The Mystery of an Unseen Otter

1.“Sir, there’s an otter!” a boy shouted, pointing at a dog splashing into stagnant water. The group burst into laughter. We were in the middle of birdwatching, standing on a narrow road with water on both sides—on one side, the backwaters (lagoon), and on the other, a pool of still, stagnant water.
But when I turned toward the lagoon, I did spot a real Otter. It just stretched its neck out of the water and looked at us! Before I could show the kids, it vanished underwater like a ninja. Otters are that fast!
We were on a birdwatching walk near a government school in Puducherry — a beautiful coastal location with a serene landscape. Just behind the school flowed the beautiful Mullodai lagoon, its rich mangrove vegetation rich with aquatic life attracted countless birds. As part of our EVS textbook lesson 'A Busy Month', we had planned this birdwatching activity.
Before heading out, we gathered the students for a quick discussion. "What birds have you seen here in these backwaters?" I asked. The children's hands shot up with excitement as they shared their knowledge of local species.
 “Kokku!” (egret)

1. “Naarai!” (heron)
2. “Meenkothi!” (kingfisher)
3. Some of them who didn’t know the names described their physical features - “Long legs… sharp beaks… all white, all black!”

“Naarai!” (heron)
“Meenkothi!” (kingfisher)
Some of them who didn’t know the names described their physical features - “Long legs… sharp beaks… all white, all black!”
Then we discussed and agreed on a set of rules for the group,
1.     Stay in small groups.
2.    Write down the clues on worksheets.
3.    “Shhh—birds hate noise!”
As soon as we set out, the children's excitement became contagious. They naturally spread out across the familiar landscape, instinctively forming small groups as they explored. This was their home territory after all, and they knew every corner, every neighbour, every hidden pathway. The teacher and I exchanged glances, silently agreeing not to disrupt their natural comfort with unnecessary commands about staying quiet or close together.
“Sir, look! A crow with brown feathers!” a boy yelled.
We huddled together. Through binoculars, we saw the bird and it was a Greater Coucal and I said its name Sembagam in Tamil. The kids giggled. “There’s a lady in our street named Sembagam!”
The bird, annoyed by our chatter called out loud, “Oop! Oop!”
“Hey I have heard this call before and I thought that was an owl!” a girl gasped.

1. “But its Sembagam all along!” another said, grinning. Others joined them.

“But its Sembagam all along!” another said, grinning. Others joined them.
Another group spotted tiny, colourful birds on wires.
“Blue and green! Beaks like needles!”
“Hey it’s doing something on the air!”
“Yeah, it’s catching insects”
They asked for the binocular and looked through the bird’s little act on air. “Hey its really quick and I am not able to follow”. 
“They’re insect hunters,” I explained. We identified them as Bee-eaters.
At the water's edge, we spotted a group of water buffaloes resting in the shallows. The children immediately noticed the birds surrounding them, about fifteen feathered visitors in all. Some perched proudly on the buffaloes' backs, others stood guard near their tails, and a few hopped about on the ground nearby.
"Look! That bird is poking the buffalo!" one child yelled.
"I bet the buffalo will get mad soon," warned another.
"No way," countered a third. "This lazy fellow won't even notice such tiny birds bothering him."
"But why are they poking him? Are they eating something?" The boys debated enthusiastically before turning to me for answers.
"You're absolutely right," I confirmed, pulling out a bird card. "This is a unni kokku (cattle egret). And guess what they are eating?" I pointed to the information about ticks.
The children's eyes widened as one boy connected the dots: "So the unni kokku eats unni, the ticks!" His friends nodded vigorously, thrilled by this discovery.
Just then, a boy's voice shot up, "Sir! Look at that bird flying over the river - it's floating in midair!"
Another child gasped as the bird suddenly jumped. "Whoa! It just dove straight into the water and caught a fish!"
"That's got to be a kingfisher!" declared a third.
With a smile, I handed them the correct bird card. "Actually, this master fisherman is a River Tern."
One thoughtful boy, with his eyebrows raised, asked, "But sir, if it's such an expert—flying, diving, catching fish - why isn't it called a kingfisher?" His clever question puzzled me completely!
But then, I showed them another card and asked them to read the facts.
"Barn swallow, and it can drink water while flying?" one girl said in a surprised tone.
"WOW!" the children chorused, their eyes wide. "That's the most amazing skill ever!"
As we continued our walk and one boy pointed to a bird excitedly, “Sir, that one’s a duck-crow!” pointing at a cormorant. I said its known as neer kaakam in Tamil.
That name sparked a playful chain reaction. A mischievous child pointed to the buffalo, "And that's neer maadu!" while another pointed to a dog entering the water, "And neer nai!" The class erupted in laughter. But that’s when I spotted an Otter on the other side of the road in the lagoon. Looked like nature wanted to reward us for all the unique observations and humour, with a real treasure.
"Look! Over there!" I whispered urgently, pointing across the lagoon. But by the time the children turned, it was too late. The shy creature had already slipped beneath the dark water without a trace.
"Where, sir?" they asked, keenly observing the water’s surface. I described what I had seen, its smooth and silky exterior, whiskers, how it moved like liquid through the water. Their faces fell at having missed it, but then a boy smiled.

1. "Next time we will be faster!" he declared. And with that, our walk continued, the mystery of the unseen otter joining our growing list of nature's wonders.