Last week of 2022 was declared holiday for kids which drove us to native to escape from biting cold of Bangalore and enjoy warm weather of coast. It was indeed warm like summer. But the enjoyment plans were obstructed by illness of kids. Consequently, wandering was impossible which restricted our stays to indoors and get my tele-lens to work. Luckily, I was aptly rewarded for my patience through birding and memories were etched. I have split them to two, one from Padur and from Hosaadu. Hope you enjoy these tiny series.
Before we begin, a flock of jungle myna was seen perched on summit of casuarina tree which cpativated me to grab a photograph. This was shot near Kottigehara while we were having breakfast.
Lets move forward to our village.
Few vernal hanging parrots are still hanging around our village. They should have cleared the territory by now. Not sure the reason of staying back, perhaps permanent residence?
The biggest disappointment was when the Malabar pied hornbill and Grey junglefowl escaped from my sight during evening of landing day. While I exuberantly caught the grey junglefowl next day, I could only hear malabar pied honrbill calls. Lets begin the series keeping aside annoyance
The commoner Oriental Magpie Robin was trying to locate source of shutter noise. Not difficult bird to capture. Hope you enjoy!
The backyard is full of tiny birds. The tailor bird comes daily to grab its meal. I caught it while having worm in its mouth.
Many tiny birds frequently visit our backyard but my camera focusing speed cannot match their swiftness. When green warbler stayed still for a while, I could capture neat photos. The end result was utterly disappointing thanks to sensor exposure which was set to -1EV. This setting was not enough to expose bird clearly during evening. Here is record shot!
The ultimate reward during the visit were these Red Spurfowl and Grey Junglefowl. The post is written in a separate page. Do have look here! Couple of pictures of Red spurfowl and grey junglefowl respectively!
Chestnut tailed starlings are plenty in number here. Here is one shot
While shooting birds, this interesting guy showed up while having berries early morning.
Glorious nature to compliment the exciting bird walk. It was humid with occasional clouds streaming from east. I was fully wet with sweat. But the excitement of capturing bird photos heals the fatigue. Even though many of them could not be captured, I revisited most of birds through their calls. Only bird I missed was rufous woodpecker. Hopefully, its still residing nearby
Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries
Visiting native has been infrequent nowadays owing to kids school and back to office protocols. Last week of 2022 was declared holiday for school kids and native visit was planned. Time to check the birds after long time in our village.
The first day, I missed both malabar pied hornbill and grey junglefowl. It was almost dusk and capturing them at low-light was difficult task.
The actual happiness arrived on 3rd day when my stealth, perspiration and patience of 2 years capturing junglefowl paid off. Both the grey junglefowl and red spurfowl were captured cleanly in my camera 😎.
My plan was to trace flame throated and grey headed bulbul calls which I heard throughout the day. While the flame throated hid under canopy, the grey headed bulbul was inside deep forest without trail. I was disappointed to the core when I missed golden fronted leafbird shot. Instead of returning back to home, I decided to walk to the field near canal to see if any hints of junglefowl could be seen. That was great decision indeed. I walked in stealth slowly and captured red spurfowl. The bird was quick enough to notice me and escaped into the canopy soon! Here are complete set of pictures to honor the bird's trust :-)
The grey junglefowl was behind peacock which consequently did not notice my move. I stood below a shadow camouflaging myself to deceive the bird and took some shots. They came out clean. I moved a little closer and captured few more pictures. By that time, bird noticed me and ran away towards canopy. Here are pictures with bright sunlight striking the bird
By the way, both the fowls were digging and probing the abandoned field for something. Were they laying eggs or finding food. If they were eggs, what has it got to do with male junglefowl :-). The inquisitiveness still hangs on my mind. Meanwhile, both serendipitous spottings were the most rewarding one of the day.
Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries
ಅಜ್ಜ ಮತ್ತು ಮೊಮ್ಮಗನ ಹರಟೆ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಮೊಬೈಲ್ ಮುಟ್ಟಿದಕ್ಕೆ ಅಮ್ಮ ಹೊಡೆದಳು ಅಂತಾ ಮೊಮ್ಮಗ ತುಂಬಾ ಕೋಪಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದ. ಅವನ ಸಮಾಧಾನಿಸಲು ಅಜ್ಜನ ಮಾತುಗಳು ಹೀಗೆ ಶುರುವಾದವು.
"ಪ್ರಿಯ ಮೊಮ್ಮಗನೇ! ದೊಡ್ಡವನಾದ ಮೇಲೆ ನಿನಗೆ ನಾನು ಕೊಡಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ ಮೊಬೈಲ್. ಯಾವುದು ಬೇಕು ನಿನಗೆ ಆಂಡ್ರ್ಯಾಯ್ಡ್ ಆಗಬಹುದಾ ಅಥವಾ ಬೇರೇನಾ?" ಎಂದು ಅಜ್ಜ ಮೊಮ್ಮಗನನ್ನು ಸಮಾಧಾನಿಸಲು ಕೇಳಿದರು.
ಮೊಮ್ಮಗ ಯೋಚಿಸುತ್ತಾ.. "ನನಗ್ ಐ-ಫೋನ್ ಬೇಕು ಅಜ್ಜ" ಎಂದಾಗ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗು ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯ. ಇವನಿಗೆ ಐ-ಫೋನ್ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಯಾರು ತಿಳಿಸಿದ್ದು ಅಂತಾ ಅಮ್ಮನಿಗೆ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯವಾಯಿತು.
"ನಿನ್ನ ಅಜ್ಜಿ ಬಳಿ ಇರುವ ಬಟನ್ ಫೋನ್ ಇನ್ನು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿದೆ ಪುಟ್ಟಾ" ಎಂದು ಅಜ್ಜ ಜಾರಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ನೋಡಿದರು.
While travelling towards Udupi via Charmadi Ghat, one of prime attraction/stoppage worthy location is guruvayanakere lake. The narrow road covering the periphery of lake has limited area to park car which would otherwise result in traffic congestion on busy highway. The best portion of lake to park is the area just after exit of town towards Karkala. There may be other parts of lake also where one can conveniently explore the lake which I am not aware. We parked the car at vacant space near town and took few pictures.
The lake entices me every time I cut through it. Today the sky was clear and the green lake provided fantastic tonal contrast to picture the landscape. The Sun was just behind us which means no harsh light. I captured few shots before winding up our quick stop.
My wife captured these while I momentarily stopped car with engine ON. They too came good, in fact better than mine :-)
Being fresh water lake bounded by dense vegetation, the place for sure thriving with avian creatures perhaps even western ghat endemics. Hope to explore the lake thoroughly some day.
The road past the Guruvayanakere town which was under construction is also completed and neatly executed!
ಬೆಟ್ಟ ಹತ್ತಿ ಸುಸ್ತಾಗಿ ನೀರೆಲ್ಲಾ ಖಾಲಿಯಾಯಿತು. ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೂ ಬಾಯಾರಿಕೆ ತಡೆಯಲಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ.
"ಮೂರು ಲೀಟರ್ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದೆ ಅಲ್ವೇನೆ, ನೋಡಿಗಾ ಏನಾಯ್ತು. ಅಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೂ ಬ್ಯಾಗಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರ ಹೋರುವವನು ನಾನು ಜೊತೆಗೆ ದೂರದಿಂದ ಸಾಗಿಸೋದು ಕಾರು. ಸುಮ್ನೆ ಮೂರು ಲೀಟರ್ ತರಲಿಕ್ಕೆ ಏನು ನಿಂಗೆ" ಅಂತಾ ಗುಂಡ ಗೋಗರೆದನು.
"ಸಾಕು ಸುಮ್ನಿರಿ, ೨.೫ ಲೀಟರ್ ತಂದಿದ್ದೆ ಇಬ್ರಿಗೂ ಬೇಸರ ಬೇಡಂತಾ. ಅಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೂ ಹೇಳಿದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಜಾಸ್ತಿನೇ ತಂದಿದ್ದೀನಿ! ಇಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಖಾಲಿ ಆಗುತ್ತೆ ಅಂತಾ ನನಗೇನು ಗೊತ್ತು. ನೀವು ಅಂದಾಜು ಬದಲು ಇಷ್ಟೇ ಖರ್ಚು ಆಗುತ್ತೆ ಅಂತಾ ನಿಖರವಾಗಿ ಹೇಳಿದ್ರೆ ಇಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲಾ ಶಾರ್ಟೇಜ್ ಬರ್ತಾ ಇರ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದಿಕ್ಕೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡ್ಬೇಕಾದ್ರೆ ಅಂದಾಜು ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಹೇಳ್ಬಾರ್ದು ಅನ್ನೋದು" ಅಂತಾ ನಿಂಗಿ ಗುಂಡನಿಗೆ ಬುದ್ಧಿವಾದ ಹೇಳಿ ಮೆಲ್ಲನೆ ಜಾರಿಕೊಂಡಳು
ಗುಂಡ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯದಿಂದ, "ಎಲಾ ಇವಳಾ! ಅಲ್ವೇ ನೀನೇ ಅಂದಾಜು ಕೇಳಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಾ! ನೀವು ಹೆಂಗಸರು ಸುಮ್ನೆ ಕಾಟಾಚಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರಪಂಚದ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಕೇಳಿ ಕೊನೆಗೆ ನಿಮ್ದೇ ದಾರೀಲಿ ನಡೆಯೋದು ಬಿಡು" ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂಗಿ ಸಿಡಿಮಿಡಿಗೊಂಡಳು.
"ಏನೀವಾಗ ನಾನು ತಪ್ಪು ಮಾಡಿದ್ನ, ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಪಕ್ಕದ ಅಂಗಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಿನರಲ್ ವಾಟರ್ ತಗೊಳ್ಳಿ. ಅಷ್ಟು ಸಾಲಲ್ಲ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ತಾಜಾ ಕಬ್ಬಿಣ ಹಾಲು ಇದೆ, ಎಳನೀರು ಇದೆ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಕಲ್ಲಂಗಡಿ ಹಣ್ಣು ಕೂಡಾ ಇದೆ. ತಗೊಂಡ್ರೆ ಪಾಪ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯವರಿಗೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ ಆಗುತ್ತೆ. ನಡು ಬೀದಿಲಿ ಸುಮ್ನೆ ಯಾಕೆ ರಾದ್ಧಾಂತ ಮಾಡಿ ನನಗೆ ಅವಮಾನ ಮಾಡ್ತೀರಾ" ಅಂತಾ ನಿಂಗಿ ಗುಂಡನ ಮೇಲೆ ಗೂಬೆ ಕೂರಿಸಿದಳು.
ಗುಂಡನೋ, ತೆಪ್ಪಗೆ ಅಂಗಡಿಯ ಬಳಿ ತೆರಳಿದನು. ಅವಮಾನ ಇವನಿಗೆ ಆಯಿತೋ ಅಥವಾ ಅವಳಿಗೆ ಆಯಿತೋ ತಿಳಿಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಒಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ೨೦೦ ರೂಪಾಯಿ ಜೇಬಿನಿಂದ ಹರಿದು ಹೋಗಿದ್ದು ಮಾತ್ರ ನಿಜ.
The winter solstice is almost here. We are expecting longer and warmer days. But in India, the peak of winter is felt in the coming months i.e. January and February. It is expected to be severe and longer (extending till March) thanks to prolonged rainy season. Let's see how this winter season pans out.
Weather has been quirky over Bangalore. Back to back cyclone over the City is storming clouds all over the city rendering it dark for days. Constant whirls over the bay waters is resulting in annoying weather over the city. The gloomy weather is chilling the city and thus creating lousy environment. It feels frozen with temperature feel of 12c even though actual mercury is at 17c. With protracted absence of sun, cityzens were desperate to witness the sun god sooner. It was delight when sun shone brightly nearly after a week. Even though the cyclone did zero damage on city, the drizzle all through day was dreadful. The positive part of constant rains is improved AQI which was below 50. The worst part was during Cyclone Mandous timeframe when sun struggled to peep out through cloud barrier.
Nearly week after Mandous dissipated, the clear skies returned and winter mood is back in city. Today evening was a surprise again. This bizarre weather seems eternal. Even though the clouds were scattered, this setup foretells upcoming weather pattern. Something is brewing up over the bay to influence yet another wet weather over the region. Eventually, nature is the decider! We do not until last moment where the storm headed. Instead of pondering on uncontrolled patterns, lets enjoy what has nature given us today.
While walking around the promenade of Amruthahalli Lake, we witnessed crepuscular rays thanks to scattered clouds beneath Sun.
Soon the sky turned stylish thanks to fluffy clouds adorning the sky. The sparse clouds were illuminated by evening sun and thus painting the sky with dramatic colours.
The clouds are back and there is prediction of lousy weather making a comeback. Need to watch further. Nature is such vague entity and a unpredictable realm. Anyway, for now enjoy the stylish sky backed by golden light of Sun. Such scenes transform urban land to fairy land
Timelapse something I missed today. Gazing at the patterns in sky, I yearned for colourful timelapse atop the apartment terrace. Finally, I was contented to witness the saga of colourful clouds in pictures
Tree vs Concretree. Who will win the battle in city?
The trees are shivering to survive here in city with unscheduled date of beheading. The mute living beings are obliterated by intelligent humans. The nature is also not quiet. Nature comes back with befitting reply to balance the environment. May be it is unprecedented cyclones, changing weather, it slowly trying to auto-correct the mess of human civilization. However we fail to understand this behaviour of nature. Unless we realize and internalize the cause of this quirky patterns, the nature will constantly bombard us with surprising weather patterns!
While well marked low pressure was on rampage mode in TamilNadu, it created freezing weather in Bangalore with Sun barely making out. Consistent drizzles rendered city weather lousy. The city MET department measured 22C maximum which is kind of unusual nipping weather. The vagaries of weather is unpredictable. Our plan was to hike Kethanahalli falls near chikkaballapura today but the unusual weather threatened to thwart it. It is difficult to break the inertia during overwhelmingly chilly, gloomy and drizzly weather. However, we made our mind firm and decided go for it!
Kethanahalli falls has been recently in news by the explorers as one of the best weekend getaway near Bangalore. Perhaps unprecedented rains in Chikkaballapura region from past 3 years would have rejuvenated the waterfall. The vigorous monsoon spells would have given rebirth to this forgotten beauty. The name Kethanahalli falls is derived from the village nearby. The waterfall is also known as Vivekananda falls but the reason behind it is unknown. Perhaps the secluded, serene and divine location gives it name as our divine monk Swami Vivekananda. Being separated from civilization, lying in middle of dense forest, the place is also ideal for meditation. Let me give you a preview of this place!
We started drive around 10:40AM and sailed along the Hyderabad highway for an hour. From Hyderabad highway, we took deviation as indicated by maps. The roads were not in good condition. At some places, there were monster potholes and at some places, the concrete roads were not enough to negotiate opposing four wheelers. The village road just before deviation were under construction and perhaps stalled from long time. The ballast was strewed all along rendering the road skiddy. But there were positives as well! We cut to through grape and colourful flower plantations spread throughout the route. The gloomy weather was offset by nature all along route.
Finally, we reached the village around 12PM. There was confusion as which deviation to take (see route section for details). One of villager clearly guided us to take the deviation right after village which leads to parking lot. The mud road is narrow which means hardly two cars can pass simultaneously in opposite direction. At few places, its hard even for single way car drive. It was 1km of bumpy drive on mud road which led us to unofficial parking lot. One of the villager claiming to be owner of parking property collects Rs.50/- and we had to give inevitably shelled out without arguing. Here are some views from nearby.
It was mesmerizing to behold the beauty of nature surrounding the parking lot. The cloud kissed mighty hills, the lush green farm lands and cool breeze, what is more needed to welcome to nature's kingdom. That awesomeness of road cutting through the hills was stunning sight to behold! I was engrossed in nature gazing for a while before we embarked the trek. One can experience both countryside and hillside vibes together. Those infinitely woven mountains, farmland nestled between hills were treat to eyes.
Amidst the drizzle, we began our hike. The initial trail is flat but as hike progresses, the trail gets bit complicated. The trail later is sort of downhill and uphill. Magnitude of stress was thawed by plenitude of nature beauty. Some part of trail is collapsed owing to heavy rains in recent past!
The waterfall is clearly visible just few minutes from the outset of trail. That impression of beauty gravitates you to reach the finishing lane despite challenging trails at times. Do you see the white spot in picture? That is the waterfall! Note, this was just beginning, there is almost 1+ km to trek further!
But for now, its a distant dream which will manifest once trek pans out!
The final patch is steep downhill to reach waterfall. At many places, trail is collapsed and negotiating the path was turning difficult. Few trail will make your hair stand on the end. We walked slowly over the trail which seemed slippery or risky to handle. At places, the boulders need to be crossed which was challenge amidst rain. Fortunately, barring initial trouble, the rain gods did not bother us thereafter. It was incredible experience amidst the cloud kissed hills and overcast chilly weather. The chillness vanished after arduous hike. Couple of cascades which look like tiny waterfalls are refreshers amidst the hike to ward off fatigue and perspiration! Do watch video to feel the coolness of cascades!
The jungle is dense and perhaps may host wild animals like bear or leopard. So I suggest not too hike in small numbers. Better to group minimum 4 people and plan the visit. The trail is rugged at places and narrow at some. The uneven strewn rocks makes it difficult at times to hike. It may be risky to negotiate boulders when it rains. Lot of attention is needed so that you don't twist ankle.
The last part is upheaval uphill task. An abrupt steep mountain coupled with troublesome slippery path makes it difficult to balance unless you have good shoes. That last trail was damn steep (perhaps 60 degrees). One faulty move, would land you in trouble.
The trail later gets flat and the first close sight of waterfall greets you! What a wonderful nature. All our stress and confusion vanished.
The down-trek further for few meters led us to base of falls. That was energetic and soothing. Aha! We finally pulled it off and its time now to explore.
The waterfall is surrounded by dense jungles and vibrant hills. The plunge was relatively powerful. Enthusiastic swimmers were engaged in enjoying the energetic massage standing beneath the waterfall. The pond at the base of waterfall is not deep. Hence it is possible for non-swimmers too to try and get near the plunge point (Just my assumption. Discretion is needed). There is also second plunge following main waterfall. Not sure if this can be reached from primary. It seems to be risky. But one can view the second waterfall part of the primary cascade while hiking.
Before concluding, I hiked to top of waterfall and took few pictures. Even this viewpoint is worth the hike and scenes are breathtaking. It is possible to clearly view plunge from top. More clips in our video at the end. Do wa
Lets dive into few technical details of waterfall. This a cascade waterfall. There are tiny cascades atop waterfall which dives into the pool through primary plunge. Actually there is also a fork which is narrow one besides the primary plunge. The water from primary plunge flows into stream which again forks into secondary plunge. One of the secondary plunge is stronger but difficult to reach. The other fork is tiny and can be viewed after a brief walk over the rocky surface. We can distantly view second cascade from the trail.
After successful visit, the mind was calm and rebooted. That happiness was clearly seen on our return journey. We took only 40mins during return path and hardly felt exhausted.
