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

ಕ್ಯಾಂಡಲ್ ಲೈಟ್ ಡಿನ್ನರ್!

 "ರೀ.. ಕ್ಯಾಂಡಲ್ ಲೈಟ್ ಡಿನ್ನರ್ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಏನು? ಜನ ಯಾಕೆ ಅಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಮುಗಿಬೀಳ್ತಾರೆ" ಲಚ್ಚಿ ಕುತೂಹಲದಿಂದ ಬಸವನನ್ನು ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದಳು. 

"ನಿಂಗ್ಯಾಕೆ ಅದ್ರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕುತೂಹಲ ಸಡನ್ನಾಗಿ" ಬಸವ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯದಿಂದ ಕೇಳಿದನು.

"ಈ ಕರಪತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಇದೆ ನೋಡಿ. ಅಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಫೇಮಸ್ಸಾ ಅದು. ೧೦೦೦ ಅಂತೆ ರೀ!!" ಲಚ್ಚಿ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯದಿಂದ. 

"ಅಂತಾದ್ದು ಏನು ಇಲ್ಲ ಕಣೇ. ದುಡ್ಡು ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಇದ್ರೆ ಎಲ್ಲವು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿರುತ್ತೆ ಅನ್ನೋ ಭ್ರಮೆ ನಿನಗೆ!" ಅಂತ ಬಸವ ಜಾರಿಕೊಂಡನು. 

"ಹೇಳ್ರಿ! ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಿಂದ ಬಂದವರಿಗೆ ಅಷ್ಟೊಂದು ತಿರಸ್ಕಾರ ಮಾಡ್ತೀರಾ" ಅಂತ ಲಚ್ಚಿ ಬೇಸರ ನುಡಿದಳು. 

"ಏನೇ ನೀನು ಏನೇನೋ ತಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇಟ್ಕೋತಿಯಾ. ಸಣ್ಣವರಿರುವಾಗ ರಾತ್ರಿ ಕರೆಂಟ್ ಇಲ್ಲಾಂದ್ರೆ ನಾವು ಹೇಗೆ ಊಟ ಮಾಡ್ತಾ ಇದ್ವಿ ಹೇಳು? ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಮೇಣದ ಬತ್ತಿ ಹಚ್ಕೊಂಡು ಸುತ್ತ ಕೂತು ತಿಂತಾ ಇದ್ವಿ ಆಲ್ವಾ. ಅದಿಕ್ಕೆ ಆಂಗ್ಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಯಾಂಡಲ್ ಲೈಟ್ ಡಿನ್ನರ್ ಅಂತಾರೆ. ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೆ ಹಸಿಯಾಗಿ ಅನುವಾದ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರೆ 'ಮೇಣದ ಬತ್ತಿ ಬೆಳಕಿನ ರಾತ್ರಿ ಭೋಜನ' ಅಂತಾ. ಈ ಸಿಟಿಯವರಿಗೆ ಒಂದೋ ಕರೆಂಟ್ ಯಾವಾಗ್ಲೂ ಇರುತ್ತೆ ಅಥವಾ ಕರೆಂಟ್ ಹೋದ್ರು ಸಹ ಜನರೇಟರ್ ಅಥವಾ ಇನ್ವರ್ಟರ್ ಇರುತ್ತೆ. ಆದ್ರಿಂದ ಅವರಿಗೆ ರಾತ್ರಿ ಹೊತ್ತು ಕ್ಯಾಂಡಲ್ ಹಚ್ಕೊಂಡು ತಿನ್ನೋದು ಗೊತ್ತಿರಲ್ಲ. ಅದಿಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಟೆಲ್ ನವ್ರು ರೊಮಾಂಟಿಕ್ ಟಚ್ ಕೊಟ್ಟು ದುಡ್ಡು ಮಾಡೋಕ್ಕೆ ದಾರಿ ಹುಡುಕಿದ್ರು ಅಷ್ಟೇ. ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ ಏನಂದ್ರೆ, ಕರೆಂಟ್ ಇಲ್ದೆ ರಾತ್ರಿ ತಿನ್ನುವಾಗ ಎಲ್ರೂ ಶಾಪ ಹಾಕೊಂಡು ತಿಂತಾರೆ. ಹೋಟೆಲ್-ನಲ್ಲಿ ಏನೋ ರೊಮಾಂಟಿಕ್ ಆಗಿ ತಿಂತಾರೆ ಅನ್ಸುತ್ತೆ! ನಮ್ಮ ಇಂಡಿಯಾದವರಿಗೆ ತಮ್ಮ ತಾಯ್ನುಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆದರೆ ಅಸಡ್ಡೆ. ಅದಿಕ್ಕೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಆಕರ್ಷಣೆ ಇರಲಿ ಅಂತಾ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ ಮಾಡೋರು ಆಂಗ್ಲದಲ್ಲೋ ಅಥವಾ ಫ್ರೆಂಚ್ ಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲೋ ಹೆಸರು ಇಡ್ತಾರೆ. ಕಾಫಿ ಅಂಗಡಿ ಅಂತ ಹೆಸರು ಇಟ್ರೆ ಯಾರು ಬರ್ತಾರೆ? ಅದೇ ಕೆಫೆ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ನಿನ್ನಂತವರಿಗೂ ಆಸೆ ಆಗುತ್ತೆ. ಇದು ಕೂಡಾ ಹಾಗೆ ಅಷ್ಟೇ!" ಎಂದು ಬಸವ ಸಮಜಾಯಿಷಿ ನೀಡಿದನು. 

