Dragonflies and Damselflies) Lepidopterists(those who study Butterflies),retired Engineers, Zoology students  all participated in the exercise.

The InverteBlitz was designed by Dr.Mohammed Jafar Palot, Scientist, Western Ghats Field Research Station, Zoological Survey of India, Kozhikode and Prof.Dr.Dilip K.G., President, Cochin Natural History Society. This survey was held with the assistance of Malabar Natural History Society and Travancore Natural History Society. Participants included Dr.Muhammed Jafer Palot, Dr.Dilip K G, Kiron C G (Author, Dragonflies and Damselflies of Kerala), Manoj. A (Myrmecologist), Sri.Baiju(Lepidopterist) etc.

IDUKKI WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary is located between 9040’ and 9055’N latitudes and 76050’ and 77005’E longitudes and is situated in Kerala state, Idukki district, Udumpanchola and Thodupuzha Taluk. The area is a part of Nagarampara Reserve Forests and forms the catchment area of Periyar River and caters to ldukki Hydel Project. The sanctuary was notified in 1976. The area was previously part of Kottayam Forest Division. The total extent of the sanctuary is 105.364sq.km which includes 33sq.km water body of the Idukki Reservoir The sanctuary consists of two Sections: Idukki Section, which was previously part of Nagarampara Range and Kizhukanam Section, which was part of Ayyappankovil Range.

RESULTS OF THE SURVEY

Summary Results of this survey is given below:-

 

Ø 18 participants

Ø  Camps at            

·         Kizhukanam

·         Vakavanam

·         Vairamani(Vellakkamaly)

·         Chempakassery

·         Kettuchira

Ø  Found more than 350 species of  Invertebrates

Ø  30+ species of  Ants

Highlights

v  Found Blind Ant from Kettuchira camp

Ø  25+ species of Spiders

Highlights

v  Found Ant Mimicing Spider from Kettuchira camp

Ø  80+  species of  Butterflies

Highlights

v  Found Malabar Flash from Vairamani camp

v  Malabar Tree Nymph from many localities

Ø  5+ species of  Centipedes

Highlights

v  Found Coral Centipedes from several camps

v  Scolopendra sp.

Ø  Grasshoppers  – more than 25 species

Ø  Painted grass hoppers and  other Katydids

Ø  Crickets – more than 25 species

Ø  2  species of  Scorpions

Ø  20+ species of  Dragonflies

Ø  6 species of  Cockroaches

Ø  20+ species of  Wasps

Ø  3  species of  Freshwater Crabs

Ø  2  species of  Earthworms

Ø  2  species of  Waterskaters(Water striders are bugs that can walk on water. They live on the surface of ponds and    marshes. They eat both living and dead insects, such as butterflies, dragonflies, and mosquitos.)

Ø  Many species of  beetles such as Whirligig beetles, Tiger beetles, Ladybird beetles,  Carabid beetles, Long-horned beetles, Chrysomelid beetles, Jewel beetles, etc.,

Ø  More than 20 species of hemipteran bugs

Ø  Cotton bugs, Assassin bugs

Ø  Praying Mantis- 6 species

Ø  Moths- at least 10 species

Ø  Stick insects- 3 species

Ø  Snails and  Slugs- 4-5 species

Ø  Millipedes- 4 species

Ø  Flies- many species including flower flies, blow flies, Horse flies, Crane flies, Blue bottle flies, Sarcophagid flies etc- at least  8 species

Ø  Earwigs- 3 species

Ø  Cicadas- 2 species

Ø  Wasps- many species like spider wasps, potter wasps, paper wasps, hornets, etc

Ø  Phalangids- 2 speceis

Ø  Honeybees- 2 species

Ø  Mosquitoes – 3 specis

Vertebrates

Ø  Some interesting Birds

·         Savannah Nightjar

·         Jungle Nightjar

·         Short-toed Snake Eagle

·         River Tern

·         Woolly-necked stork

·         Little Grebe

·         Great cormorant

·         Oriental Darter

·         Indian Pitta

·         Black Eagle

Ø  Frogs

·         5 species

Ø  Toads – 2 speceis

Ø  Lizards- 5 specis

Ø  Skinks- 2 specis   

Ø  Gunther’s Vine Snake

Ø  Caesilian – Icthyophis beddomei

Ø  Elephant - mating at Vellakkamali (Vairamani team) 15-03-2014, 10.30 a.m.

