Great Cormorants at Chinapannahalli Lake in Bangalore

9th June 2017

Bangalore was a city of lakes, big and small.  Most have been lost to development, others foam and burn like from some end-of-the-world science fiction movie, and there are a few that hang on desperately and precariously.

The lake, off Brookefield Main Road

One such little jewel that I discovered through my friend Raji was Chinapanahalli lake, off Brookefield Main Road.  Raji had come across it recently, and we walked there one morning last week. She wanted to show me the bunch of Great Cormorants that she had seen there.

It was a typical cool and overcast Bangalore June morning.  We got off the main road and into the byelanes, There were Markhamia trees lining the roads, dotted with yellow flowers and their telltale long hanging seed pods.  Street dogs were having their own territorial battles that did not include us thankfully, and a fruit seller pushed his cart full of tempting mangoes down the street.

My eyes widened with delight as we came on to the lake bund, and my first site was a bunch of large black cormorants with webbed feet, sunning themselves on a rock in the middle of the lake.  Just as I was looking at them in the distnace, we saw people milling around and staring at the edges of the lake.  There were agitated conversations in Bengali, Hindi, Kannada and Tamil as various families stopped and pointed.

Fish gasping for air

We looked too, and then discovered the source of dismay - dead fish on the surface, dozens of them - large and small.

We walked a little further and came across this huge school of big fish literally gasping for air at the surface.  Quite clearly the oxygen in the water was insufficient, and they needed oxygen from the air.  it seemed that the overnight rain had washed the effluents into the lake.  It was a downer for sure, and we walked despondently and helplessly, wondering where to begin in this big mess that we are causing.

A manmade bund in the middle of the lake was a good perching point

One species problem was another's feast, however, and the Cormorants were indulging in sheer gluttony, as the sluggish fish were easy prey.  They dived under and would come up with large fish that they would swallow in three gulps, before diving again.

Egrets, grey herons and a solitary night heron also fished, and pond herons were caught between displaying their breeding plumage and enjoying the fish.  

Brahminy Kites glided across, and a solitary Spot billed duck went on a flypast.

But for me, the bird of the day was the Great Cormorants. (Phalacrocorax carbo) that sat on the rocks, flew overhead and fished merrily and greedily.  We recognised them from their large size, the gular pouch which one chap was gurgling away, and the white on their flanks.  I have not seen these cormorants frequently, and I remember last spotting them at Dungarpur in 2008!

There were also Little Cormorants, that we see quite often.  A couple of possibly Juvenile Indian Shags as well, though of this I was not very sure.  Raji has promised to go back and take a better look and confirm the id in the course of the week!

Our bird list in an hour

Great Cormorant
Little Cormorant
Red Wattled Lapwing
Pond heron
Little Egret
Intermediate Egret
Black crowned Night Heron
Grey Heron
Purple Heron
White breasted water hen
Brahminy Kite
Black Kite
Little Grebe
White breasted Kingfisher
Common myna
Spotted Dove
Red vented bulbul
Tailor bird


Raji spotted a Little and Pied Kingfisher the next day, and also reported that the fish were not in distress.  However, on the 11th June, once again they were gasping for breath, and the lake had many dead fish.

She has also seen Painted Stork at the lake, but obviously they are not resident.  

Lets hope this lake continues to thrive.  According to an article in TOI, the lake area has shrunk from  50 to 15 acres, and has been restored by a trust after the BBMP cited lack of funds for inaction.   

The icing on the cake was some balcony birding as well - rose ringed parakeets, bee eaters, a magpie robin, flameback and bulbuls.