Observations from Paddy Fields and Beyond

Observations from Paddy Fields and Beyond

Musings by Yogesh

While birding in the early morning in a paddy field near the ATREE ACCC centre, I was surprised to see at least 4 different birds chasing each other on a single  palm tree. And that was the only tree in the area surrounding that paddy field. I was mystified by this behaviour, and the presence of that lone tree. Maybe nesting at a height helped the birds monitor many things in their surroundings? There’s definitely a lot more to explore to try and answer this question!

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In an organic paddy field in an early stage of growth, we found ourselves sitting in between the waterlogged fields on the muddy bunt separating them. Early-stage paddy fields are inundated with water to allow the crop to grow quickly. It was interesting to note that some groups of some  small sized fishes were struggling to move against the flow of water in a tiny canal irrigating the fields. Although I searched for the answer to this, I could not find one.

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The area around the ACCC is biodiversity rich. We were very excited to see snakes at night and whatever creatures surprised us while walking under the stars. We saw several creatures from lizards to frogs and toads to scorpions! Just as the creatures of this landscape had their own natural routines and rhythms, my classmates soon began following their biological clocks and were highly disciplined in their routines. Everyone fell asleep around 10:30- 11 pm at night and participated in all the activities enthusiastically, even agreeing to stand for photographs when they were tired and hungry!

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When we began our fieldwork in paddy fields, we spent our late nights looking for amphibians and moths, which was really fun. We set up moth traps (a huge white screen with LED bulbs to attract moths and other insects) and took down observations on frog diversity in paddy fields. While waiting in between observation sessions, we saw some crabs and obviously we hopped around and did our best to catch them! Although they had a nasty bite, we soon mastered the art of catching them safely.