Nature Note From Mhow: The Beautiful Maulsari Tree

Nature Note From Mhow: The Beautiful Maulsari Tree
Maulsari (Native to the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka) the beautiful and tasty fruit of a beautiful tree. Clicked at Bungalow 93 Near Swarg Mandir Mhow. Scientific Name: Mimusops elengi. Common names in Hindi: Maulsari, maulshree, bakul. Common Names in English: Indian medlar, Spanish cherry, (Asian) Bulletwood. (Courtesy Trees of Delhi by Pradip Krishen)

                                              
                                             The fruit of the Maulsari clicked on 18 April 2015.

According to Pradip Krishen these are the uses of this tree: Ittar (perfume) from the flowers, the leaves for treating headaches and sore eyes, a decoction of the bark to treat diarrhoea, fevers and gum infections. the unripe fruit to fix loose teeth, the crushed seeds to cure constipation, the seed oil is used in cooking and as a luminant fuel, the reddish heartwood is hard, strong, close grained, and durable and is used for bridge-building, boats, mine props and heavy construction. Impressive list of uses I must say!!!!


                                             

                                         
                                          
                                         The fruit of the Maulsari clicked on 26 Feb 2015.


                                     
                                   The unripe fruit on the Maulsari tree clicked on 5 December 2010.

Nature Note from Mhow: From a nestling to a flying bird.

Wednesday April 26, 2017.

When I left home at half past ten this morning the Purple Sunbird nest in our verandah had one young nestling in it. I had observed that the young one had been getting more active with each passing moment. I had got a bit scared yesterday when I saw it trying to come out of the nest and spreading its wings.  I had heaved a sigh of relief when it had gone back inside. But I was happy that its 'graduation day' was approaching and it would be soon leaving the safe confines of its nest.

Earlier this morning I had seen it being fed by one of its parents. When I returned home at half past two I saw that the nest was empty. I was flooded by thoughts.  Had the young one flown away or had it fallen from its nest and/or been killed and eaten by a predator? Should I feel sad or happy? I went inside and kept my bag on the table. But my mind was tense, I was consumed by worry.

A moment before I saw the empty nest I had seen the male parent on a tree in our garden not far from the verandah. I came out into the verandah and saw the female parent on the same tree chirping loudly. I asked myself if she was chirping because she was mourning.  Then I heard the chirping of another bird and saw another Purple Sunbird with a distinctively yellow breast.  When I looked carefully I was delighted to see that it was the young one whom I had always seen in the nest.

Seeing the young one on the tree was a wonderful sight. I rushed in and brought my camera and clicked a pic of the young one.  The memory card became full so I had to go through a series of deleting and clicking before I managed to get around half a dozen pictures of the young one before it flew away.

Before the young sunbird flew away my mother had also come out to see it. She could spot it when I pointed it out to her. She also observed its yellow chest. I had told her that young birds look different from the adults of the same species.

This is a nest which was re-used by the parents. More than a week ago I had seen that the nest was on the verge of falling. I had feared for the safety of the two eggs in it so I had used a piece of cardboard and scotch tape to build a scaffold attached to the wall for the nest to rest. It needed attention as it was hanging by just a few strands of grass. I am glad that this platform was successful in keeping the nest and the two eggs inside it safe. And the egg which hatched has now become a flying bird. I think I deserve to feel happy and celebrate.

A Simian Visitor

This was on 22 May 2014. There were three of them. They went up to our terrace and then vanished after a minute or two.

The Langur who visited us.

The Owl in the Gul Mohar Tree

Sunday 18 May 2014

My friend Ulloo the Spotted Owlet (Athene Brama) was very much there in the hollow of the Gul Mohur when I passed by on Sunday... 

Brahminy Mynas Getting Ready....

From my archives... 21 Jan 2012 A pair of Brahminy Starling (ब्रह्मणी मैना Sturmus pagodarum) 
enjoy the morning sunlight...

Squirrels Sunbathing on a winter afternoon

December 20 2012

From my nature diary entry of Dec 20: A beautiful sight I saw this morning... Four squirrels
sunbathing on a Siris branch... A fifth one couldn't fit in the frame :-)

The General, the Colonel and the Babbler

The Large Grey Babbler  is a bird which is present in large numbers in Mhow and other parts of Indore district. The taxonomic name of this common bird is Turdoides malcolmi. It was named by by Colonel W H Sykes (1790 - 1872)  in appreciation of support that he received from Major-General Sir John Malcolm  (1769–1833).

Colonel William Henry Sykes was an Indian Army officer, politician and ornithologist. He served in the army of the Bombay Presidency from 1804 to 1837. Major  General Sir John Malcolm is the man who founded Mhow cantonment in 1818 as a result of the Treaty of Mandsaur which was signed after the Holkars of Indore were defeated by the East India Co. at the Battle of Mahidpur (one of the decisive battles of the Third Anglo-Maratha war).

