Wetlands — Abodes for numerous and mesmerizing creatures besides waterbirds!

In the modern times, there are many nature-lovers in Gujarat who spend their free hours in the lap of nature at wetlands like Khijadiya, Vadla, Thol, Wadhawana, etc. But, a majority of them are interested in detecting, identifying and/or photographing waterbirds, either beautiful birds like flamingos or rare vagrants like Asian Dowitcher or Baikal Teal! Thanks to the Father of Indian Ornithology Dr. Salim Ali's bird books and work of some state-focused bird stalwarts which popularised birds (including the birds of wetlands) among the masses of Gujarat state; especially, among children and youth. Due to their efforts to popularise birds as a part of nature, and availability of good bird field-guides, we see lots of people expressing their keen interest in birds through their fantastic bird pictures on social media. "Likes" received for many wetland bird pictures are in hundreds. But if one puts a picture of an aquatic insect or an aquatic plant, howsoever beautiful, relatively very few "thumbs ups" are seen! Why? I don't think the beauty of pink coloured lotus flower or scarlet-coloured water lily flower is less than that of pink-white coloured Greater Flamingos and bright pink (almost scarlet) coloured Lesser Flamingos!

Even if one considers flowers of only these two plants, one would find a variety of colours like white, light pink, scarlet, faint bluish, bright purple etc. The carpet of pinkish flowers of lotus or scarlet-coloured flowers of water lily looks as beautiful as the carpet formed by the congregation of flamingos! Even the "weeds" like water hyacinth have very attractive shades of purple colour. The carpet of small white flowers of the aquatic plants like Water Snowflake and Crested Floating Heart on the water surface indeed look beautiful! Not only the flowers, even the leaves of aquatic plants are of diverse nature.

Duck Lettuce has surface floating leaves that are shaped like small earthen oil-lit Diwali lamps ("kodiyaa"). And leaves of Water Mimosa, despite being in water, behave similar to our familiar and terrestrial Touch-Me-Not.

Despite all these wonders of the aquatic plants, one may argue that plants are boring as they are stagnant. A wide spectrum of behaviours like skimming, hovering, swimming, diving, wading, preening, resting and roosting found in wetland birds make them an interesting subject for observation, photography and videography. Where are such aspects in plants? For such people, who are looking for some "action-packed" creatures, wetlands have a multitude of bizarre insects to showcase! Some insects are in action in mid-air over wetlands (e.g., adult mayflies and dragonflies) and some are seen in action in wetland waters (e.g., Water Striders and Whirligig Beetles). And insects of the wetlands are blessed with a variety of colours and shapes too! Many of us are impressed by shinning and splendid colours of kingfishers, swamphen and jacanas. But if they develop an interest in wetland insects, they will be mesmerized by magnificent blue, red, orange, scarlet and golden colours in some damselflies and dragonflies like Ditch Jewel, Crimson Marsh Glider, Ruddy Marsh Skimmer, Trumpet-tail, Blue Grass Dartlet, Coromandel Marsh Dart etc.

In near future, we will explore more about the creatures beyond birds inhabiting wetlands!

The author is the founding editor of e-Periodical Jalaplavit, senior scientist and Ph.D scholar from West Virginia University, ketantatu1@gmail.com