Little angels' cool discovery at Bahour Lake...

“Sir, it went in,” said a group of little girls with a glint of excitement shone on their faces. They were standing on the bank of Bahour lake, one of the beautiful lakes in Puducherry; one of the largest. They were observing birds.

Two little grebes parting ways

“Oh yeah! Just check and tell me when it comes back,” replied the teacher, who organized a nature walk for the school children.

Children carefully screened the surface of the lake for a few seconds.

“There it is!” Little angels jumped out in excitement. “It came out in different place. Looks like it swims very fast inside the water,” they added cheerfully.

“Wonderful. Can we play a game the next time?” The teacher tried to lighten up the mood.

The girls looked engrossed into the bird. They didn’t know the name of the bird yet. It looked dark and tiny from the distance.

Little grebe takes a dip

“It went in! It went in!” They gave out a loud outcry. 

“Alright! The time starts now.” Teacher gazed into his watch, focusing on the seconds hand.

All eyes on the lake surface eagerly waiting for that bird to pop out and when it did, they screamed again "There it is...!" with a strong flavour of excitement.

Little grebe pops-up

“Ten seconds,” said the teacher.

“Wow!” They were intrigued. Their little black eyes started glistening.

“Maybe next time, somebody can keep a count.”

“I will do. I will do.” Many girls volunteered.

“Ok! Ok! Everyone can do it.”

This time one group was observing the bird and the other started counting. When the count reached fifteen, the other set shushed them as the bird came out.

“Wow its fifteen this time. Maybe the little guy was competing with himself,” said the teacher in a calm and comforting tone. “Anyone knows his name?”

Some said duck. Some said waterfowl. And some – I don’t know – very honest.

Teacher pulled out a card from the pack and showed it to the kids. The bird picture in colour was printed on one side and its name and some interesting facts about the bird on the other side.

Children eagerly came closer and looked the bird picture and were absolutely astounded.

“Sir, it looks so colourful. Look at its orange colour patches on its neck. It is very beautiful and the name is little grebe. How cute!”

The card was hopping on their little hands one after another. Some were awed looking at the picture. Some attempted to read its facts. Some were writing down the names of the birds. And some still immersed on the lake. There were a lot going on among the kids at that moment. 

Everybody looked bright like a sunshine with a sparkling smile and energetic like little grebe. 

Also read - Little angels' yet another discovery

- during an exposure visit to Bahour Lake with school students. It is interesting to see how nature can induce organic learning.