A retired  Army officer to whom I sent this tale  to had this to say, "Honouring a General by naming a babbler after him! I wonder whether the Colonel was paying the General a back handed compliment !"  

The Large Cuckoo-Shrike

Mhow, Indore, Madhya Pradesh

Camera: SONY DSC H9

Common Name: Large Cuckoo-shrike

Taxonomic Name: Coracina macei
According to the Wikipedia: "The Large Cuckoo-shrike, Coracina macei, is a species of cuckooshrike found in south and south east Asia. They are mostly insectivorous and usually fly just above the forest canopy. They have a loud call Klu-eep and have a characteristic habit of shrugging their closed wings shortly after landing on a perch."
Thanks to Sumit Sen, founder of Birds of India (www.kolkatabirds.com) for helping me in identifying this species.

September - The month of butterflies

Puddling on Cow Dung.



Clicked on Thursday Sept 3, 2009.

The jungles on the hill of Janapao near Mhow. My uncle who is visiting from
Kerala wants to go and see a Shiva temple on a hilltop. We are walking through the forest when I see these butterflies feeding on cowdung. I also see some smaller groups on rocks too ... fascinating...

When I posted this in my facebook account this is what Priyanka - a fellow blogger and nature lover- commented: "Many butterflies feed on nectar from flowers, but they also get essential minerals and salts from mud and animal manures. This large gathering on mud or manure is called mud-puddling. Many an entomologists create their own mud puddles in their gardens in flower beds to attract a wide range of butterflies."

Pic below: Perched on a cactus is a Tailed Jay. Sept 21, 2007 at home.



Pic below: This Common Emigrant had perched on my shoulder and then it floated onto this flower. Clicked on Sept 21, 2007 at home.

The Jarul blooms in May

From my archives. Clicked in May 2008.

The Spotted Owlet In Her Nest.




more here.

Birds Near My House.

I decided to count the number of species of birds that I see in the garden of my house and within a one kilometre radius. The count comes to roughly forty species. Ten of these species can be seen in a blog post by clicking here.
Camera: SONY DSC H9.


Black Shouldered Kite

Dragonfly in the waters of Choral Dam

Where have all the sparrows gone?

More here

Sunny day and a suspicious mynah...
17 August 2009.
Camera: SONY DSC H9

More here.

The Rains Are Here


Images clicked on July 3 and July 6 2008







For more images clicked on these two days please take a look at this blog post in my Sulekha weblog.

Reverence And Ruthlessness....




For a detailed photoreport click here to get to a post in my sulekha weblog titled Nature Note From Mhow:Reverence and Ruthlessness

Visiting a Plants Nursery

Prince Nursery Mhow.

13 March 2008. About 2 pm

Camera Used: SONY DSC H9




More images in a blogpost in my sulekha weblog: Click here.

'Bat watching' at St. Mary's Convent Mhow


Thursday Feb 28 2008

St. Mary's Convent Mhow, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India




Detailed report with photographs and embedded video in my sulekha weblog. Click here

Nature Notes From Mhow



I remember reading an article in an American website about how military garrison towns in Europe and America often end up protecting flora and fauna because these towns are not allowed to 'develop' the way a normal town has to.




Mhow, where I live, is also a paradise of nature. The East India Company was given this town in 1818 after the Holkars who ruled Indore state till 1947 were defeated at the Battle of Mahidpur and the Treaty of Mandsaur was signed. Cantonment laws prohibit any form of building and the civilian population has its complaints about these laws being outdated and relics of the British Raj. The net result of all this is the sheer profusion of flora and fauna.




The English chose their cantonments well. Mhow, Pachchmarhi, Pune, Bangalore, Secunderabad, Wellington were some of the towns chosen in Central, Western and South India as being fit for training institutions. Pune, Bangalore and Secunderabad have changed beyond recognition thanks to the IT revolution and globalisation. But Mhow has still remained the same. The writer Jaisinh Birjepatil whose novel Chinnery's Hotel is set in a fictional Mhow and has been selected by Khushwant Singh as one of the best post Independence (post 1947) pieces of fiction written by an Indian had told me in an email that he chose Mhow because it has hardly changed.



I have spent most of my life in this small town. A few months ago I decided to make use of a modest sum I earned through my weblog at Sulekha and chose to buy a digital camera. This has enabled me to snap hundreds of pictures which have to do with various aspects of life in this small town. This includes the trees, birds and animals I see here. I am posting these as a series of linked blog posts titled Nature Note From Mhow in my Sulekha weblog.

Click here to see these posts and the beauty of the Malwa region of Western Madhya Pradesh.