The days being uncomfortably warm I had no intentions of venturing out while staying with my son. Yet I had lugged my camera along. ‘Why,’ asked the Second Born. ‘Because we are going to Udaan Biodiversity Park,’ I informed him. He shook his head. ‘It’s small, what will you find there to click?’ he wanted to know.

Aha. To that I had my answer ready. You see, I had already done my homework and read up on the place. ‘Butterflies!‘ I responded confidently. I read there are plenty of butterflies there. Sad to say though, I did not find a single one when we went there the next morning. There was a butterfly-shaped board, plants that butterflies love to lay eggs on and  others with flowers for butterflies to sip nectar from, but of the butterflies themselves there was absolutely no sign. Instead I found plenty of morning walkers briskly walking the perimeter getting their daily exercise.

The park, in the Viman Nagar locality of Pune, has been created by converting rocky land into a small ecosystem with a view to making various kinds of species flourish, thus encouraging biodiversity.  Apart from being a breath of fresh air what’s special about this park is that visitors are allowed to touch and taste the many endemic and medicinal plants being grown there, sweet basil, Indian borage, lemon grass, mint, to name just a few. I bet children are the ones most thrilled about this arrangement.

What thrilled me during my visit were the few birds I found in this tiny haven. One goes in search of butterflies but finds birds. Not a bad deal at all, especially considering the fact that I could click my very first Oriental White-eye.  Below is proof. 🙂