Woolly-necked Stork

The Woolly-necked Stork,( locally known as Dokhar डोखर) Ciconia episcopus, is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It can also be known as the Espiscopos.

It is a widespread tropical species which breeds in Africa, and also in Asia from India to Indonesia. It is a resident breeder in wetlands with trees. The large stick nest is built in a forest tree, and 2-5 eggs form the typical clutch. This stork is usually silent, but indulges in mutual bill-clattering when adults meet at the nest.

The Woolly-necked Stork is a large bird, typically 85 cm tall. It is all black except for the woolly white neck and white lower belly. The upperparts are glossed dark green, and the breast and belly have a purple hue.

The main threat to this species in South East Asia is severe habitat fragmentation. The species has also suffered population reductions as a result of habitat destruction and shooting.

Pictures were taken near Selibeli (Kothi Haat) in Madhudani district of Bihar, India.

Neel kanth- State bird of Bihar

Indian Roller  नील कंठ
The Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis) is locally known as "Neel Kanth " and is chosen as the state bird for the Indian states of Bihar, Karnataka, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

The local name of this once often sighted bird is Neelakant ,नील कंठ (meaning “blue throat”), a name associated with the deity Shiva (who drank poison resulting in the blue throat). During former times, a captive roller would be released by the local ruler during festivals such as Dussera.

Its a beautiful sight to see the birg in full flight..the flashing twirling shades of blue in the sunlight are mesmerizing...one needs a lot of patience, bit of luck and a fast lens..one day I will get this beauty full frame in full flight.

The Kosi experiance

Everytime I go into Kosi flood plains, there is always something positive to learn,a bit of fear & a lot to be thankful about. 

This time, while going to Madhepura we were confronted with a dead bridge. The B.P.Mandal Setu is a newish rcc bridge,perhaps more than a kilometer long. Its situated on NH 107 and joins Madhepura with NH 30.The bridge has been closed recently as the midspan support pillars have sunk in.

Thus, to go to madhepura,if you have your vehicle,easier option was to cross the river by a boat. These country made boats are fitted with a diesel engine commonly used for pumping water and modified to drive the propeller.

Portable ramps made of bamboo are used to load & unload the vehicle. Once the vehicle is loaded,it is secured in its place by wedging sandbags or stone blocks in front of its wheels.

Its not the best looking boat, but its sturdy and it works. We loaded our 2.5ton vehicle on the boat..and it creaked and jarred all the way up the deck where it was secured.

As the engine caught on, the steady diesel engine chatter was reassuring,but it did not remain that way for long..about two third way down the river, the boat hit a sandbar and lodged itself right into it...and the over strained engine spluttered to a stop.

The boatmen then tried to make a under current channel by using anchors to scrape sand and directing the undercurrent of the river to dislodge the boat. The strain on the anchor was too much & the anchor broke. Having no other option, the elder of the two boatman waded through the river, went to his place about a a km away and hauled a heavy anchor all the way back to the boat and replaced the broken anchor.

They again started working the current towards the boat and finally after about two hours, the boat was free.

These guys have shown immense courage and presence of mind apart from the boating skill they grow up with. No wonder, guys like them saved thousands of lives during the floods. For them water is life & boats their livelyhood.

They did not accept any extra money and were happy with whatever rates the government has fixed for them. It was humbling to see the amount of work they do,the kind of risks they take & yet happy & satiated with what whatever life has offered them.

Revisiting Kosi flood victims

 

The basti of Bhanwartola comes under Sinduwari ward (15/16) of Shahpur Panchayat ,Gwalpada block in the district of Madhepura,Bihar. This settlement of around 400 households resides now beside the canal embankment.These people lost everything during the Kosi flood of 2008 and were residing on the embankment for almost two years before their houses could be built, hand pumps installed, buildings repaired.

There has been noticeable change from almost a year back when we were here.At the beginning of east canal  embankment, we saw construction work going on the culvert and sluice gates being worked on and replaced. After driving a few kilometers on the embankment we reached Bhanwartola.

 The first thing one noticed was that the school building was repaired almost new and about 40- 50 children were having mid day meals in the courtyard. It was a heartening sight..this place is really in the interiors, difficult to reach and it was nice to see Government agencies working here.

The region is still overwhelmingly covered with sand carried by the flood waters,but sparse vegetation has started dotting the landscape. Some farmers here are trying to grow vegetables, mainly 'Parval' as that's suited to this new soil layer. Earlier,the farmers predominantly grew food grains & the yield was nice. They hope a good year of rainfall will slowly bind the soil together & better options for farming will be available. Incidentally, after the floods,rainfall has been scarce in this region

We had been in touch with the ward member Mr.Upendra and he had prepared a list of beneficiaries who needed the blankets most. They were mostly old people, masomaat or widows and people from poorest section of this basti.These people were earlier given a stamped piece of paper bearing their name/representatives name which they submitted to us after they received the blanket. 

