I visited 2023 November, so it has been close to a year.
26th October 2024
8-10am
To my delight, I discovered a skywalk across the Sarjapura main road, which meant I could not only get to, but could also return from Kaikondrahalli lake easily when the traffic would be bad.
Photos and observations are at iNaturalist.
The entry area is a complete turn-off. There is muck in the water, it smells of sewage and quite sensibly the water birds do not linger here. It is the western side and the north that have some bird activity.
The flocks of Little Grebe were not there this time. And the Harrier was missing.
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| But I saw Cinereous Tits, busy and vocal! they were foraging in the scrub. I spotted a moving flash of white on grey on the mud face to the west of the lake, and decided to check with my binoculars. I did not know they were common in Bangalore, and I was happy to watch them for a while - there were a pair of them, and they had a regular gossip session going, chirping and wheezing to each other as they hopped and flitted around in the undergrowth. |
The Kites and Cormorants were a plenty, as also the Swamphens. Dusky Crag Martins dived and glided over the water's surface. The piercing call of the white-browed wagtail drew my attention to the stone bunds, where it was moving around.
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| Walking back home on the skywalk - it was 10 am but the weekend traffic was so light! |
30th October '24
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| I went anti-clockwise around the lake today, and started with the wood spider, which caught me in its fascinating web, metaphorically, and delayed my progress. Try as I might, I could not get my camera to focus on it! |
Ebird list for 30th.
A Spotted Dove called from the Tabebuia tree and sunbirds flitted around so fast that I could just catch glimpses of them. Sunbirds are so busy, and so vocal, for some reason they fill you with a good feeling, a sense of joy.
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| These little drops of sunshine dotted the undergrowth, and I came to know they are called Hairy Beggarticks!! What a strange name! |
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| The stones were covered with fresh moss, renewed by the overnight rains. |
The Tits were there, and I saw the shy white-cheeked barbet high up in the canopy, pulling fruits from the Kusum trees that lie the northern end of the lake.
On the stone bund in the lake were some very glum looking lapwings, and one energetic sandpiper!
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| The path is lined with these Millingtonias, dripping their jewels. |
2nd Nov '24 ebird checklist
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| My last visit this trip to Kaikondrahalli. And I saw a familiar friend - a lone painted stork, surrounded by Spot-billed ducks and Coots. |
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| This black kite also seemed to be enjoying a morning moment of quiet, sitting still and observing me observing it. |
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| And then the magic was broken by a bunch of barking dogs who then went and parked themselves on the bund. I hoped they were not hunting eggs or fledglings. |
I did a U turn, retracing steps quite happy to go back to the quieter part of the lake rather than the road-facing part. And I am glad I did.
There was a photographer sitting on the fence, and he greeted me with a smile and said in low tones - "chestnut headed starlings".
I looked up to see a bunch of them, in a mixed flock, with drongos as well.
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| This is what I captured. A drongo and a chestnut tailed starling sitting on a Eucalyptus tree. |
We both watched a pair of common kingfishers with their sharp calls, as they ducked from one dead branch to another. A Coucal sat in the open - forced to emerge from the shadows to dry its wet feathers in the sun.
It was a goodbye to the lake and its denizens, until next time.
There are half-finished drain connections, iron bars sticking out dangerously, pigs snorting in the dirt and garbage, groups of stray dogs, and plastics in the water. It is a wonder that despite this horror, the birds are there. Maybe by the time I visit next, things may be better? Maybe that's why the winter ducks are giving the lake a miss?
