The Picturesque Jakkalamadagu

January 26, 2023

India was celebrating its Republic day today. Being obvious holiday, we thought of driving to closer bucolic world as a refresher from city chaos. I chose Jakkalamadagu specifically. The forest cover, the delightful landscape, the brimming lake,  and why not it has unique avian creatures in it

Last year our drive to Dundiganaalli dam was via jakkalamadagu. The monsoon showers has just relaxed when we reached jakkalamadagu. Even the forest area before jakkalamadagu lake was thriving with babblers which i couldn't explore due to rain . At jakkalamadagu, that was first time when I saw Indian Robin, laughing dove, bushlark and many more. The lush vegetation, abundant water, agricultural fields is ideal combination for avian world to thrive.

The entry to Jakkalamadagu is always majestic with distant hills welcoming us.

The first sight was of Laughing doves. They perch on electric wires but shy. Couple of shots, they flew away.

Later comes my first spotting of Indian Silverbills. They too were shy or intimidated by shutter sound? That was my first sighting of these cute littles

I could not grab good pictures of Indian Robin. Despite the perfect light, enough shutter speed, not even single photo turned out clear. That was highest disappointing moment of the overall visit. The robins which were bold during my last visit seemed to be utterly shy this time. Not even a single stood still :-(. These shots were from distance.

The bee-eaters are as usual are the boldest ones. This guy was preparing to have its meal after a catch.

I missed long tailed shrike due to their shyness. While persuading for close shot of robins, I got this prinia shot. Guess plain prinia?

The biggest contrast was this Syke's warbler. Usually warblers are skittish and move out of open in jiffy. This warbler stood in open and that too at eye for a while before disappearing. I managed to get good shots of the maiden spotting.

The exhilarating and most soul satisfying moment of the day was this black winged kite with flashing red eye. I stopped car at spot where we ate lunch during previous visit. The stoppage was bit personal hoping to spot bushlark. Also my wife wanted to drive for a while. While switching driver seat, I grabbed the camera to see if bushlark would show up. Bushlark seemed to have concluded the day but  I found this eagle in between. While looking into Sun, it looked like Brahminy kite. When I moved to grab its shot behind the Sun, that was surprise! What a moment! Its a black winged kite. That's old adage teaches us to analyze all-round even if we watch it on our own! The unwavering perch of bird was easy to photograph! I took plenty of shots to celebrate the maiden bird spotting. The bird though was staring at me for a while was co-operative till I was satisfied with its photo-session

The landscape of Jakkalamadagu is worth mentioning at any point of year. The winding road, the exotic landscape, the spectacular water body with surreal vegetation, the delightful hills and the sprawling farmlands can allure nature enthusiasts undoubtedly.

Some part of lake overflowing over the road making it difficult for commuters to cross. I guess its around 2 feet. I too drove over the water channel. Here is how it looked in dashcam. Surprisingly, the rains stalled well over 2 months back. Perhaps a manmade obstacle would have changed course of lake.

Shoving the waterway was fun except for possible breakdown amidst the water. Driving through the waterway is not reliable always as it would brick your car in middle. Here is a short glimpse from new dashcam attached to windshield!

Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries