05 March 2023
Yelahanka Puttenahalli lake situated in North of Bengaluru has been declared as Bird Reserve and is one of the prime hotspots for bird enthusiasts. The lake is not that vast but ecology is well supported to accommodate aquatic and wetland birds. My last visit did not fare well primarily due to misguided navigation.
Today the visit was perfect and entry was on right spot. The initial walk over the lake path gives a forest impression. The dead leaves were strewed all over the path, nearly zero walkers. Only fear was surprise vipers which park under the dried leaves. Here is my first look.
The lake has couple of islands where birds can thrive without human disturbance. It also has established sewage treatment plant to maintain sanity of lake.
The first bird to be spotted was the grey heron. They are plenty in number and easy to photograph.
The next generation is lined up
Moving on, the next bird is the great cormorants resting over stone cluster. Every time I spot them, the birds are perched at distance. On this occasion, the bird was relatively closer but not close-up.
Couple of bird cabins are setup for bird watchers. They are useful to capture shy-birds. The walk path is well maintained except for last patch which is rugged or rather natural. Its better to leave them natural.
The Puttenahalli lake is shallow at west end and downstream flows to Yelahanka lake and further to Jakkur lake. Some views from intermediate view point
The painted storks were busy wading through the shallow part of lake. The couple seem to have disturbed by my presence and were contemplating whether to resume hunting or watch over me. When I moved forward, they resumed hunting!
I walked till the end of lake where sewage was channeled to treatment plant.
The neighboring field hosted pied bushchat perched on the fence. Since the capture was against the Sun, the picture is average
On the way back, this cinereous tit posed for a while. The final image did not turn out well thanks to poor light and skittish bird. I still do not have clear image of this bird till date. Hope to succeed soon!
While concluding the walk, I chit-chatted with fellow bird enthusiast who lives nearby. He asked me to visit during core winter to spot migrants. We shared our expeditions and interests before parting ways.
Overall a great place for bird enthusiasts and walkers. Since place is exclusively meant for bird conservation, no recreation facilities are constructed. Hence children may get bored here.
What I missed to capture:
The white beauty Indian Paradise Flycatcher was a surprise in Bengaluru. The bird was enjoying evening dip with its signature voice. It hid behind entwined foliage which made difficult to focus. Soon the bird would leave towards North India concluding its winter migration.
The white eyes were missed yet again. I saw them, heard them but its agility is unmatched.
I did not capture the egrets, heron, black-headed ibises and white-browed wagtails.
Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries
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