In all, around 200 blankets ,400 odd set of clothes & 100 set of woolens including shawls, woolen sheets, bed sheets, winter caps, scarves etc for for women & children were given out to the beneficiaries. We had carefully marked & packed each dress set separately for different age groups. We distributed the relief materials to everyone who was there at the site.

Acknowledgment in the form of thumb impression/signature were received on the beneficiaries list.On way back we gave medicines & old clothes to people of Laxminia village who had called us about a months back and asked for specific medicines.

This effort could be carried out because of people like Ms Bhawna Agrawal(Tempe,AZ) who sent us funds for 150 blankets and by members of our group namely Saroj, Agnivesh & Sunil Singh (US),Divyanshu Ji ,Dilip Ji & Ashok  sharma(Bangalore), Anand Guneshwar (Gandhinagar) & Vivek (Singapore). The details are at this link http://bit.ly/gBgWjI

I would specially like to thank Bhawna Ji for taking the initiative and contacting me and offering to help with purchase of blankets for these people, to Ashok for always being there to help and to Amitesh Ji from Prayaas for all the help he has been providing for this initiative for the last three years.

Anupam Mishra: The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting | Video on TED.com

Anupam Mishra:

The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting | Video on TED.com

Pandorus sphinx moth

Pandorus sphinx moth, originally uploaded by Scorius.

Oleander Hawk-moth/Pandorus Sphinx Moth.

Wingspan 80-120mm. Adults of this beautiful species have intricately patterned forewings, mixture of olive greens, suffused with small blotches of pink and white.

There is also a pale apical streak on each forewing. The hindwings are greyish green, with a pale white wavy line. It has a similar resting posture to the Eyed Hawk-moth

Pandorus sphinx moth 2

Pandorus sphinx moth 2, originally uploaded by Scorius.

A colourful migrant moth that migrates northwards each year from the warmer regions of southern Europe and North Africa.
It has abdomen curled upwards as Oleander Hawk-moths * owl moths have, It has very close resemblance with Pandorus sphinx moth
This moth was incubated from caterpillar stage & was found at Patna, India, one of the best that I have seen in a long time.
Its awesome

Till it shines.

Till it shines - Bob Serger

Take away my inhibitions
Take away my solitude
Fire me up with your resistance
Put me in the mood
Storm the walls around this prison
Leave the inmates
Free the guards
Deal me up another future
From some brand new deck of cards
Take the chip off of my shoulder
Smooth out all the lines
Take me out among the rustling pines
Till it shines

Like an echo down a canyon
Never coming back as clear
Lately I just judge the distance
Not the words I hear
I've been too long on these islands
I've been far too long alone
I've been too long without summer
In this winter home
Still if I can make the effort
If I take the time
Maybe we can leave this much behind
Till it shines

See the rich man lost and lonely

Watch him as he dines
Sitting there just testing all the wines
Till it shines
 *  *  *  *
"Till it shines" by Bob Serger 
The Movie ~ Mumford 

Simple steps to reduce Swine flu H1N1 prolifiration

Prevent Swine Flu - Good Advice - from an email

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know .

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).
     
2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).
      
3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.
      
4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water . *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*
      

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.
               
6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

 

Water on moon !

WATER ON MOON


A liter of water from a tonne or rock.

Moon water.. its a reality

Its insane..how could NASA not know that there was so much of water on Moon ( upto a liter of water from a ton of moon rock).. is this a hypothesis.. or is it closer to reality than we think.

MCUBE( Exploration instrument made by Israel & on abroad Chandrayaan) with Chandrayaan (Indian Space satellite) did bring a lot of credence to this "hypothesis"; it was in Bangalore when the world team first saw the data..incredible beautiful high resolution data that brought tears to the team members.. who just couldn't believe it.

They pinched..they checked.. rechecked.. and it was still there.. History was created when images came down streaming thru space at Bangalore. No one believed what they were seeing..it was the first of irrefutable scientific data that there was water on moon... lots of water on moon.

It has to be the biggest thing since man landed on moon.

Just imagine man. Now you could finally realize that moon fantasy..if it has water...its gonna be a whole new world out there.

Hats off to ISRO & people behind the Indian Space programme, to H.E Dr. Kalam, to the scientists of Israel who designed MCUBE, to NASA & all of you wonderful people who worked countless hours to bring us this wonderful news. YOU ROCK !!

