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In this communication, we report the behaviour of various water birds observed during the annular solar eclipse which happened on 26th November 2019. We observed the behaviour of eight species of birds’ viz. Greater Flamingoes Phoenicopterus roseus, the Indian Cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscicollis, Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta, Black-winged stilt Himantopus himantopus, Eurasian spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, Northern shoveler Spatula clypeata, Little grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis and Dalmatian pelican Pelecanus crispus throughout the eclipse period i.e. from 8:05 AM to 10:51 AM.

Leucism in fruit bat species Pteropus giganteus (Brunnich, 1782) is recorded for the first time from India based on photographic evidence collected from the Anaval Village located in Surat District of South Gujarat, India. A total lack of pigmentation in the whole body due to the failure of melanocytes to migrate to the skin, and hair follicles, resulting in white or whitish hairs, pale skin, but normal coloured eyes are the sign of leucism. The present record can serve as baseline data and will also help understand colour aberration in bats.

Ambaji range forest of North Gujarat belongs to Banaskantha District. It is a part of Ambaji-Balaram wildlife sanctuary. North Gujarat is falling under Boswellia forest type1. The Adivasi (local people) dwelling in the forest has good knowledge of herbal medicine. The term ‘Ethnobotany’ was first coined to encompass entire studies concerning plants, which describe local people interaction with the natural environment. Its scope was much elaborated later.