Birding in the city
We could not utilize the chance to go out of town this weekend due to Sachin’s busy work schedule. So we decided to spend a few hours birding within the city itself.
J.P. Nagar Reserve Forest
On Saturday morning, we made our way to the reserve mini-forest in J.P.Nagar. We got to know about it through one of the mailing lists we are subscribed to. It was suprising to find forest land within the city. Apparently, the forest is abode to many species of birds. Unfortunately, we did not manage to see too many of them.
We got to see the male/female Purple Rumped Sunbird, Female Loten’s Sunbird, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, Greater Coucal, Oriental Magpie Robin, Black-head Cuckoo Shrike, the Green Bee-Eater and the Chestnut Headed Bee-Eater. At one time, we could see atleast 10-12 bee-eaters at the same time, sometimes with prey in their beaks. These are amazingly skillful hunters. They swoop down on their prey in-flight (almost out of nowhere) which include wasps, bees, dragonflies etc. It indeed is a very captivating sight.
Getting there/Directions:
Going down Bannerghatta Road, take the first right after Shopper’s Stop. (This takes you to Mysore Road). About half a km down this road, you hit Delmia Circle (the first major traffic signal). There is a K.C.Das store on the left. Take this left. Go down the road which is muddy in patches, past the “Green Skies Blue Forest” Apartments. This leads you to the entrance of the reserve forest.
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Madiwala Lake
On Sunday evening, we went to Madiwala lake. Our expectations were not very high since we had heard and read about the deterioration of the lake many times. The lake was filled with Water Hyacinth weeds, some areas were stinking and some areas had a lot of filth lying around. But still, we did manage to see a lot of birds in the two hours that we spent there.
From a great distance, we got our first sighting of the Pied Kingfisher. We had been looking for this one for quite some time. This amazing bird is known to hover in mid air, before plunging down into the water to grab its prey. We also saw a bunch of Herons(Pond, Night, Purple, Grey), Egrets, some Storks(the distance was too much even with binoculars), the Purple Moorehens and a few others we could not see clearly enough to identify.
We got a good chance to photograph the smaller birds near the park area. Spent some time with the Ashy Prinia, the Paddyfield Pipits, the male and female Pied Bushchats and a couple of other birds we are yet to identify.
Of course, as expected it was crowded in the evening (along with the sights of lovers making out). Next time we will go there early morning before the crowd gets in to catch more species of birds there.
Getting there/Directions:
Coming down Hosur Road from Koramangala, take the right at Silk Board, leading into BTM Layout. Take the left at 31st Main. This is after the Kuvemu Nagar BMTC Bus Stand, and leads you right to the park/lake.
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