"ಏನೋ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಿಂದ ಬಂದವಳು ಅಂತಾ ಗೇಲಿ ಮಾಡ್ತಿರಾ. ನಾನೇನು ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಕರ್ಕೊಂಡು  ಹೋಗಿ ನಿಮಗೆ ಖರ್ಚು ಮಾಡಿಸಲ್ಲ. ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ತಿಳ್ಕೊಳಕ್ಕೆ ಕೇಳಿದ್ದೆ ಅಷ್ಟೇ. ಹೇಳಿ ಈಗ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ"  ಅಂತ ಲಚ್ಚಿ ಪಟ್ಟು ಹಿಡಿದಳು. 

"ಸರಿಯಾಗೇ ಹೇಳ್ತಾ ಇದೀನಿ ಕಣೆ! ನಿನ್ನಂತವರಿಗೆ ಮಂಗ ಮಾಡಿ ದುಡ್ಡು ಮಾಡಕ್ಕೆ ಅಂತದ್ದು ಶುರು ಮಾಡ್ತಾರೆ ಹೋಟೆಲ್-ನವ್ರು. ಎಲ್ಲಾ ನಾವು ಅನುಭವಿಸಿದ್ದೆ. ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಅಲಂಕಾರ ಇರುತ್ತೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಏ.ಸಿ. ಇರುತ್ತೆ ಅಷ್ಟೇ! ಕೆಲವೊಮ್ಮೆ ಓಪನ್ ಇರುತ್ತೆ, ಕ್ಯಾಂಡಲ್ ಜೊತೆ ನಕ್ಷತ್ರನೂ ನೋಡಿ ಅಂತಾ. ಇದರಿಂದ ಹೋಟೆಲ್-ನವರಿಗೂ ಲಾಭ. ಜನ ಊಟ ಹೇಗೆ ಇದ್ರೂ ತಿಂತಾರೆ. ಯಾಕಂದ್ರೆ ರೋಮಾಟಿಕ್ ಮೂಡ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಊಟ ಹೇಗಿದೆ ಅಂತಾನೆ ಮರ್ತು ಬಿಡ್ತಾರೆ ಜನ. ಹಾಗೆ ಕತ್ತಲು ಇರೋದಿಂದ ಊಟಕ್ಕೆ ಹಲ್ಲಿ, ಜಿರಲೆ ಬಿದ್ರು ಜನಕ್ಕೆ ಗೊತ್ತೇ ಆಗಲ್ಲ ನೋಡು. ಬಹುಷ ಅದನ್ನ ತಿಂದೆ ಜನಕ್ಕೆ ರುಚಿ ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಆಗಿರಬೇಕು ಅಂದ್ಕೋತೀನಿ! ಹೋಟೆಲ್-ನವರಿಗೂ ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಹೆಸರು ಬರಲ್ಲ" ಎಂದು ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕ ಉತ್ತರ ನೀಡಿದನು ಗುಂಡ. 

"ಇರ್ಲಿ ಬಿಡಿ ನಿಮಗೆ ಹೇಳೋಕ್ಕೆ ಇಷ್ಟ ಇಲ್ಲ" ಅಂತ ಲಚ್ಚಿ ಮುಖ ತಿರುಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಳು. 

"ಬೇಕಾದ್ರೆ ಕೇಳು ಇಲ್ಲಾಂದ್ರೆ ಬಿಡು. ಕೈಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊಬೈಲ್ ಇದೆ, ಮೊಬೈಲ್ ಒಳಗೆ ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲದ ಕೊಡೆ (ವೈ-ಫೈ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ) ಇದೆ. ಗೂಗಲ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಸರ್ಚ್ ಮಾಡು" ಗುಂಡ ತಲೆ ಚಚ್ಚಿಕೊಂಡು ಕೆಲಸ ಮುಂದುವರೆಸಿದನು.

Jakkur lake birding

January 15th, 2023

Ever since I discovered the front gate, it has got a fan. The rich presence of wetland birds tempts you to visit often. Sometime I feel how lucky are residents nearby. Today evening, I went for brief birding to Jakkur Lake to see if something interesting pops-out.

My sons are having bad cough thanks to bitter winter. The unstoppable cough lasted for couple of days which frightened us to hilt. Today it cooled down a bit. House becomes virtual prison when your loved ones fall ill. You loose passion for life till situation improves. The Makara Sankranthi turned out to be low-key festival this year due to illness. Fortunately kids recuperated today, I decided to have quick ride towards Jakkur lake as refresher. I started early since winter Sun sets early.

Before we get started, here are the pictures of island where avian life is thriving. The water was still, the atmosphere was clear, the reflection was crisp which motivated me to catch few pictures amidst the busy birding activity.

The painted storks were building nest and hence continuously flying along the lake to find the best housing material. This allowed me to capture few in-flight shots clearly. Their heavy flight feels like throttling ceiling fan.

Few painted storks were busy preening

The black crowned nigh heron were idle during evening. Some of them were watching movements of painted stork as not to loose balance while landing on the vegetation.

This pelican was peacefully and patiently preening its body. I termed it "Zen Preening"

The other was landing.

The grey heron took a flight and activity concluded. Hope to visit this idyllic place during early morning hours in coming days.

Till date, I could not capture clearly some of the urban commoners namely cinerous tit, white-eye and yellow billed babbler. There were occasions but I was without camera. Today too I heard white-eye calls but couldn't spot them eventually

Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries

ರೆಡ್ ಸಿಗ್ನಲು ರಿಕ್ಷಾ ಚಾಲಕನ ಬಿಗಿಲು

ಕೊಡಿಗೆಹಳ್ಳಿ ಸಿಗ್ನಲ್ ಬಳಿ ದೀಪ ಹಸಿರು ಬಣ್ಣಕ್ಕೆ ತಿರುಗಲು ಕಾಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ಇನ್ನೂ ೯೦ ಸೆಕಂಡ್ ಬಾಕಿ ಇತ್ತು. ಜನ ಕ್ರಾಸ್ ಮಾಡಲೆಂದೇ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣ ಟ್ರಾಫಿಕ್ ಸ್ಥಬ್ಧವಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಹಿಂಬದಿಯಿಂದ ಒಂದೇ ಸಮನೆ ರಿಕ್ಷಾದವನೊಬ್ಬ ಬಿಗಿಲು ಹಾಕಲು ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿದನು. ನಾನು ಗಮನ ಕೊಡಲಿಲ್ಲ. ನಂತರ ಟಿಪಿಕಲ್ ರಿಕ್ಷಾದವರ ಶೈಲಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒಯ್ ಅಂತಾ ಜೋರಾಗಿ ಚೀರಿದನು. ಸರಿ ಕಣಪ್ಪ ಇವರ ಜೊತೆ ಯಾರು ಗುದ್ದಾಡೋದು ಅಂತಾ ಜಾಗ ಬಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಟ್ಟೆ. ಅವನು ಬಾಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಟವಟ ಅಂದುಕೊಂಡು ಮುಂದೆ ಸಾಗಿದನು. ಏನೋ ಬೈಕೊಂಡಿರೊದಂತೂ ಗ್ಯಾರಂಟಿ. ಪಾಪ ಓಲಾ ಆಟೋ ಇರಬೇಕು ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಅವಸರ ಅಂದುಕೊಂಡೆ.