Conclusion:
Despite the trudge and soggy weather, Kethanahalli Waterfall was worth visiting. Just few meters into the hike, the waterfall becomes clearly visible. The waterfall was palpable when we viewed it from distance. We almost felt as we made it. The sight of waterfall from distance can anyone lure to cross all the hurdles & pain to view it tangibly. Fortuitously, the weather barring initial light rains, did not bother throughout the trek & stay. We felt that weather positively joined hands with us to relish the natural beauty! Moreover, I always believe that the nature hikes are most rewarding regardless of minor hurdles. They unwind your soul and burn bad calories!
Route:
Here is map to reach the private parking arena: https://goo.gl/maps/1mPB8gfTSk3xGvcG9
The one shown by google maps was steep mud road from road level and we hesitated to take that path. Finally the decision was to seek help of villagers than guessing the right path.
We asked 3 villagers about the deviation to take. First villager said he is not aware of falls. "Illi yenadru falls idya sir. Nange gothirlilla!" (Is there any falls nearby Sir, even I was not aware!) he uttered in Kannada. I was startled for a moment if we reached right place. Then with further inquiry, I came to know that he is native of Chikkaballapura and not village. Sigh of relief!
One of bike group was also on the way to falls but they too were not aware of right path. We inquired second villager who clearly guided us to take deviation near crusher factory. Innocent guy was asking if are going to Jog Falls, that was humorous. Villagers term falls as Jog falls generally. So not be confused. On further drive, the person near crusher factory said to take nearby deviation. Unfortunately, on reaching deviation, we realized that it was only possible for two wheeler to drive through the road. Negotiating small road was not possible in four wheeler.
Inevitable, we decided to take the one shown by Google maps. Before that decided to ask final time with villagers. The tractor driver was the one who guided us to take deviation right after village nearby water-tank meant for cattle (perhaps). "Ooru aagida takshna ondu neerina thotti ide. Alle pakka iro road alli 1km hogi parking jaaga siguthe" (Just after village, there is a road beside water tank. Take that road to reach parking lot), he guided positively. This deviation is just before the one shown by google maps. I had seen that deviation initially which was right after village boundary. We reversed path again and drove through the mud road as indicated by 3rd villager. This was the right path eventually! While driving on this road, we frequently inquired villagers to ascertain that we were on right path. 1km drive, we reached parking area and thus clearing initial hurdle.
From main road, its around 1km drive along mud road. If you get lost, have below picture handy. There are couple of tanks (perhaps for cattle) as reference points.
I got information that the trail near crusher factory is the best. You need to park vehicle on roadside and later walk over the trail for 2km. This trail seems to be flat and not strenuous. If you are biker, then you can reduce the walk distance to perhaps 1-1.5km. But I am not sure if you can feel the trek vibes or even enjoy intermittent cascades. If you are OK with strenuous hike, then take the one I have mentioned above!
Few take away from our hike:
Start early. Do not wait till mid-day. The forest is relatively dense and hence plan to return by noon or max by 4PM
Unlike the waterfalls of Western Ghats (like Arashinagundi) which remains in twilight zone till you reach closer, this waterfall exposes shortly while strolling through trail. The trail is not flat but mix of downhill and uphill. The uphill at times is steep and slippery.
It is around 1.5kms trek (measured with smart watch). This is the path in google maps if you are planning by car.
Forest guards may enter surprisingly and warn or disallow you. They created confusion in our minds as well while return, but we clearly said that we had no idea. They say that the area is owned by forest department and parking lot is not owned by farmer. Ironically, farm land is situated near by parking area. How did reserve forest allow farming activities?
Wear a good pair of shoes including for children also. It helps in wet weather, slippery mud along trail and smooth rock surfaces near waterfall
Visit just after winter sets in. Avoid thunderstorm days when weather pattern is unpredictable. It can pour cats & dogs. Contrastingly, the waterfall may not have much glory if the region did not receive copious rains during monsoon season. You may end up in trouble in former case or disappointment in latter case. Watch MET news before travelling.
Couple of cascades en-route to waterfall are manageable. But the torrents may be unbearable if it rains heavily. Avoid days close to heavy rainfall. Again watch out for rainfall reports from MET department
Most importantly, do not litter please. This is a remote area and no administration would take responsibility to clean the area.
