nq march may 2011pdf

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INSECT-EATING PLANTSBY MOKARRAM HOSSAINP60

CATS IN THE SBY M MONIRULP2

RE DALERT

THE ELUSIVE FRANCOLINBY DELIP K DAS BISHARGAP18

GOOSE SURPRISEAT HAKALUKIBY PAUL M.THOMPSONP64

NATURE TALK: IMPRINTSBY IFFAT NAWAZP24

A MAGICAL MORNINGWITH JUNGLE CATSBY SOURAV MAHMUDP11

HI-TECH FISHINBY INAM AHMEDP36

EDITOR & PUBLISHERMAHFUZ ANAM

CREATIVE & ART DIRECTORTOWFIK ELAHI

MAGAZINE EDITORINAM AHMED

ADVISORY EDITORDR REZA KHAN

G.M. ADVERTSHER ALI

MARCH -MAY 2011

B A N G L A D E S H

A publicationof

64-65 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka-1215, BangladeshTel: 8124944, 8124955, 8124966. Email: [email protected]

COVER PHOTOINDRANIL KISHOR

GRAPHICS DESIGNSHAMIM CHOWDHURY

G.M. PRODUSELIM S.H. C

CIRCULATIOABU MASUD

PHOTO FEATURE: A BIRD'S EYE VIEWBY SHARIF SARKERP48

MAGAZINE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

SAYAM U. CHOWDHURY

SHIMANTO DIPUCONTRIBUTORY EDITORSDR RONALD HALDER

SIRAJUL HOSSAIN


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2 |BANGLADESH NATURE QUEST

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M

AIN

FEATURE

MOST MISUNDERSTOOD OF THE CAT FAMILY, JUNGAPPROACHING EXTINCTION BECAUSE OF HUNTINGACTUALLY DO US MORE GOOD THAN HARM. ONLY WKNOW THEM BETTER.

STORY BY

M. MONIRUL H. KHANPHOTOS BY

SOURAV MAHMUD

Catsin the shadon my view, wild cats are the most beautiful creatures on earth. Their brilliantly coloured acoat not only makes them attractive to people, but also helps them to camouflage in their nIhabitats. Bangladesh is lucky to have five species of lesser cats in the wild, but people trea

menace and brutally kill them all over the country. This is because people are not aware that tlesser cats sometimes do by killing poultry is negligible compared to its beneficiary role of conrodents and insect pests.

Lesser cats are the smaller members of the cat family (Felidae) that cannot roar like tigers, leopards. The association of lesser cats and humans is as old as the human civilization. They apopular pets, which are found almost all over the world. The earliest direct evidence of cat do


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kitten that was buried alongside a human inCyprus some 9,500 years ago. The descent ofall domestic cats was from African Wildcat(Felis silvestris lybica). In ancient Egypt catswere treated as cult animals that resist theevil spirit.

Despite the fact that lesser cats have a longhistory of association with humans, they arepoorly understood, especially in the wild,because they are usually secretive andnocturnal. All lesser cats are purelycarnivorous and the prey animals vary from

medium sized vertebrates (rodents, birds,lizards, fish, etc.) to various invertebratesincluding insects. They occur solitary, exceptin the breeding season, but young animalsoften accompany their mother. Cats are veryagile and most of them can climb as well asswim.

The five lesser cat species that occur inBangladesh are Jungle Cat (Felis chaus),Leopard Cat (Felis bengalensis), Marbled Cat(Felis marmoratus), Asiatic Golden Cat (Felistemminckii) and Fishing Cat (Felis viverrina).According to IUCN (World ConservationUnion), all these cats are more or lessthreatened in Bangladesh, but Marbled Catand Fishing Cat are globally threatened.

The commonest of the cats in Bangladeshis the Jungle Cat that occurs all over thecountry, including forests, bushes, villages,croplands and around wetlands. It is aboutthe size of a domestic cat. Brownish coat hassome black stripes towards the terminal


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5/338 |BANGLADESH NATURE QUEST

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ends of limbs and tail. It is lo'Bon Biral' or 'Wab'. It has go'Wab' from its mob-mob typenormally seen in the eveningmornings. It hunts a wide ranspecies and is capable of hunthat is somewhat larger thanBirths have been recorded d

April and August-November5 kittens in a secluded placekittens open 11-15 days aftethan Bangladesh the speciesdistributed in Asia and Africa

Although the Jungle Cat isprotected under the BangladAct 1974, it is commonly killpeople since it occasionally fpoultry. Scientific studies onreveal that poultry is a rare imainly hunts rodents (differrats) and large grasshopperskilled by poison-baits, traps

Considering the total numbecountry, and the total numbethey kill and eat, it has been that in the absence of the catproduction might go down to

present level of production. Jungle Cats and all other lessprotected by educating the locommunities and properly elaw.

The author is associate Professor of

Jahangirnagar University, Savar, DBangladesh. E-mail: mmhkhan@h


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FOLLOWING A FAMILY OF JUNGLE CAT IS ATHRILLING EXPERIENCE AND ONCE YOUGAIN THEIR CONFIDENCE, THEY CAN GIVEYOU AMAZING PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES, JUSTAS THEY DID TO THE WRITER.

STORY & PHOTOS BY

SOURAV MAHMUD

A magical

Morning with

jungle cats

was then eight or nine. Every evening, a medium-sized creature used to comeclose to my window. There was a chicken coop near my window. I would hearIa distinct call -- WapWap WAP. And our chickens and ducks would start

cackling in fear. Then my pet dogs Bagha and Tommy would rush out, barking.Then the stealthy creature would zip into the scrub jungle before you could blink.

Years have gone by since those days. The jungles have receded as populationincreased. The bamboo groves and the shrubs have disappeared. I last visited thevillage in 2008. In the evening there was no Wap..Wap call. I felt sad. I knew thejungle cats have disappeared from my village.

Demorpara. A small village near Pubail in Gazipur. A man is trying to conserve asmall forest patch where a few wild animals live in safety. No one can disturbthem. No one can collect any fruits or any dead branches from the small jungle.

Fonindro Da, the caretaker, told me that Baral, Diklenja and Darash Shap.


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I knew what is Darash Shap-- Indian Rat Snake. But I

out what is Baral. I told him to describe the animal to looks like our domestic cat. And Diklenja has a long ta

from one tree to another at night. It has a pungent smrice. So that was the Small Indian Palm Civet or Chotoreckoned. And the Baral is the jungle cat or Bon Biral.

So I started looking for the jungle cat. After dusk I weast side of the forest patch with a powerful flashlighswitching on and off the flashlight and suddenly two gof light flashed in the distance. I slowly moved forwargreen spots in the light of the flashlight beam. The creretreating and it gave a last backward look before vandarkness.

The next morning I came to the same place again. Alater two jungle cat kittens and an adult female appeasurprised!! What a magical morning it is! After a whilkitten came. They started playing, oblivious to my steBut the adult cat kept looking at me with some forebostarted clicking my camera.

I framed some great moments. The cat family gave10 minutes for the photo shoot. I considered myself vwas a great moment in my wildlife watching experien

jungle cats are very cleaver animals and are very diffiThis was in 2009.A year later, I saw three more cats -- one adult mal

juveniles. At night they came very close to the cottagethey even sleep on the sofa left on the veranda of the

I hope to go to Demorpara village again and again.

cats will survive well.

Sourav Mahmud is a nature lover and birdwatcher. nature.sourav


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RED

ALERT

Francolin!

The elusive

BLACK FRANCOLINS ARE ON THE VERGE OF EXTINCTION IN BANGLADESHBECAUSE OF HUNTING. IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH LUCK AND A LOT OF PATIENCEYOU CAN STILL SEE THEM IN PANCHAGARGH.

STORY & PHOTOS B Y

DELIP K. DAS BISHARGA

REDALERT

t was September, 2009. I was very you can feel the sound of silence created any sound when I move. Thexcited and was waiting for the bus by the nature. We could see some villagers basically an agricultural lanwith my trip mate in Kalayanpur bus collecting stones in shallow river water. found sugarcane, rice, mazIstand. Our destination was Kazipara , We prepared our backpack with others crops. We heard the

Tetulia, Panchagarh, in the far northwest camera, binoculars, some dry food and a Francolin just after launcheof Bangladesh, along the international water bottle for next morning. The rest We kept searching but coulborder with India. The aim of this house is pretty far from the Black out the calling point but noexpedition was to see a bird and if Francolin site, so we arranged a van well trip mate had a different mpossible to capture through our lenses. in advance and headed off the field sharp some feathers of Black FranThough I haven't seen this bird before but at 6 o'clock in the morning. As we reachedI have heard many unsuccessful at the site, my heart start pounding, I tookexpeditions about Black Francolin. Many out camera from my backpack and set allother bird photographers had spent the functions. I tightened my backpackconsiderable amount of time, sometimes with my body so that it does not createhiding the whole day under the sand,keeping eyes on the eyepiece of the

camera. They have heard the bird calling.But it came out from the cover during thetwilight time and offered only glimpses.Only one of them managed to take a singlephotograph with a 1/25 shutter speed;and as no Bangladeshi photographercould still snap it, he was praised like ahero.

The bus arrived and so our sojourn tothe wilderness kicked off. As our bus putDhaka behindI I was musing about thisbird Once black francolin was widelydistributed in Bangladesh but now it isonly found in Kazipara of Ponchagar.Locals call it Seikh Farid a nd no-oneknows why Some people also call it Pan(betel leaf) Biriee Cigarette. This isexactly how the bird's call sounds like.

This call is associated with the popular

fable of the story of a daughter-in-law wasbullied by her wicked mother-in-law. Shewas forced to work from dawn to dusk,she did all the house chores and yet neverheard a word of praise. Once she bakedsome bread and the mother-in-law pickedan argument about the number of loaves.The young woman said there were 24loaves but her mother-in-law insistedthere were twenty-three. Unable to acceptthat her daughter-in-law was right, the oldwoman flew into a rage, grabbed her andpushed her into the oven. Then, God tookmercy upon the young woman and turnedher into a francolin. Ever since the wailingcall of the francolin can be heard

repeating over and over -- Twenty fourTwenty four mother-in-law.

The sun was on its westerly traverse, itsrays became softer and it was beingpreparing to go into slumber when wereached Tetulia. . The next quest was tofind a place to spend the night. Luckily wemanaged a posh rest house in a verybeautiful setting. A river was flowing bythe rest house, the barbed fencedemarcating the Indian border ran alongthe other side of the river, a very gentlebreeze will give you extra comfort, and


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FACTS FINDING

IUCN Bangladesh listed thicritically endangered.Recothis Tetulia population arefemale found in ModhupuJanuary 1999 and one in Sa2006.Probably at present lpopulation of Black FrancoKazipara in Tetulia.


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will be used for a genetic study. We knew feathers of the francolin. They hunt this Francolin last week. My hopes came

that the hunting of the Black Francolin is a brilliant bird every year. back; if the nest is active then we have

common practice in the area .Therefore We came back to field again. My higher changes to see it. We went withwe started to investigate about the excitement went down. I started to think him to check the spot. It was just fewhunters and collected their names and I would not be able to even see the bird yards from Indian Boarder, Where weaddresses from the locals. A renowned at all, and at least a glimpse of it would found an empty nest. Owner of that landhunter of Kazipara passed away and an be delightful. Due to our get up and (a very young boy) reported he has seenold man called Sonalu Bura is still alive lenses around our neck, the farmers in four eggs there and some other boysand known as a professional hunter but he the field became interested and stole them from the nest. We found a fewalso failed to give us any feathers. Later on interacted with us, one of them informed feather around that nest and one of ourwe found a tribe village and collected us that he saw a nest of the Black missions was accomplished.

