Krishna Girish's Birding Blog: May 2014

On May 3, my father, my sister and I went to Kaikondrahalli Lake for a morning's birding.We didn't expect much of the morning- we left at 9:00 in the morning- not a great time for birding. But the hour or so we spent birding exceeded our expectations by far. A while ago, we had seen 29 different species at the lake, and we believed this was a record that could not be bettered. But that day, we saw an astonishing 38 species.

We left after my sister woke up and ate breakfast, driving to the lake. We started the trail, with binoculars, field guide, camera and waterbottle in hand. We started with the usual species- the Little Grebe and the Spot-billed Duck- the perennial 'welcoming birds' to the lake. As we proceeded down the trail, we observed the multitudes of species at the 'island' in the centre. I surveyed the area, and found a few good birds- the bulk of the birds Little Egrets, Common Coots and Great Cormorant but there was an occasional Purple Heron or Grey Heron standing amongst the reeds. Adding these to the list, we went on our way.

There is a group of trees in Kaikondrahalli Lake I call the 'rookery trees' because there are several cormorant nests on it. Today, when I zoomed in with my binoculars, I saw little Great Cormorant fledglings in the nests, which were fairly messy bundles of twigs and sticks. On the ground, the usually cryptically patterned Indian Pond-Heron was now in breeding plumage and was muh easier to spot. But it still stood in its usual morose manner, waiting for the perfect moment to strike out at its prey with lightning speed. Having seen most waterbirds possible in the lake, we walked on to the forested area to look for smaller birds.

Near the lake's amphitheatre, we spotted a Purple Sunbird and a Tickell's Flowerpecker. As we walked on we spotted Asian Koel, Scaly-breasted Munia and Oriental White-eye. It was on the swampy land outside the lake that we spotted what could have been the top bird of the day- the Bronze-Winged Jacana, accompanied by a group of Purple Swamphens. Satisfied, we began the walk back.

An Ashy Prinia flew above our heads, a fitting end to what had been truly (to say the least) a productive birding session.

BIRD LIST