The smiling faces of my friend, Linda, and her maid, Mary, greeted me at Linda’s door on Wednesday, November 22. The design on the doorstep is the beautiful rangoli that Mary made to welcome me to India.
My first two flights had been rescheduled, but, miraculously, I made my originally scheduled flight from Doha to Bangalore and arrived at 2:30 AM after leaving home almost two days earlier. My bags did not fare so well. However, my binoculars and camera were in my carry-on bag, so we went birding in Linda’s neighborhood. I got a life bird on that first day, a Brahminy Kite. I was so excited and I would soon learn that these gorgeous birds are everywhere in this part of India.
In the area south of Bangalore where Linda lives, birding is mostly on trails around lakes. The day after my arrival, we went to Saul Kere (kere means lake), perhaps the most popular nearby birding hotspot. It was Thanksgiving and I had much to be grateful for – being in India with Linda, getting my luggage back, and my lifer Spot-billed Pelican and White-cheeked Barbet.
I had seen Asian Green Bee-eater twice on my trip to India in 2014, but I didn’t really remember. On this trip, we saw them a dozen times and they were some of the most cooperative birds for photos. I don’t think that I will forget these charming little birds now!
On Friday, we went to another close by lake, Muthanallur Kere. One of my life birds here was the secretive Blue-faced Malkoha pictured below. Many of the birds in India were challenging (or impossible) to see well. One reason is that there are no bird feeders or blinds where skulky birds are fed as in South America or other parts of Asia. We were told that bird feeding is illegal in India, but I could not verify that information.
Below, the temple at Muthanallur Kere. Temples are everywhere in India, many similar to this one and many much smaller. This temple is on the edge of the lake near agricultural fields, a quiet and meditative location.
On Saturday morning, I walked to Linda’s lake by myself early in the morning. I was happy with my life bird of the day, a Small Minivet (photo below). Linda was happy for me and also happy to have a new bird for her Nature in Bellezea iNaturalist project.
We spent most of the day enjoying the celebration of Karnataka Rajyotsava (also known as Karnataka State Day). So much fun!
The next day was our eagerly anticipated trip to the Valley School, perhaps the most popular birding hotspot in Bangalore. The only way to get in is with the local birding group and Linda had signed us up far in advance. I really enjoyed meeting Linda’s Indian birding friends, but the actual birding was slightly disappointing to me. Someone said that it didn’t seem as birdy as usual, but it could also have been that I just missed too many birds. I got great looks at the Yellow-billed Babblers, though, life birds for me along with a Spot-breasted Fantail.
Bats and beer ended our day on Sunday at Forty Six Ounces, a micro-brewery in Electronic City, Bangalore. It was amazing to watch 25-30 Black Kites swirling overhead as Indian Flying Foxes slowly replaced them in the night sky. I enjoyed one of the few beers that I drank during my trip, the lovely outdoor dinner, the perfect weather, and Linda’s and Jim’s company.
On Monday, we went to another close by lake, Huskur Kere, where I got another life bird, Jerdon’s Bushlark. Linda spotted the bird that she had learned on an earlier trip here with the nature/birding group. I would have either missed it entirely or not recognized it.
There were always goats at Huskur Kere!
Linda did a great job planning our time during my trip. The first week was perfect to give me an introduction to the area where she lives and get over jet lag. The next day we would leave for Mysore and part two of our adventure – a week in Coorg with the amazing guide, Bopanna Pattada. So, on Tuesday, November 28, we just birded around Linda’s housing community, Nambiar Bellezea, and the adjacent lake. Yet I still got life birds that day as I had every day so far. Below, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, one of my 16 life birds that week.
Linda and I both love all living things and we had fun seeing and photographing lizards, butterflies, and all the other creatures that we could find. Below, two common species in Linda’s community, an Oriental Garden Lizard and an Angled Castor butterfly.
Watch for part 2 when we will have a wonderful adventure and see many endemic birds of the western ghats.
Leave a comment