Ecotherapy through the Peeple Tree Visitors
‘Ecotherapy’ is an experience I am turning, or more accurately, returning to more an more in order to recharge the mental and emotional batteries. Closely connected to ‘ecopsychology‘,
I am fortunate to live in an apartment that has many ecotherapic attributes.:
- It is ground floor and has a small garden.
- The garden has a ‘Haha’ effect, ending in a drop of 7 metres to the access road to the apartment block.
- The next feature across the road os a ‘Peeple Tree’ (0r ‘Pipal Tree’ – Ficus Religiosa) – very significant in Hindu Faith culture.
- Beyond the Peeple Tree is a ‘woodland’ of stretching 50 metres further distance before blending into original scrub and mangrove (sadly being eroded by increasing human development – but still wonderfully verdant and wild … for now)
This environment has provided many opportunities to observe many wonderful species of birds. Many directly visit the tree itself for rest and food. Other visitors, including huge fruit bats, visit for a brief rest before flying to and from their normal roosting places.
Other visitors visit nearby the tree, staying closer to the water bodies or scrubland near by that provide their suitable food banks. Kites and buzzards often circle. Storks, herons and cormorants are common sights. As are flamingoes in the right season.
I have always been interested in nature and the environment. I am appreciating it more and more, not just for what it is, but especially for what it does to rekindle the mind, body and soul.
Asian Paradise Flycatcher
Black Kite
Common Myna
Indian Jungle Crow
Indian Golden Oriole
Red Vented Bulbul
Drongo Cuckoo
Drongo Cuckoo
Female Red-breasted Flycatcher
Female House Sparrow
Purple Rumped Sunbird
Rob Thomas Photography 