ಸಿಗ್ನಲ್ ಹಸಿರಾದ ತಕ್ಷಣ ನಾನು ಅವನ ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲೇ ಸಾಗಬೇಕಿತ್ತು. ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ದೂರ ಹೋದ ಬಳಿಕ ಏನಾಶ್ಚರ್ಯ. ಪಾರ್ಟಿ ಬಿಗಿಲು ಹಾಕಿ, ಸಂಚಾರಿ ನಿಯಮ ಮುರಿದು, ಸಾಲದೆಂಬಂತೆ ಬಿಟ್ಟಿಯಾಗಿ ಬೈದು ತದನಂತರ ನೋಡಿದರೆ ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಅಂಗಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚಾ ಕುಡಿಯುತ್ತಾ, ಸಿಗರೇಟು ಸೇದುತ್ತಾ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ಸುಮಾರು ಒಂದೂವರೆ ನಿಮಿಷದಿಂದ ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಇದ್ದಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ಇನ್ನೂ ಹತ್ತು ನಿಮಿಷ ಇವನ ಹರಟೆ ನಡೆಯಬಹುದೇನೋ?  ಬಹುಶಃ ಯಾರೋ ಓಲಾ ಗ್ರಾಹಕರು ರದ್ದು ಮಾಡಿರಬೇಕು ಅಂತಾ ನೀವುಭಾವಿಸಿದರೆ, ಅವನ ರಿಕ್ಷಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಓಲಾ ಮೊಬೈಲ್ ಕಾಣಿಸಲಿಲ್ಲ ಅನ್ನೋದನ್ನ ತಿಳ್ಕೊಳ್ಳಿ.

ಈ ಕ್ಯಾಬ್ ಮತ್ತು ರಿಕ್ಷಾ ಚಾಲಕರೇ ಹೀಗೆ. ಯಾವುದೇ ಸಿಗ್ನಲ್ ಪಾಲಿಸಲು ತಯಾರಿಲ್ಲ. ಟೆಂಪೋ ಟ್ರಾವೆಲರ್ ಗಳಂತೂ ವಿಪರೀತ ಸದ್ದು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅವರ ಬೈಗುಳಗಳು ಎಂತಹವರಿಗೂ ಅಸಹ್ಯ ಬರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ನಮ್ಮಂತವರು ನಿಯಮ ಪಾಲಿಸಿದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ ಅವರ ಬೈಗುಳವನ್ನು ಉಡುಗೊರೆಯಾಗಿ ಪಡೆಯಬೇಕು. ಇವರ ನಿಯಮ ಉಲ್ಲಂಘನೆಗೆ  ಸಂಚಾರಿ ಪೋಲಿಸರು ಕಣ್ಣಿದ್ದು ಕುರುಡಾಗಿ ವರ್ತಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಜಾಗ ಬಿಡುವ ಬದಲು ನಾವು ಕೂಡಾ ಇವರಂತೆ  ಉಲ್ಲಂಘನೆ ಮಾಡಿದರೆ ಪೊಲೀಸರು ಅಲ್ಲೇ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಹಿಡಿಯುವುದು ಖಚಿತ!

Western Ghats of Kottigehara on clear day

It is no surprise that Charmadi Ghat enamours the travelers along its stretch during monsoon season. You will see zillion videos flying around social apps to portray the beauty of charming rainforest. But, here is a different look on a clear morning. The sky above the rainforest is crystal clear due to pleasing AQI thanks to the diverse fauna covering region. We had an opportunity to photograph the early morning scenes of Charmadi Ghat during our year-end drive towards native.

Our travel to native started with early morning drive from Bangalore. We reached kottigehara at 8:30AM which was nearly breakfast time. The late sunrise of winter shed magical light on hills and thus providing us a chance to photograph. Unaware of open eateries during early hours, we had packed our breakfast from home thanks to diligent work of my better half. This enabled me to shoot some pictures of sun light cutting through hills while having breakfast open.

Once breakfast concluded, the drive further West opened up majestic views of ghat lit by gentle sun. The car was ambling through the path of rainforest to rejoice the glory of nature. Every bend was worth cherishing! The atmosphere was haze-free crystal clear. Thanks to absence of  cirrus clouds, the rainforest was glowing from the fitting sunlight which was neither dull nor harsh. The morning had cleared the fog which was booster for taking photographs. The greens were shimmering, the sky was flaunting its blue, the birds were chirping, the wind was gentle. The infinite horizon seemed finite with clear view as if someone had recently wiped the sky with clean clothes. The layered hills draped in green, ornate with morning light and the crest of hills were glowing with amber hue.

Clean air, thin light, clear skies and charming nature over Western ghats of kottigehara. Heard calls of yellow browed bulbul, vernal hanging parrots, hill myna and rufous babbler throughout descension. The seasonal waterfalls were on the brink of pausing till next monsoon season. Some of which were partially alive were occupied by truck drivers and travelers. Can't wait to welcome monsoon season to revive the mood of rainforest! Till then, hope you enjoy the crystal scenes!

On return journey, I caught this picture and termed it as "Silence of Rainforest". There was traffic snag in between the ghats. While the wagons were honking to move forward, the rainforest was silently watching the urbanization grow. May be it does not know to express the ignorance of humans for not interpreting nature's lessons. Even if humans do not internalize the lessons of nature, the nature continues to teach them. Perhaps, it would be too late for us when final lessons are delivered.