It was noon and sun became harsh. We

were sweating. We were returning to the

same spot where we have heard the call.

All of a sudden I found a female Francolin,

which was resting beside a sugarcanefield. I started to click with my camera

though it was very far but I didn't want to

take any risk. Later on, we went forward

and it disappeared in a moment. I took

different strategy, went on the opposite

side of the sugarcane field and keep

waiting. I found a shady place and in front

of that place a pulse field, I hide myself

there and found a pair of Francolin

through my lens By the way, male has

black face with white ear-covert patch,

rufous neck band and black underparts

with white spotting. Female has rufous

hind-neck, streaked appearance to

upperparts, and heavily barred

underparts.

Though photo quality was not good

enough due to the excitement but I was

the happiest person at that moment for

seeing the Black Francolin so close and

taking its photograph. We went back to

rest house and set our plan for next day.

We targeted a spot, which is regular

calling point of a male Francolin and every

morning his high-pitched calls defines his

turf. Next morning we reached there just

prior to sunrise and get inside the

sugarcane field to hide. We heard its call

and the graceful bird came out in the open

to edge of rice field. It was an excellent

opportunity to photograph this secretive

bird and we were delighted to be able to

complete our quest! We found two males

afterwards in that field. We counted a total

of 10 individuals on that day.

I feel very lucky of being able to

observe and photograph this bird. My

mind filled with limitless joy but will our

next generation be able to see it? Unless

we take proper initiative to conserve this

bird the scenario would be the same as

others. Before losing this bird we should

pay attention to save and conserve this

bird.


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NATURE

TALK

ImprintsSOMETIMES NATURE CAN STEAL THE LIMELIGHT FROM THE ONES ITNURTURES. THE INTRICATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE AND ITSDEPENDENTS TAKES A DIFFERENT DIMENSION WHEN LOOKIED FROMTHE OUTSIDE.

STORY BY

IFFAT NAWAZPHOTOS BY

ENAM TALUKDER

am not a biologist, an environmentalist, a bwildlife photographer, I don't know technicIspecies could be right under my nose and I

their unfamiliarity for hours and not know whadon't look up the species I spot or snap in bookwhat I have seen. Not because I do not care butforget or at times I just carry the feeling of seeinamazing and unknown and rather not find out.

But curiosity still inhibits my non-technical mind, so I go places and have them leave their i


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staining me from the inside out.And during one of these journeysbetween the water and the trees Iended up in a mangrove, the onethat's talked about in every othersentence now by theenvironmentalists and the tigersavers, whose name literallytranslates to beautiful jungle. Iwent there in search of newimprints for my inside.

A boat that was made in 1906took me to the Sundarbans. Mythsabout the largest mangrove in theworld swam around my mind, thewish to see a deadly tiger crawled

around my veins. we took offfrom khulna as the dusk settledover the plates of Iftar, it wasRamadan and I was not fasting

Half built building andreturning fishermen wondered byas Bonrani, the boat, took me tothe mouth of the Bon, it was 10

pm by then. The augusttemperature dropped a fewnotches and the sound of thecrickets helped me fall asleepwith the humming noise of theengine. I wanted to wake early tosee more of the wild but by thetime I awoke the only thing thatwaited for me were villages whichwere still recovering from twocyclones Sidr and Aila -- a

Kalkatini snake and hundreds ofred crabs.I ended up in Burigoalini, a

village on the west side ofSundarbans. It was mainly filledwith seasonal fishermen andhoney collectors. I crossed abazaar where the vendors didn'thave much to offer, a man sat withfour skinny cucumbers, a womansold a squash, her eyes staredinto the forest. I sat nearbywanting some tea.

She told me about the village,her husband a fishermen, her sonworking as a day laborer. Some

foreign and national funding havereached this village but not allvillagers are their beneficiaries.The ones who have received some

funding do better with fish pondsor vegetable gardens, Otherssurvive on boiled potatoes andKacha Morich, one potato permeal.

Give us something to do! a


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woman exclaimed rubbing my arms. and collect products from here every ran their business, where people got theirBoin, we can sew, Kamizes, pants, month, Burigoalini being remote, most proper wages, where no one had toembroidery. You want to see? Let me take retail shops in the city won't be so keen. survive with three potatoes a day.you to our home, have a meal with us. She answered Aren't you wearing clothes A girl whose eyes burned like that of

I went, saw their daughters and the made in Japan and America? Those are so tigers told me in school they were told todaughters of their daughters, mismatched much further away than us. not destroy nature, to nurture it. Her momthreads created designs on Kamizes, I was caught off guard. I nodded, yes, added, How can we destroy the placedoilies sat under dirty glasses, flower and she was right! I was wearing where we belong, this is our home, ourpatterns were made on those. something foreign made, my clothes were jungle, we just need to know things will

I explained, it would be hard to come made in a place where organized factories get better.


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I couldn't tell them if thinknow how it might. Will somcome forward and try to loomanpower in the villages of not out of just sheer mercy bbusiness angle, creating benachieving honest profit? Wilthese forever hungry men an

transform with generation, keep living as a part of natur

The ride back was long; asunrises and sunsets I returmemories. I do not remembbirds and poisonous snakeswas there, what I do rememgirl's fearsome face and manremember the taste of boilemy mouth, I remember the m

women who wait for boats tmore hope than the last onebeing different, being ashamwanting to return. I remembmyself to remember Burigoerase the imprints of Sundarinside, not of the forest's andpeople.


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Crew membersnet in the morn

LIVING


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large hoot and suddenly the vessel blundered around in their heavy boots andcame alive at midnight. yellow helmets. A group came runningA down the roof of the ship's bridge, carrying

long floats of big orange plastic balls.The search lights shone fiercely, trying toDown below on the fish landing deck, theilluminate as much of the fishing trawler as

flurry was even greater. The crew werethe night sea. Feet shuffled. Blunt noisestrying to roll a mile and a half long fishingrose from the steel deck as the fishermen

Hi-tech fishingDEEP SEA FISHING IS A DIFFERENT BALL-GAMEALTOGETHER. IT IS A PRECISION HUNTING WITH HI-TECHEQUIPMENT. YET UNCERTAINTY LOOMS AT EVERYCORNER.

STORY

INAM AHMEDPHOTOS BY

SANJIDA JUI

BY

Hi-tech fishing


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net into a huge dran easy task. Firstlong line. And thennet that would maswim straight intofish bag was attac

The floats werethe net. A yellow battached. It is the

There was this on the high deck ismall instrument levers sticking oua gun turret one min Pearl Harbor. Hfidgeting on the le

the deck waved anguy pulled the levdeep inside the hetrawler an enginetwo winches on thcame alive and stathe net drum. Therolling out.

The fierce curreimmediately swepinto the darknessscene. The waves against the net whviolently.

Two five feet lofeet wide steel plahanging from the


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The loneliest of the toil-man in the enginworks alone amid hig

intolerable heat.

The fish finder (top lehuge school of fish ais indicated right in t

The skipper looking obridge.


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the back. They were the trawl doors. A guy extreme left, a green line swept 360 extreme right screen the fish finder. Ourhooked the doors to the net and waved degrees every second against a black trawler glowed in the middle of the deephis hand again. And the turret-man pulled monitor. It is the radar. Small dots mark blue screen, two lines extending in the backtwo levers. With loud clangs the trawl the other trawlers and boats around. The in V-shape showed the net span.doors dislodged from the gallows and bridge was so high that it was almost At that moment we were headingdisappeared into the sea. impossible to see in naked eyes what l ies northeast where a deep red curve was

The trawl doors do a tricky job. As they ahead. So radar becomes the best guide. shimmering. The skipper ran his fingerare dipped into the water, they act as Beside the radar sat the huge GPS over the red. Wow. Gosh! It is a big school.breaks. As the gushing water gets screen. A greenish arrow blinked to show His eyes glistened in the monitor light.rsistance, it pushes away the trawl doors. our location on the sea. Next was the The red shape was ever changing. ItThat makes the net wide open to let fish in sonar screen. It showed we are at a depth became wide, then it contracted, and alleasily. of 35 meters. Orange and yellow lines the time it was traveling towards us.

I went to the bridge. In the darkness, showed dissected view. Check! Check! Check! the skipperthe LCD screens glowed patterns . On the But for now all eyes were fixed on the hollered.


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Fish are being sorted out oncethey are hauled on the deck.

Fifteen meters! the co skipper Check the line! Check the Line! Keep it again and the crew members popped out S b d l d th


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Fifteen meters! the co-skipper Check the line! Check the Line! Keep it again and the crew members popped outreplied. up! Quick! The skipper screamed on the deck. The turret man pulled his

OK, the skipper nodded. Looks like suddenly. The fish school has suddenly levers again and the winces first pulledChapila. changed depth. It is now swimming closer the trawl doors out of water. Then the

He tapped on the red dots on the sonar. to the surface. lines started rolling in.Look at the shape. It gotta be Chapila We heard the wince rolling the wires to First came in the floats, then the

Suddenly the red shaped changed adjust the height of the net. guiding net, it rolled on for at least fivecourse to northwestward. We could see in the fish finder that we minutes. Then the first silver glint came

The hell with it! the skipper muttered were ploughing right through the school. into view, then another and many more.and quickly turned the steering. In this In the right hand corner of the fish finder The fish are all tangled in the net andvast sea, it is difficult to notice how was a bar whose colour was fast changing writhing to get free.sharply the vessel turned because there is from green to red. The net rolled around the drum andno change in landscape. Only a huge moon That's fish getting into the net, the fish got squished under the weight of theshone brightly overhead, casting a magical skipper explained. net. A few fell through to the woodenglitter that spread all the way from the far It took 15 minutes to sweep through deck.edge of the sea. But on the fish finder the school. Up in the corner of the screen At last the bag, heavy and potent, camescreen, we could see how dramatically the another school was swimming by. The into view. The derricks swung into action.trawler turned almost 60 degrees. skipper set his course in that direction. In The bag's line was tagged to the derrick

The skipper opened up the throttle and the next four hours, the trawler skimmed hooks. As the winch rotates, the bag liftedthe 960 break horsepower Caterpillar several more schools. up and dangled from the derrick.engines growled. We were now Finally, it was morning. The sun brokeapproaching with full speed and the red over the horizon, casting a golden glazeblotch was quite close. over a deep blue sea. The whistle blared

Somebody loosened thethe fish started pouring whoosh.

A small mole of fish buwooden deck. The fish wjumping. Mackerels, pomeels, baby sharks, hard ta

snappers, puffer fish, Chand even a few crabs. Thmore species we could n

The crew swung into aThey brought in plastic bstarted sorting out the fiThey did it in a super fasBuckets after buckets weand dragged away inside


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where another sorting tobest of the pomfrets werpacked in plastic. And thconsignment was sent toroom.

This whole thing took

minutes. And then the tragain. The crew memberinto their cabins and wethem it is a 24-hour job asnatch a nap whenever tcomes.

The sea was now chanIt was getting dark. A feafor us the land crawlers.recording 150 meters. Azoom the depth dropped

recorded 1,300 meters afailed. We were in the SwGround. I checked on theplace where our ship wadepth of 2,500 meters. Tkilometers! How quicklyfalls!

The skipper slowed dtrawler. And suddenly ththe engine ceased. A strahad enveloped us. The sobreaking against ship onthat silence. We looked owhere the blue sea had simmensely into infinity.

There was no line on t

Crystal clear water of Kaptai Lake refl


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PHOTO

FEATURE

HOW WOULD A SONALI CHEEL -- A BRAHMINI KITE -- WOULD FIND OURLANDSCAPE FROM ITS SOARING HEIGHT? AS A FIGHTER PILOT I CANIMAGINE THAT. THE VELVET GREENS AND THE MEANDERING RIVERSCREATE AN UNBELIEVABLE MIX OF DREAMS AND REALITY.

