Jakkur Lake Morning Birding - The maiden sighting of Black winged Stilt

26 February 2023

Jakkur lake is one of the prominent birding spot in Bangalore city. A slew of bird enthusiasts with their mighty DSLR targeting the morning birds are testimony to the popularity of Jakkur lake in terms of birding. I saw considerable number of photographers (may be veterans of the field) shooting the avian beauties. The morning haze free light was ideal for birding. The non-stop in-flight birds are no doubt gravitate the bird shutterbugs to this place. For a change, I too stepped out for morning walk in Jakkur lake and aptly rewarded.

Lets start with in-flight bird itself. This pond-heron was hopping between islands and I caught it in-flight. The birds hopping between islands is common sight here in Jakkur lake. This is best place to practice in-flight shots

The painted stork has something in its mouth. Its quite easy to grab them in flight in couple of trials.

Grey herons in flight is easy grab since they have lazy flight. I did not capture their photo since my focus was somewhere else.

A kilometer walk led me to the channel where the sewage water is being treated. The wetland part of lake has wetland & reed birds. The black headed ibis was probing the ground for possible meal. I took its shot while it was upright. The bird was relatively close and hence the close-up was possible.

The biggest reward was maiden spotting of black winged stilt. A short stroll over the lake area jutting out of the walking track, led me to the feeding ground of these little birds. The best that happened on this day with perfect frame and light. The birds flew away initially due to noise created by few kids. After waiting patiently for 15minutes, the bird returned and I shot them happily.

Lets start with the pairs!

The reflections are drool worthy for photographers! Hope I did not bore with flood of pictures!

Sometimes when you reflect back in life, it was full of confusions. You never knew where you were heading!

While female was peacefully probing the lake, the male was vigilant on the photographer for most of the time

Still water kept the reflections crisp. Even though wind blew with high intensity, the intermediate islands made sure to decelerate the air speed and thus reducing the pace of waves at the west shore. The final waves were not harsh to mar the reflection. Here is a collage

Three in one shot (Stilts, Sandpipers and a drying cormorant)

Another pair from neighboring island

Here is a short video as well!

The little grebes were enjoying the morning swim. There are plenty of them here. Looks like little grebe pairs concluded breeding season and consequently numerous juveniles were seen floating over lake :-).

For first time, I saw Indian pitta but could not capture in darkness. Fast focus was required to capture it which my old camera was unable to. One of the bird photographer captured it with perhaps 800mm lens.

With farmers selling land to plush builders, the extravagant apartments are mushrooming around jakkur lake. I am afraid that these high-raisers will soon blemish the natural periphery of lake. If these tall structures surround the lake completely, the avian creatures will be reluctant to dwell/migrate to the lake anymore

The sewage treatment plant which turned the table for the lake

Hardly we get to see the deserted walk-path. There are plenty of commuters relaxing and refreshing in morning light.

The new blooms with blue sky backdrop is pleasure to watch

This tree is all set to be decked up with new blooms!

Few more pictures before I conclude the walk. The haze free atmosphere, clear skies create wonderful frame in morning hours

Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries