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Biodiversity notes -Anahi

23 May 2026

We arrived at Sesbania in the late morning, around 10:30am. A rosy parakeet was startled and took off for the cover of foliage with a loud call as the car pulled in outside the boundary wall. As the sun rose higher into the noon sky, the branches of various trees in the garden were visited by a variety of birds, including a singing Indian robin, a desperately wailing Asian koel hidden in the branches of the honge tree by the entrance and a persistent common tailorbird and red-wattled lapwing from unknown perches. Other birds recorded on Merlin included the large grey babbler, grey francolin, jungle prinia, zitting cisticola and Jerdon’s bushlark. I was given another introductory round to the garden and its trees, making note of the following observations: 

• As on the Jonaki farm, many trees are heavily fruiting, like mango, water apple, jackfruit, sour-sop and moringa. 

• Swarms of Asian weaver ants, Oecophylla smaragdina, can be seen on and below fruiting trees in much greater numbers than observed on the Jonaki and Noyontara farms. Fresh and dried ant nests of leaves woven together with the silk produced by larvae are visible on the branches, as are long lines of ants marching on the branches and crawling over the fruit. The presence of these ants deters other insects from feeding on the fruit, including many harmful pests like fruit flies, etc. 

• Alongside the upright, robust fruit trees are some bare, leafless trees, dried stumps, and fallen logs of Sesbania grandiflora and Singapore cherry, Muntingia calabura. These trees were planted almost a decade ago as pioneering species on the land, and originally created favourable conditions for the survival and growth of the young fruit trees. Now, nearing or at the end of their life, these pioneers continue to serve the land through their decomposing biomass, which returns essential nutrients to the soil, as well serve as a microhabitat for many critters and microorganisms. Many Sesbanias on the land have fallen over themselves, while Singapore cherries, planted to provide shade for fruit tree saplings, were taken down when at the same height as the fruit trees, as the main aim of the land was to establish a fruit orchard.

• Many of these fallen logs now lie in the swales that have been dug on contour (perpendicular to the slope) of the land. With no gradient to flow over, these level-ditches hold the rainwater in them allowing it to slowly percolate vertically down, thereby encouraging the trees planted on the downslope berms to send their roots vertically down to seek out the percolating water. As the trees get strengthened as they grow their roots deep, they are rewarded with the rich micronutrients from various soil strata as they grow underground.

• Some of the tallest trees on the land include sheesham (Dalbergia sissoo), honge or Indian beech (Pongamia pinnata) and golden shower (Cassia fistula), most of which are hardy, native species. The bare branches of these trees are frequented by different species of birds, from where they are more visible than the perches in the dense fruit trees. 

• A Cassia fistula by one of the boundary walls and its surrounding area show traces of a fire having entered the property from under the wall, with burnt portions of bark and ash on the ground.

• Seated under a tree full of star gooseberries (Phyllanthus acidus), we discuss the transformation of the land, and the time-scale with which things grow and change. Aunty and uncle speak of ground cover being extremely dynamic, changing with every visit to the farm, with a variety of plants sprouting from the ground despite not having planted anything in the last two years. We also speak of concepts like the soil food web, and how the soil within Sesbania itself differs between the open patch of low grasses and the denser, shaded clusters of fruit trees. From the vegetation visible above ground, the soil in the former can be inferred as high-bacterial soil, while that of the latter has been transformed into soil of high fungal content. There are also differences in soil type across the land, with some areas towards the back of the plot having more rocky soil, which makes it harder for trees to grow. 

• We marked the end of the first visit by enjoying some freshly harvested water apples and star gooseberries from the trees. 

06 June 2026

My next visit to the Sesbania farm took place at an earlier hour than the previous one, around 8am. A chalky half-moon still hung softly in the sky, and the grass of the central open space was host to guests like a shy snail (Ariophanta maderaspatana), millipedes (Phyllogonostreptus nigrolabiatus) and grasshoppers. Bhaswati aunty told me stories of the guests they encountered on their last trip to Sesbania: a hare hiding in the grass, that bolted out under the compound wall within seconds of being startled; dead birds fallen from branches, and the regular occurrence of such old birds lying on the ground in the garden. It occurred to me as a sort of serene thought, the idea of Sesbania being a sort of oasis amidst new construction and neglected land, a quiet sanctuary where birds chose to come to die. I spent some time photographing the wildflowers of the grassy area, identifying species like: white Tridax daisies (tridax procumbens), small pink flowers of spade plant (Pigea enneasperma) and the blue petals of slender-dwarf morning glory (Evolvus alsinoides).

I then took several, slow rounds around the land, noting observations of flora and fauna, including:

• Colour ornamental flowers in bloom included red passionflower (Passiflora miniata) creepers and Allamanda sp. Bhaswati aunty and I spoke of some flowering species in the garden that interestingly, have both bush and creeper varieties, like Allamanda and rangoon (Combretum indicum).

• Behind the house: a few sticks of rosary pea (Abrus precatorius) with clusters of the bright red seeds, an uncharacteristically still dipteran clinging onto a vertical branch, a dried weaver ants’ nest on the extended branch of a mango tree, a restless dark cerulean (Jamides bochus) butterfly, as well as different kinds of fungi emerging on the sides of dried, fallen Singapore cherry and Sesbania wood, in varying shades of browns and greys. 