PHOTOS

SHARIF SARKERBY

A bird's

Eye view

Crystal clear water of Kaptai Lake reflsky prompts us to rethink the beauty

hen I was young,I had alat least in my dreams as

Wremember those dreamscreeching Sonali Cheel gliding oKishori Nadimal a and the Sonali-S

How would a Sonali Cheel a would find our landscape from its bird's eye view or Pakhir Chokhey,and the meandering rivers create of dreams and reality.

As you flutter your wings to soar high and hoverDh k b d d i A i


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A large wreflectio


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over Dhaka,you see a busy and congested city.A citywith pollution,traffic jam and many moreunbearable happenings.Does Dhaka portrayBangladesh? Put your head down and get a forwardspeed to go out of the reality of Dhaka.You feelrelaxed as the smoky screen of pollution disappears.You take a deep breath at that altitude and you cansmell the fresh air.As you go out of Dhaka,a smilingand happy boy welcomes you with wide open armsin a Sobuj Prantor a green field.His simplicity andgenuine smile remind you the great BangladeshiAhban -- hospitality welcome.That simple and

genuine welcome is the spirit of Bangladesh.Green fields windsblowingover the Sobuj


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Mile after mile of Greenmake the mosaic outsidman made canal often sto irrigate the paddy fie


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Green fields,winds blowing over the SobujDhan Khet and the serenity of it all sooth youreyes,charm your heart and help you escapefrom the madding crowd.The green mosaic ofdifferent shades of paddy fields, the Sonali-Sobuj Dhan velvets and the man made canalsrunning through work as the lifeline ofagriculture.As you move further a blue waterbody catches your eye.You feel a littledisturbed,a surrealistic landscape puts you inthe realm of unreality,shocks you with the


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View of the rain over a monsoon is like a paintheavy downpour is likebrush of a painter.


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Bright red stripes created bydyed cloths on a green fieldat Narsingdi resemble ournational flag.


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Boats filled with sand fromGhat and moored on the Shlike a string of pearls aroun


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Green tea gardens at Sri Mongal lookperfect in geometrical patterns.


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unrealistic view of the fresh and cowater that only reflects the blueneYou look up above into the blue anclouds to bring yourself back to reayourself that you are not dreaming

loving motherland.Sobuyou soar higher and catch the upptowards the eastern part of the cougeometric pattern of the lush tea gwater bodies and reflections of clospatially disoriented.

Sharif Sarkerisa professional aviator.and photography.He specializesin av

photography.


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here are hundreds and thospecies of flowers in the w

Tvarious shapes, colours an

But what about flowers that eat iSuch insect eating plats are ho

We know that the orchid plants aeaters', they live by 'eating' air. Tcarnivorous plants live by eatingis not the case, in fact. Insects aresupplementary food.


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FLOW

ER

AS PLANTS, THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO JUST STAY OPEN TO THE SUN,TAKING IN ITS RAY USING CHROROPHYLLS. BUT THESE BUNCHES AREDIFFERENT. THEY ACTUALLY EAT INSECTS -- MOTHS, GRASSHOPPERS

AND SPIDERS -- JUST LIKE ANY LIZARD OR ANIMAL.

STORY

MOKARAM HOSSAINPHOTOS BY

DR RONALD HALDER/ WEB

BY

Insect-eatingplantsInsect-eatingplants


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All plants need nitrate-based salt or fertiliser to live. Thcannot get nitrates from the ground turn to eating insectslack of the chemical.

But how do the flowers 'eat' insects? Do they have teetactually use enzymes to digest the insects trapped into th

In Bangladesh we also have four types of carnivorous pgachh or Pitcher plant (Nepenthes rafflesiana), Surja Shishplants (Drosera burmanii) and Jhanjhidamor Bladderworinflexa). Roughly 120 years before, few species of pitcher pfound at Chaitanya Nursery in Jamalpur. No sample of theavailable today.

