FUN-FILLED FIELD-DAYS

There was a time not long ago when we all used to roam about freely, meet our friends, gather in workplaces, travel a lot, dine out and live carefree. Yes, not long ago, life was different before the Covid19 pandemic outbreak all over the world. And it took just a tiny virus to stall all our activities, plans and dreams. 

Being chained up indoors for months is not easy. It was not. At first it was a relaxing idea to get an unexpected amount of free time and indulge in our hobbies...reading, writing, cooking, painting, singing and whatnot... time to celebrate our inner creativeness. But then, for how many days...? how many months more...? At a point of time even these things have got tiring, energy to keep up the positive vibes have worn out and so to speak, we all are now bored of our boredome. 

But hey! There's always a way!

"...when I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favourite things

and then I don't feel so bad!!"

Remember these lines from The Sound of Music movie? They ar so true...

So here's what I did. 

I just closed my eyes and relived the memories of my field days...the rucksack and the boots, pen and diary in pocket and the boiling excitement at heart. I swam back in the times I have spent amongst the Nature, loving and caressing all the little things and eventually summed up all the playful times in my field days amidst my work. Here's a glimpse of my memories...

here's the link to my youtube video :

https://youtu.be/pex-mIgguaY

do check out my channel for more videos and stuff, and if you like it don't forget to subscribe.

Please share with us what you miss the most in these lockdown times, or any  fun stories of your days out in the Nature.

Till next time!! Stay Tuned to our blog Pokamo and share the articles if you feel they are worthy pleasant reads!

World Environment Day

Hi folks! It’s World Environment Day!

Every year we suddenly become more enthusiastic about nature and its conservation on this date and from the very next day, again we start acting against nature by hurting animals, cutting trees, promoting animal trades etc. But truly, this should not happen. We, the human beings, are the most intelligent superior animals and therefore, we need to change our own behaviour towards nature and wildlife. We must protect our mother nature who has been nourishing all the living beings including us since the age of creation on earth. We have to understand that even an ant has equal right to wander, feed on and share spaces with others as we do. Humans must be respectful to all the living beings in this world and must think about their conservation in the era of exploding human population and anthropogenic advancement. Hence, we should serve our mother nature every time.

On this day, I wish I could spend some time in nature; but there are no other options but to stay confined in our houses during this prolonged necessary lock-down period due to COVID-19 infection. The only way of celebrating this day is to cherish the good old field days spent in the village of Panchalingeswar and in the forest of Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary. These are one of my favourite places in Balasore, Odisha with full of fresh air and lush green scenic beauty that sooth my soul always.

The above collage has been prepared from my photo archives that consists of a few of the animals and plants that I encountered during my field days.

If you like this post, please share your thoughts about nature in COMMENTS section. Also, you can SHARE this page if you would like to.

THE BELLY RUB

While we are busy performing our regular duties in life, there are other creatures in nature who are also serving their duties all the time. Among all the creatures out there in nature, insect pollinators are directly related to our food security and hence, bees have been under the focus of scientific interests since ancient times. Bees are the most efficient pollinators and are quite responsible for our daily supply of various delicious food items like honey, several fruits and vegetables etc. About one-third of our food depends on bee pollination. 

Pollination is a simple process that involves the transfer of male part (pollen grain) from anthers to the female part (stigma) of a flower causing fertilization which leads to the development of fruits. Bees perform this action unknowingly like other pollinators do. The world of bees is extremely diverse and so does their behaviour in all aspects. Although, the basic biology of many bee species is still completely unknown; however, scientists have already studied several thousands of species all over the world. All the bees have unique behavioural aspects to live their life in the wild. Exploration of bee behaviour has unlocked new avenues of researches that are helping us to know about their foraging preference, foraging style, pollination efficiency etc.

Foraging behaviour of bees is an interesting and astonishing topic. One can easily be overwhelmed by the specific and accurate actions of a foraging bee right from the selection of flower to forage on, how it senses the location of the floral rewards (mostly nectar and pollen), how it packs pollen in its scopa and many more. Now, what is scopa? Scopa is the area on the bee’s body that is modified to store pollen grains. The structure of scopa and its hairs have evolved to aid in pollen storage and the hairs may be strongly plumose (or branched) or may be densely packed or in the form of basket (called as corbicula or pollen basket). Scopa is generally located on the legs (mostly on the hind legs) (eg. family Apidae, Halictidae etc.) but ventral abdominal scopa can also be seen in certain groups of bees (eg. leaf cutter bees; family Megachilidae). Depending on the scopal types and position, bee’s behaviour of collecting pollen grains also varies.

Let's have a look at the short video clip down here which I have prepared to celebrate the World Bee Day (20th May 2020). This video was recorded inside a maintained garden at Ballygunge Science College Campus, Kolkata, India. This short visual will hopefully give you a clear idea about this incredible pollen collection behaviour of the bee. I have also described the process in detail in the following section.

👉 Behaviour of bee - Megachile (Creightonella) fraterna on Crotalaria flower

The above video is highlighting the pollen collection behaviour of a megachilid bee, Megachile (Creightonella) fraterna on Crotalaria retusa (family Fabaceae) flowers. The video was processed in slow motion so that one can understand the uniqueness of the bee’s behaviour. This bee, as described above, has ventral abdominal scopa which it rubs over the floral reproductive parts, specifically where the anthers are located. As a consequence of this action, numerous pollen grains get trapped within densely packed series of plumose scopal hairs and by that way, the bee collects pollen. In the flowers of family Fabaceae, as in this case, pair of keel petals serve as the landing platform for the insect visitors and the same hide floral reproductive parts beneath itself. In this case, reproductive parts (anthers and stigma) are clumped together. When the bee visits, it holds the inner central part of the flower firmly with mandibles and it pushes the keel petals down which creates an opening to expose the reproductive parts of the flower. Then, the bee starts rubbing its ventral abdomen over the anthers to collect pollen grains. As the stigma is clumped with the anthers, this process may also transfer pollen (collected from previously visited flowers) from the abdominal scopa on to the stigma which leads to the initiation of pollination.

In bare eyes, this process just looks like a busy bee buzzing near flowers here and there. But if you observe closely and precisely, you can understand what is going on with this fascinating foraging behaviour. 😎 

Hope you enjoyed this short introduction and the video of this particular bee foraging style. If you like it, please provide your feedback in the COMMENTS below and don’t forget to SHARE this Pokamo Blog widely. If you feel interested to know more about nature, please get in touch with this blog! 😊👍