Inspired by the beautiful journals of nature artist Sangeetha Kadur Ma’am, I started documenting memorable moments with nature in the form of a nature journal. Our school nestled in the forest of Bannerghatta National Park is a platter of flora and fauna for exploration.
As a science teacher, I don’t miss any challenges of learning from the dynamic forest. I often take my students for a nature walk and no matter what, the forest never fails to surprise us with new things. The joy of learning with these kids is something very special and cherishable.
Whirling seeds
The whirling seeds of the Winged Boot Tree (Pterocymbium tinctorium) (Video by Deepthi N)
Our summer hero
The cutesy Black-naped Monarch (Photo by Nagesh O.S)
A day with Butterfly troops
On a pleasant evening after a good rain, Rachana wanted to make her dream of the forest walk come true. Finally, Rachana and Siri were successful in persuading me to take them for a walk and as we walked inside, we bumped into the common crow butterfly’s army. They were flying all around us. We started wondering and searching for the plant or a tree, which was attracting these butterflies. Oh! There was a very huge jamun tree, flowering amidst different climbers and we were wonderstruck by the sight of the multitude of butterflies on them. Wow! What a marvellous concordance between the tree and the butterflies! It was a monumental experience for all of us to witness the migration of these butterflies from the Western Ghats, who were on their way to the Eastern Ghats. We are grateful for Rachana’s dream which made us enjoy the magnificent scene.
Common Crow Butterfly (Photo by Tejaswini J S)
A staunch geometrician
White-cheeked Barbet, the geometrician at work (Photo by Nagesh O.S)
Journal write-ups and illustrations – Deepthi N
About the author: Deepthi N is a science educator working at Sri Sarada Devi Vidya Kendra, Shivanahalli, run by Ramakrishna Mission.
