Celebrating Diversity of Avian Life at the Basai Wetland

The Basai Wetland, a yet to be notified wetland by the Government, supports a wide range of Avian life, including resident birds and migratory ones. What makes the Basai Wetland easily reached from Gurgaon is that it is barely a fifteen-minute drive from Old Gurgaon.

What makes the Basai even more attractive for birders is that the wildlife department has put no restrictions on their entry, though I guess a good amount of revenue could be earned through entry fees, greater than the amount earned through fishing contracts!

The sight of Sarus Cranes flying by can be a most satisfying moment. One feels liberated on seeing such beauty in nature, birds celebrating life to the fullest, affirming the immense possibilities in life. Sarus Cranes are a metaphor for togetherness and matrimonial harmony. There is so much that we can learn from nature, that too by visiting wetlands like the Basai Wetland.

Little Grebes can be interesting to watch especially at the beginning of the breeding season. This particular Grebe gave me the benefit of a smile as if telling off and not to pry!

Black-winged Stilts can be found throughout the season, they only need some water to survive on. They are particularly noisy birds and can be found flying in formation.

Bitterns, Herons and Egrets are very secretive and they remain still for ages! Hidden in the grass, they wait for the right moment to strike.

Pheasant Tailed Jacanas Spotted at The Basai Wetland

It was a joy to spot a flash of Gold contrasted by a patch of white in the middle of the grass and weeds at the Basai Wetland yesterday. While the Wire-Tailed Swallows were away, the Pheasant Tailed Jacanas could be seen in abundance. These were, however, a little away from the main part of the wetland. One particular Pheasant Tailed Jacana seemed to want to give me the full benefit of its antics even as I followed it around; it led me on, as it sang aloud to those hidden in the water weeds.

Only one gender of the species, the male develops such a long tail and the golden patch on his neck makes him particularly conspicuous to the female. Jacanas are found in abundance in the area and they are not in the category of dwindling species.

Flight of the Wire-Tailed Swallows

Swallows are rather playful little birds, always chasing each other, dragging long wire tails behind them even as they are buffeted by the wind. At this time of the year, the Basai Wetland is taken over by Wire-Tailed Swallows, after of course the exit of the larger variety of migratory birds like the Bar-Headed Geese, the Sheldon Ducks and the Spot-Billed Ducks.

When I visited the Basai Wetland today, I found a solitary Spot-Billed Duck, left behind by its family, no doubt! It was a pleasant surprise, however, to find the diminutive Swallows playing around. The colour combination of blue, white and a rust-coloured head covering, rather like a skull-cap along with the two wires sticking out of the tails of some, made for an interesting hour of photography. I was able to take quite a few photographs of the birds in flight, I was assisted, no doubt by the strong wind that made them sort of hover in the air.

Besides the cavorting Wire-Tailed Swallows, I was also taken aback by the almost Human bickering of the Myna Birds. A whole flock of these birds had perched on top of a tree and they were all looking in the same direction even as a rather severe-looking large Myna bird seemed to be the leader of the group. It was clear that the argument was going nowhere, and the Senior Myna bird seemed to have lost control. In the end, everyone seemed to be snapping at the Senior bird!

Most of the Wetland was covered with weeds making it difficult to spot water-birds, nevertheless a Crow-Pheasant or Greater Coucal did spring a surprise stepping out of the bushes to leap into the air, though not being able to fly a long distance.

As if the flight of the Crow Pheasant was not surprising enough, after some distance I was again startled by a Purple Heron which decided to make a break flinging itself into the air like a lumbering giant. I was reminded of a heavily laden aircraft trying to unstick itself from the runway.

The Basai Wetland is sure to spring pleasant surprises for birders who are patient and willing to walk the extra mile. It is always a clever idea to carry a zoom lens along with a decent enough DSLR. I personally don’t like carrying a tripod since it hampers movement. The Basai Wetland is easily accessible to cars and motorcycles. It is located near the Water Treatment Plant on the Gurgaon Jajhar Road. After descending from the flyover just before the water treatment plant, you need to take the first cut to the right on to a narrow lane that seems to lead to nowhere. Just at the beginning on the right, you will come across a Gas Agency godown.

Swallows love hanging on together, even if it means making space for the odd one!

As a coup de gras, I would like to share a couple of snaps of an amorous pair of what I believe are dragonflies attached to each other in matrimonial bliss!

Banned African Mangur Catfish Spotted Thriving in the Basai Wetland

The first banned African Mangur Catfish that I spotted at the Basai Wetland in Gurgaon was a few months back. A kite had it in its talons and it was flying away to eat it in peace. I have been curious about the presence of this banned species looking at them swimming around in the wetland. I did take a couple of shots of the fish with my camera but then forgot about it till just today when I saw something similar to a feeding frenzy in which a fish carcass floating in the water was literally torn to shreds by the Mangur fish. 

I was reminded of the movie Piranha while looking at the fish. No wonder, this fish has been banned by the Government! Clearly, the African Mangur Catfish is highly is highly aggressive and harmful to the endemic species found in the country. The African catfish is a hardy species that can survive in polluted water and often manages to survive in near drought-like conditions. It is clear that these fish have been introduced to the Basai Wetlands for commercial reasons and this is wreaking havoc on other endemic fish species.

In no time the catfish had dragged the carcass into the weeds out my line of sight. It was truly a strange experience!

While I did try to take a few snaps of a feeding frenzy in which these African Mangur catfish were literally tearing into shreds the carcass of a fish that was much bigger than the catfish. It is high time the fishery department took stock of matters before they got out of hand.

Wire-Tailed Swallows spotted at the Basai Wetland, Gurgaon

Today when I decided to visit the Basai Wetland in the morning, the lighting was awful. Nevertheless, I managed to capture a couple of wire-tailed swallows having a quiet time together. When I looked at the photographs later on, I was surprised to notice what looked like two strings trailing from one of the birds' tail. Initially, I wondered if this might not have been a thread from one of the nets used for catching fish. On looking closely, I realised that these were in fact long hair growing out of the tails. No wonder they looked strange, but then these were birds that I had seen flitting in the sky but not sitting in one place.

Moving towards a more Digital Learning Experience

OK, so now we have Ed.Tech. and are proficient in using the projector and the laser pointer. We are able to display data on the screens, but then, so what? Does the mere use of Ed.Tech. make us really better than those who used chalk and board, charts, pen and paper? I guess not! This is where Digital Learning matters. It takes us beyond the mere use of technology. Technology enabled learning provides for stilted learning unless it incorporates Digital Learning too!

What we really need to do is to cater to L&D. To be more specific, L&D stands for learning and development and is specifically focused on helping people learn new skills so they're motivated and productive at work. L&D professionals are concerned with getting the best out of their workforce and developing their skills and capabilities to drive performance. Educational Technology is a means to achieve a greater understanding of principles, concepts and ……… rather than stop at being adept in using an overhead projector, or for that effect merely run a power-point-presentation!

Digital learning has become a reality today, what with “Digital experiences”-1 taking over our lives! Analog has given way to digital so much so that the letters we wrote to our families, friends, relatives and acquaintances have been replaced by E-Mails. Today we shop online, preferring to stay at home and simply relax. We have discarded our Vinyl Records, Spool Tapes, Cassettes even Compact Disks and have moved on to an online musical experience. Most of us will have used WYNK rather than compact disks. Our cars provide us with digital experiences that would have appeared rather far-fetched a few years back. It is high time we accepted the fact that technology has its uses and move on in life!

How we use technology in class and what we do after using technology is what matters. Are we using Ed.Tech. to develop learning modules, or are we using it to create a new understanding of old concepts? To use Digital Technology effectively we need to be Digitally enabled. To be Digitally enabled one we need to rewrite/unlearn older rules, change the way we did things, and be in sync with the dynamic nature of education. The mere use of e-learning modules, LMS, in its traditional sense is not Digital learning! Digital learning is not about simply applying technology. Rather, Digital Learning goes beyond the mere application of technology in class. It is about creating models, predictions, future projections it caters to the emotive aspect of learning and promotes creativity, it celebrates learning and induces a sense of pride and ownership in students for learning that is self-driven. Digital Learning caters to the “Big Idea” behind learning a lesson or subject.

The elements of Digital learning might seem to be unattainable and perhaps too fantastic, yet they can be seen in expeditionary and experiential learning. Experiential and Expeditionary learning, collaborative and emotive in nature are the very basis for Digital Learning.

This article has been inspired by:

The Important Distinction Between ‘Digital’ and ‘Technology-Enabled’ Learning

by David James-https://www.looop.co/articles/digital-technology-enabled-learning/