Silent scream

Shikra Hawk (Accipiter badius) .JPG, originally uploaded by Scorius.

Updates

Yesterday, woolen & regular clothes, medicines, water purification tablets,veterinary vaccines (HS & BQ),Deworming suspension, Cerelac, packaged food were sent to Jadia & Lakshminia panchayat in Murligunj.

We have procured woolen caps,woolen mufflers and ear covers for 1500 children, apart from woolen clothes collected at Patna and from the clothes sent to us from our donors. The ground situation out here was difficult for about 10 days due to statewide agitations in retaliation to some unwanted political brinkmanship

Hopefully, good sense prevails and things become normal soon.

Thanks a lot to Anubha Ji who has funded the purchase of woolen clothes for small children; most of these clothes will be sent to Raahata and harijan tola in kumarkhand.

We plan to provide woolen clothes for small children to all the infants & small children up to 8-10 years of age to all the 2300 families who are residing at Harijan tola- Rahata cluster of villages.

Motor boat service had been disrupted for some time and we hope that they start soon. At places, one has to carry relief material for up to 10 km. Local villagers and paid porters are helping us.. but its taking more time.

We had a tough time coming back from Nepal after roads In Bihar were blocked due to agitation. But that gave us a chance to spend time near Nepal border (Inarwa) and we saw the Himalayan mountain range early morning. It was one beautiful experience...we were about 150KM south of Himalayan range and quite surprised that we could see the mountain range.

It was white capped horizon much above the cloud line...and it turned to orange glow just before sunrise.

Sometimes I wonder at this irony...beautiful, pure sky almost angelic sunrise...at the start of the day....and pain, suffering and choked feelings at sundown. Heaven and hell in span of a day..same place..same people..but so much change.

I would like to thank all of you for sustained help for such a long period, its amazing how humanity transcends time and tribe. Heartfelt thanks to the wonderful people of Maharastra, who have helped us right through this effort. Your help has been exemplary. God bless you all.

I hope and pray that in these trying times, people who celebrate 'Chath' festival are allowed to do so, where ever they are India.

Preparations are on for 'Chath' festival in and around the troubled waters of Kosi, and for a change, things look festive and positive... that feels great.

Would also like to thank AMURT volunteers who have been helping us in
really difficult terrain and conditions.
In the last week, we have received -

*Babyfood & Cloriwat tablets from Sri. Raj Sachdev, Geekay Enterprises, Mumbai.

*INR 25000 from Anubha Ji, Delhi, for purchase of woolen clothes for children.

`chandan

+919931763070



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We took help from ITBP men to carry relief material to Rahatha village,Kumarkhand, as this embankment was the last motorable point. We left Parwa embankment with relief materials for rahata village, Kumarkhand .The distance was around 15 KM & has to be covered by motor boats. ITBP were kind enough to help us with two motor boats & crew.. Also traveling with us were two Doctors who were headed for Kumarkhand.

~chandan
+919931763070

Kumarkhand;Flood relief

Kumarkhand;flood relief

Kumarkhand block flood relief

Boat sent to help us by Ms.Kiran Devi (Sarpanch) & her husband Amarnath Ji (AMURT). We had requested help from them(cellphone) after we got stuck in shallow water and the other ITBP motorboat with Doctors & relief material were lost somewhere near the 8KM mark.

We are very greatful to them for all the help they provided. It is very difficult to manage panic striken, hungry and angry population if you are cut off from mainland by 15-20 km of water for more than two months. 

To their credit, they have managed the emergencies and the sustained flood conditions very nicely.

~chandan

+919931763070

Near Rahatha village, Kumarkhand block.

Kumarkhand -updates

Leaving Parwa embankment with relief materials for rahata village, Kumarkhand .The distance is around 15 KM & has to be covered by boats. We have two ITBP motorboats with us. Also traveling with us are two Doctors who will get down at Kumarkhand.

As one moves away towards north, becomes apparent that navigation is a real problem . There are no landmarks, no route, no predefined

corridor. As it happened, we lost one motorboat as we moved on. We waited for them some 10 km upstream, hoping that they were safe. Later, we found each other.

It is very easy to get lost. This place is no river having a defined way and underlying river bed. This is the new Kosi route flowing over farmlands. The surface water current is very high, and dangerously deceptive at places where the ground below is uneven.

Where's my share ?

We distributed cerelac first, they wanted clothes; we distributed clothes; they wanted biscuits, we distributed that..and just before we reached this lady, we ran out of stock. We will make up for it if we meet her again :)

What was heartening was festive clothing and smiles all around.

Jadia- Darafga embankment stretch

Dussera,2008