• The mango trees by the bench under the star gooseberry tree were teeming with insect activity: the common sight of masses of weaver ants congregating on hanging mango fruits, a pair of shiny green flower chafer beetles (Heterorrhina elegans) and a paper wasp slowly crawling over a demolished mango, only the seed remaining, a lone sub-adult male marsh dancer (Onychargia atrocyana) damselfly perched one of the broad mango leaves in the sun, swarms of notorious African fig flies (Zaprionus indianus) biting into fallen mangoes scattered onto the ground, hovering eerily over the fruit when disturbed, a pair of co-joined, mating tiger crane flies (Nephrotoma suturalis) and a small, striped mantis species (possibly gen. Creobroter) hiding in the leaves of nearby frangipani trees. Close to a sandalwood tree by the porch of the house, another pair of mating insects were observed, this time a pair of sandalwood defoliators (Amata passalis) hugging a long blade of glass.

• Siddharth and I learned how to safely pluck mangoes: twisting gently and snapping to break the stalk from the tree, then holding the fruit sideways away from the body to allow the sap to flow out to the ground, all the while keeping watch for any red ants that might bite. Other fruiting trees, from some of which fruits were harvested, were water apple, jackfruit, phalsa and custard apple (sitaphal). Drumstick and soursop were noted to have stopped flowering and fruiting during this visit. 

• The same followed (to avoid getting sticky white sap stuck on our skin and clothes) for the cuttings of frangipani that we carried down to the stretch of land over the edge of the boundary of the land, just by the newly constructed highway. We planted those cuttings by driving a long metal pole into the ground, creating a hole to place the cuttings in, using sticks to support the weaker stems, then digging embankments around individual plants to retain water that was poured around each plant. A similar process was repeated for Mexican sunflower stem cuttings planted at the edge of the land overlooking the newly-planted frangipani plants, our last task for the day.

• A range of birds were seen and heard throughout the morning, not limited to the common tailorbird, Asian koel, ashy prinia, red-whiskered bulbul, purple-rumped sunbird and rose-ringed parakeets. Butterflies were also plentiful, but often difficult to identify due to their rapid activity, with a general diversity of yellows, small orange butterflies, lemon emigrants and common tigers. 

20 June 2026

We arrived bright and early outside Sesbania, just around 8am, to find overgrown ground cover just outside the boundary wall, as well as inside in the orchard. 

• We spotted a new wildflower previously undocumented by me, the delicate purple-white flowers of glaucous justicia (Justicia glauca), a species of herb native to southern India and Sri Lanka. 

• I was distracted from my photography of the flowers by the loud call of a bird in the near distance. Hoping to see one of the ground-dwelling birds I had seen in surrounding plots while driving to Sesbania, I looked up and around, instead locating the source of song to be a Jerdon’s bushlark (Plocealauda affinis) perched on a low concrete pillar, which shortly flew away, across the highway to another perch. 

• Walking towards the gate, I spotted a small, bright vermillion orange butterfly (could be an Indian sunbeam, Curetis thetis) over the edge by the frangipani cuttings we had planted two weeks ago. Many were wilting, save for one that looked strong and was even flowering.

• More birdsong and calls came from the shaded environment inside the plot: Asian koels, an ashy prinia, purple-rumped sunbirds, a couple of noisy rose-ringed parakeets and ashy drongos. I watched a common tailorbird hop up the branches of a mango tree until out sight, all the white loudly calling. A greater coucal was silently concealed in an obscured perch of fresh green leaves at the top of the otherwise bare sheesham tree in the back corner of the land until it flew quietly onto the neighbouring land. Purple-rumped sunbirds chikk-ed away in the tall honge tree, sounding some louder alarm calls when disturbed by human effort in the garden to trim the red passionflower creepers around the house and archways. 

• Moving around the garden, I observed the new, white clustered blossoms of moringa, as well as fresh fruits beginning to emerge from the higher branches of the same. Starfruits were also yet to reach full size, but slowly ripening in bunches. Jackfruits growing on the ground of one tree were yet to reach full maturity after which they could be harvested. Mangoes were also in plenty, with many consumed by insects and birds lying scattered on the ground. Unlike previous visits, fully ripe, black phalsa berries had not been completely emptied from the trees by visitors and I was able to get a taste. Behind the phalsa, growing along the barbed wire over the boundary wall, were wild ivy gourd creepers, heavy with small hanging gourds. According to Krishanu uncle, this variety was unfortunately too bitter and hence could not be used for cooking. 

• This particular corner of the orchard was busy with butterfly activity, with identified species including numerous lemon emigrants (Catopsilia pomona, many of them following after each other in lines of three or more), a common banded awl (Hasora chromus), blue tigers (Tirumala limniace), dark blue tigers (Tirumala septentrionis), a common rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae), a common tiger (Danaus genutia) and common crows (Euploea core). Two dragonflies were observed hovering over the open grassy area of the land for a long time, only occasionally breaking flight to perch: one black marsh trotter (Tramea limbata) and one common picture wing (Rhyothemis variegata).

• Many insects and other invertebrates were busy in the layers of leaves of the group of frangipani trees by the side of the open grassy area, such as a large katydid, restless jumping spider and paper wasp. 

• The tall, bare sesbania tree next to the Cassia fistula was used as a perch by a variety of birds within the same period: a multitude of red-vented bulbuls, a solo coppersmith barbet calling fiercely in metallic tones, common mynas, small pale-billed flowerpeckers and a pair of rose-ringed parakeets that later found their way into the branches of the cluster of mango trees, waddling their way up, blue tail feathers briefly visible through gaps in the foliage. Additional birds recorded over the course of the morning by Merlin were: Indian robin, white-throated kingfisher and Asian palm swift.