Kolosh gachh/Pitcher plant:They look like stretched-leaves of orchids. The leaf form

pitcher 6-8cm long which has a trap door above. Foolish iinto it thinking food lies inside and the trap door snaps. Eflow from the inner wall of the pitcher melt the stranded ithe insect is digested, the trap door opens automatically f

These plants are foundon the Khashia hillocks near tharea in Sylhet. These species are also found in the tropicatropical areas of Bornio, Sumatra, Malaysia and Singapore

Surja Shishir/Sundew plantsSurja Shishir (Drosera burmanii) is widely known as M

winter, dew drops gather in the tiny hairy plants. The dew

morning sunlight which attracts ants and other tiny insecget inside, they get stranded and the tiny hairy curls s urr

Bladderwort/Utricularia inflexaJhanjhidamis its name in Bangla. It is found in abunda

wetlands in Bangladesh, India and Africa. Usually they areinflexa) found beside water lilies and lotuses. It remains psubmerged in water. Small bags with doors that open inwas traps hang from its branches. Water insects enter into tpushing open the doors and then die.


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along a small ridge part hidden by lowherbage, and could then see the extensivewhite forehead, narrow yellow eye-ring,and that our bird was no bigger than theRuddy Shelducks around it, in fact thehead and body looked smaller -- the firstLesser White-fronted Goose inBangladesh. Everyone enjoyed good viewsthrough the telescopes, and we thenapproached closer to get some photos,although the goose was wary and quietly

walked to the water and swam into themiddle of the beel before the shelducksmoved.

We then sat down to enjoy lunch withthe goose swimming in the distance,

quietly cheered that we had seensomething no-one else in Bangladeshhad, and musing on how the bird hadreached here. Lesser White-frontedGoose is a globally Vulnerable specieswith a world population of under 30,000his 18-21 February I was pleased flagging under the hot sun with no shadebirds and from its breeding grounds into join a team of birders from for miles around, and thinking aboutthe tundra of Siberia populations migrateBangladesh Bird Club who carried lunch, when we reached the furthest partTsouth to winter around the Black andout what was the fifth consecutive of our survey around Namatorul Beel. OnCaspian Seas and along the lower Yangtzeyear of comparable waterbird counts in setting up the scope to count a sizeableRiver in China. Presumably ours took aHakaluki Haor, this year sponsored by the flock of Ruddy Shelduck I noticed a grey-wrong turn somewhere in Mongolia orI nt eg rated Pro tect ed Ar ea C o- bro wn bir d amo ng th em . G eese an yw hereTibet and headed due south, and theremanagement project funded by USAID. inland in Bangladesh are scarce, but thisare also a few vagrant records from India.This was an opportunity to see some areas bird looked dark, and it looked through

So we had one more among the manyof this vast wetland that I had not visited the heat haze like it had a white forehead reasons - 61 species and 64,282before. and dark bars on the belly. Rather agitatedth individuals of waterbirds in 2011 -- forThe morning of 19 started cool but we I explained to the group that we had

conserving the wonderful wetlands ofenjoyed the spectacle and work of something special, but not wishing to sayHakaluki.counting a mass flock of about 1,100 Asian yet which of the two Whitefront species

Openbill Storks as well as many we had, we pushed on. Fortunately ourshorebirds (mostly Ruff and Spotted planned route was towards the bird andRedshanks) in the early sun at Cholua two local people passed withoutBeel. Three beels later and we were disturbing the waterfowl. We approached


Ap

ublicationof

RARE

SIGHTING

Goose surprise at

HakalukiAT THE HAOR, YOU ALWAYS MEETSURPRISES WHILE COUNTING BIRDS. THELESSER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE WASSUCH A TREAT.

STORY & PHOTOS BY

PAUL M. THOMPSON

The lesser white-fronted goose (second front right)among a group of ruddy shelducks.

Lesser white-fronted goose

nq march may 2011pdf

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