Aanya Surana

13 Years

53 Years

Lakshmipat Singhania Academy

Kolkata

Nature

Scarlet Ibis| Epistolary + Cool Facts by Aanya,13, Kolkata

Here is a wonderful coming together of epistolary creative writing with a love for the vibrant world of scarlet ibis birds, by Aanya, 13, Kolkata

January 28, 2021

42 Ribbon Street
Kolkata-700023
26th November, 2020

Dear Riya,
Its been a while since we have caught up with each other, I hope you’re doing well. I know we’ve lost touch ever since I moved to Brazil for my further studies, but I really miss you and would do anything to stay as attached and close as we were before.

The weather here is so beautiful currently and the autumn season is passing and the winter is setting in and during this time of year we generally have expeditions and for this year as a part of the science class activity we went to a bird sanctuary, it was so beautiful. I was in charge of a group of children from class six and we were led by an ornithologist. He was so experienced that he could identify the only check with their chirping noise. We saw a number of birds but across the lake there was a beautiful flock of vibrant, colourful, scarlet coloured birds which was were rare species known as scarlet ibis.

I was so mesmerized seeing the beautiful red bird that I could sit there forever and enjoy the calmness around her. Our ornithologist told a lot about that bird and I found it very interesting . He told us that the scarlet ibis is a sociable and gregarious bird, and very communally-minded regarding the search for food and the protection of the young. I thought that it would be a fun activity to feed the bird so the students and I asked our guide their check what it check and he said that it had a varied diet and that it and it ate stuff like crabs frogs worms and insects. Hearing this the students stepped back from feeding it because they were terribly scared of worms and insects themselves!

We went further inside the sanctuary and saw numerous and rare species of the bird. It was a trip to remember.

Give my greetings to uncle and aunt and I hope you like the pictures I have sent because I know you love nature and everything about it.

Hope to see you soon.
Your loving friend,
Radhika

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Nature with Sara activities for kids Bookosmia

Hey, Sara here again. Did you enjoy Ananya’s epistolary work?

Did you know that the scarlet ibis is the national bird of Trinidad. How about some more cool facts about these stunning birds?

Fun fact #1 : Scarlet ibis is not born scarlet, but grey, brown or white

A juvenile scarlet ibis is a mix of grey, brown, and white. As it grows, a heavy diet of red crustaceans (like crabs) produces the scarlet color. The color change begins with the juvenile’s second, around the time it begins to fly, starting on the back and spreading gradually across the body while increasing in intensity over a period of about two years.

Scarlet_Ibis_juvenile_Birds with Sara Bookosmia — A juvenile scarlet ibis bird

Fun fact #2 : The scarlet ibis is a gregarious bird, living, traveling, and breeding in flocks.

While in flight, ibises form diagonal lines or V-formations. This formation decreases wind resistance for trailing birds. When the leader of the pack tires, it falls to the back of the formation and another ibis takes its place at the front.