There was a competition for spotting maximum diversity of species and Sri.Manoj. A,  Myrmecologist and member of TNHS got the first prize (91 points) and  Sri.Hari Praved,MSc Student,MES College Ponnani got the Runner Up Prize(89 points).The Survey was Co-Ordinated by Sri.Saji P K, Wildlife Warden,Idukki Wildlife Division ,Sri.Jayachandran Range Forest Officer, IWLS and Vishnupriyan Kartha,Secretary,Cochin Natural History Society

Poaching of Waterbirds Prevented by CNHS Member

 

Cochin Natural History Society member Sri. Anoop C R responded to a team trying to shoot down birds at

Expert warns of Uttarakhand-like disaster in Western Ghats

Link to the article Expert warns of Uttarakhand-like disaster in Western Ghats The extremely fragile Western Ghats region is highly prone to natural calamities and chances of an Uttarakhand-like tragedy in the region cannot be ruled out if scientific conservation initiatives are not being implemented at the earliest, says a leading environmentalist. Significantly, the foreboding has come at a time when the State is in a dilemma over implementing the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report drawn up by noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil. While business interests having stakes in granite quarrying, real estate, timber and tourism, who thrive in the biodiversity hotspot for decades, are opposing the report, the UDF government is under pressure to implement its salient recommendations. According to Prof V.S. Vijayan, former chairman of the State Biodiversity Board, also a member of Gadgil committee, commercial interests with the support of political parties are trying to create tension among people and making false propaganda against the report. “The Ghats region is highly prone to natural calamities like that happened in Uttarakhand recently. Indiscriminate plundering of natural resources and illegal and unscientific constructions have made it geologically fragile. Those who are agitating against the Gadgil report should try to understand the facts first before making a hue and cry,” Mr. Vijayan told PTI. “The natural forest cover in the region has dwindled to seven per cent. Most of the rivers have dried up and waters are contaminated in the rest of them. Hills are also slowly disappearing due to quarrying,” he said. Dismissing the argument that the Gadgil report is “anti-development” and “anti-farmer”, he said it is a pro-development report to the core but it wanted development initiatives in the region to be carried out in a sustainable manner. “Development process has to go on. Livelihood of people should be met. But, these all should be achieved in a sustainable manner, without causing any more harm to the biodiversity and environment there,” he said. Gadgil committee report has evoked sharp criticism from various quarters including the mainstream political parties in all the six States concerned — Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa —through which the Western Ghats is spread over. In Kerala, political parties and church establishments, irrespective of their differences, are against implementation of the report. They fear that the implementation would result in large-scale displacement of small and marginal farmers settled on the slopes of the hill ranges. Even the Kasturirangan report, which studied the recommendations of Madhav Gadgil report, has also not received total support. The State government formed an experts’ panel last week under the Biodiversity Board Chairman V. Ommen to create consensus among political parties and environmental activists on its implementation. Disputing the contention of the sceptics, Mr. Vijayan said the Gadgil committee has not opposed all human activity in the demarcated regions. “We have recommended the ban on polythene carry bags in the region. But, some churches told the faithful that they could not use even plastic buckets if the report was implemented.” “Another propaganda is that the report is against the construction of new houses in Western Ghats. But what we objected to was the conversion of agricultural and forest land for other purposes. But exception could be given to families who live there for generations. The recommendation was actually to curb real estate lobby,” he said. A recommendation to make all new constructions in the region eco-friendly, was twisted by vested groups and propagated that Gadgil committee wanted all new houses to be built with grass and bamboo, he said. He also denounced the allegation that the report was “anti-farmer”, saying that the report recommendations actually would provide more monetary gains to the farming community. “There are recommendations in the report to provide ’conservation charges’ for those farmers who use indigenous seeds for cultivation. The benefit is also recommended for farmers who rear indigenous fish species. Even those who grow native tree species in their homeyard are also recommended to get monetary benefit,” he said. Holding that the Gadgil committee has used a “totally unbiased system” to study the Western Ghats, Mr. Vijayan said they first took Western Ghats as a huge “water tower” as it is the water repository for all the six states. The entire Western Ghats was divided into three zones based on as many as 14 characters like geological and biodiversity factors, presence of rare species and so on. The entire region was demarcated as grids and grades were given to each grid based on these factors, he said. “The most sensitive areas have been included in zone one. Areas like Silent Valley and Athriappally fell under the zone naturally. We have not included any place purposefully in it.” The report, prepared thoroughly through a democratic process, envisaged to secure ‘grama sabhas’ and panchayats the ultimate power which the mafia groups in the region did not want to happen, he said. “The Kasturirangan panel, formed to examine Gadgil report, also had references about the presence of these mafias. As many as 52 per cent of objections which the Kasturi panel received against Gadgil report were from mining lobbies.” He criticised Kasturirangan report for discarding the zonal wise demarcation proposed by Gadgil panel and dividing the Ghats region just into ‘cultural and natural areas’ stating that it would open up the region for mafias. The expert also urged the authorities to distribute a Malayalam version of the Gadgil report among local residents and hold public debates on the matter with the support of grama sabhas. Meanwhile, V. Ommen, who has been made the chairman of the expert committee on the Kasturirangan report, said his main responsibility would be to hold grassroot level discussions on the report and create awareness among people that it would not harm their life. “I will be clear about my responsibilities only when I receive the terms and references. When we receive a copy of Kasturirangan report, we will bring out a Malayalam version of it, giving focus on Kerala side.Later we will visit all 123 villages, said to be affected with its implementation, and try to create consensus among various sections of people with the support of panchayat authorities and political parties,” he said.