PHOTOGRAPHY | NATURE
A guided nature walk
How a mundane nature walk transformed into a fascinating journey of exploration, learning, and appreciation toward everything in nature
A nature walk is always a mesmerizing and rejuvenating experience for the senses. Sounds of leaves rustling, birds cooing, fresh air blowing on your face, and smells of trees and flowers all make it a worthy jaunt. But recently I was accompanied by a naturalist and she took us for a guided stroll through a coffee estate in Coorg. What was supposed to be a feel-good walk metamorphosed into a riveting exposition of many magical phenomenons of nature which were just fascinating. The naturalist friend opened us up to hitherto unknown sights and vistas of nature which we would have easily ignored due to our oversight and ignorance if we were to walk without a guide.
As we started the walk, our attention was drawn towards a tree top.
What was there on top — I wondered?
Was it a pile of mud hanging from the branch? I have seen bee hives, but this looked different. That’s when my naturalist friend educated me that they were the home to ants. They were the habitats of Crematogaster ants built by them high up on the trees.
She also shared an interesting story about these ant homes. There is a unique symbiosis between these ants and the Rufous woodpecker. The Rufous woodpecker makes their home inside these ant nests and lays eggs inside the ant nest. During their cohabitation with the ants, the woodpecker offspring eat the ants and the woodpecker’s body is immune to ant bites!
Wow! I screamed after listening to the story. That was a mind-blowing piece of information. I wished someday I should get a chance to photograph a Rufous woodpecker sitting inside an ant nest.
As we strolled further, we could hear sounds of water flowing, seems there was a stream nearby. As we walked more, we reached the stream bed full of rocks and water flowing down from the top. On one of the rocks, we could spot claws of crabs strewn around. We wondered if some humans came and grilled a crab for a meal.
That is when our naturalist chipped in and shared her insights. The Fish owls hunt crabs from water and eat them sitting on these rocks. And when they eat the crabs, they leave out the claws. Quite an intelligent owl!
As I was jumping from one rock to the next and attempting to cross the stream I saw a nice thread tied between two rocks and a leaf precariously dangling from it. It was so small that I could have easily missed it. But my enthusiastic guide’s eyes lit up seeing these leaves hanging from a thin thread. Turns out these leaves are home to Leaf Curling Spider. The spider stays inside the leaf. Even though the leaf seemed to be dangling precariously, the design seemed resilient enough to withstand strong winds and the spider resided inside the leaf laying eggs.
As we walked further towards the forest it was time to see some real spiders, the first one we saw was the Giant Wood Spider. The spider itself was so beautiful and the way it had spun its web was craft in itself. On a normal walk I would have been satisfied with a good photo of this spider. But well today, I have a qualified expert with me and she shared some mind blowing facts about this spider.
The large spider which you see in the picture is a female Giant Wood Spider. Just behind this spider, you can also see a small spider, which is the male spider. And interestingly the female spiders make a meal of the male once the mating is over. I was stunned to learn about this, I even googled to make sure if what she was telling me is correct, yes she is right.
How cruel I thought. Well, it is sometimes mysterious how things work in nature.
Lapping up this interesting spider story we resumed our walk and chanced on a new spider species. This time it was the Ornamental Tree Trunk Spider. As the name indicates its body and legs adorn ornamental decorations giving its name. It does look beautiful. My guide once again pitches in and points me to a small round shape just above the spider. Apparently, inside that ball, the spider would have laid its eggs and it could contain anywhere between 100–500 eggs in it.
Wow! thank you guide for this stunning fact — I quipped to myself.
Piqued by so much spider gyan, my eyes were all out now, for catching more interesting spiders. Further down we could spot a nice web going in the shape of a funnel. I was examining it to see some spiders and my guide said to me it was the home to Funnel-web spiders. The spider was deep inside the funnel and we couldn’t see it with the naked eye.
As we kept walking, we reached an old dilapidated wall, where we could see more interesting insects like the Weta and Big Moths.
Well, what was ordained to be a casual stroll in the company of nature was turning to be a study class on Archanology. Arachnology is the study of the group of animals called arachnids. Arachnids include spiders, scorpions, harvestmen, ticks and mites. But today I don’t mind this free class.
After an hour of walk, our tired legs were craving for a break and we decided to go back to the stream area and relax there. The water flowing through the stream was crystal clear and pure emanating from the mountains near by. The pristine water was cold and sweet.
Our uncannily observant friend was quick to point us to some spider like beings walking on the water. Yes they appeared literally walking on the water. She explained these family of insects were called Water Skeeters who have unusual ability to walk on water.
As I sat by the stream watching its ebb and flow, I was raking my brain and trying to remember everything I learnt, I jotted down everything on piece of paper sitting by the water and slowly darkness was setting in.
The peace and silence of the forest was suddenly drowned by the piercing call made by the Cicadas. It was coming from everywhere and we decided to walk into the night to reach our guest house for a rewind by camp fire.
The next day our naturalist took us to a near by spot to show us a Cicada. She explained to us that contraction of a tymbal muscle attached to the membrane of the Cicada causes it to bend, producing a clicking sound which becomes so loud.
I was flabbergasted to learn that such a teeny-weeny insect could produce such an ear-piercing sound. And another fascinating fact shared about the Cicadas by our guide was this
Imagine you spent your entire childhood, teenage years, and young adulthood stuck inside a small closet. One day, after much of your life has passed you by, you realise that you can just open up the door and hit the town! By the way, you have two to four weeks to live. Yikes!!
Just cicada things…
Yes, Cicadas are dormant for 17 years or so and suddenly they wake up and just have two to four weeks to live.
I was contemplating the ways of nature, sometimes it all appeared mysterious and bizarre, but as I learned the innards of how it all works, it became quite fascinating to explore and learn deeper. And for this now I have got a perfect naturalist and guide as companion.
Thank you to my new guide and mentor! More walks with you!
