K B Srinivas

I had to go to Bellary on a personal trip on Dec 15 for the weekend. Since I had sometime I decided to do my first birding in Bellary.

Thanks to Arun sir and Nagaraj sir for mentioning good birding spots around Bellary. I had also planned to do some birding in my Village called Sindhigeri which is about 25kms from Bellary.

I have been in Bellary for about 22 years but never realised there were so many different bird species there. Even in my village too. I think schools around Bellary can help kids in this aspect. Some field trips will definitely help.

On 15'th morning I went to my village. Did not get any time till evening to go out for birding. There was a new lake which has been created to fix the water problem of our village and few other surrounding villages. Its a very good project which solves the water problem of around 8-9 villages.

At around 4PM I went near the lake and I was amazed to see so many birds there. My nephew was my guide there:-) I saw lot of Spot Billed ducks, Kingfishers, coots, Egrets, Munias and Larks. I was also lucky to see a Grey Wagtail there. There are 2 lakes adjacent to each other. One lake is not fenced which can be accessed by village people for there daily chores. Even this had good number of birds. But the other lake which is completely fenced had atleast 200+ water birds. I knew the person who was incharge there and he agreed to allow me inside the lake to photograph few birds. I was amazed to see at the numbers. Most of the them I could not identify:-( But I did get some good shots of Pied Kingfisher atlast. Returned to Bellary as a very happy person.

The next morning woke up early and started towards HLC on Moka road. This spot which was suggested by Arun sir and Nagaraj sir. They were very right. When I reached early in the morning, I could see and hear so many birds there. People movement on the road next to the HLC is not much which helps. And the paddy fields next to the HLC also supports lot of birds. I saw lot of lapwings and Sandpipers in these fields.

Saw lot of Munias, Warblers, Lapwings and Sandpipers. Also on the way I saw a Shikra and a Kestrel. There were few raptors which were hovering but could not photograph them. A lone Spotted owl was also seen which did not mind my presence there. But the one I enjoyed the most was the sighting of a "Bluethroat". I had never see this bird before. I could not get a very good photograph but was very happy to see this fellow. There were 2 of them.

On the way I stopped at Moka Water reservoir. This was my first visit to the reservoir. Its huge but I could not see much birds since it was already 12 and it was very hot.

I decided to head back to Bangalore and came back to my Bike and tried starting it but it wouldnt start. I did not know what was the problem. I did not have any tools to check. I had to push the bike for about 1-2KM's. Couple of people near a camp tried to help but nothing worked. I had to hire a carriage-auto to tow my bike. It was an eventful sunday which I will not forget for a while. It was all worth it. I saw my first "Neelakanta":-)

Below are the list of birds seen during the trip.

1. Pied Bushchat
2. Indian Robin
3. Green Bea Eater
4. Purple Rumped Sunbird
5. Purple Sunbird
6. Paddyfield Pippit
7. Indian Roller
8. White Throated Kingfisher
9. Pied Kingfisher
10. Indian Cormorant
11. Great Coromorant
12. Cattle Egret
13. Little Egret
14. Bay Backed Shrike
15. Long Tailed Shrike
16. White Browed Wagtail
17. Grey Wagtail
19. Ashy Prinia
20. Plain Prinia
21. Large Grey Babbler
22. Yellow Billed Babbler
23. Red Rumped Swallow
24. Black Drongo
25. Sparrow
26. Rose Ringed Parakeet
27. Common Myna
28. Crow
29. Pond Heron
30. Purple Heron
31. Scaly Breasted Munia
32. Black Headed Munia
33. Indian Silvebill
34. Red Wattled Lapwing
35. Black Headed Ibis
36. White Cheeked Barbet
37. Red Vented Bulbul
38. Spotted Dove
39. Laughing Dove
40. Black Kite
41. Brahminy Kite
42. Ashy Crowned Sparrow Lark
43. Common Tailor bird
44. Rock Pigeon
45. Rosy Starling
46. Common Sandiper
47. Green Sandpiper
48. Wood Sandpiper
49. Bluethroat
50. Spotted Owl
51. Zitting Cisticola
52. Rufuous Tailed Lark

Grey Wagtail

Scaly Breasted Munia

Common Sandpiper

Purple Sunbird

Pond Heron

Laughing Dove

Some kind of Pipit. It was big. ID please?

Ashy Crowned Sparrow Lark(Female)

Purple Rumped Sunbird

Plain Prinia

Plain Tiger

Black Winged Stilt

Spot Billed Duck(Duckling)

River Tern

Black Winged Stilt

Pied Kingfisher

Green Bea Eater

Egrets

Rufuous Tailed Lark

White Throated Kingfisher

Spotted Owl

Zitting Cisticola

Plain Prinia

Warbler ID please?

I see these regularly there. What are they?

ID Please?

Black Headed Munia

Bluethroat

Indian Silverbill

Plain Prinia

I had not seen any Harriers before. Since few Harriers were reported from Hesarghatta area I thought of visiting the place. I planned it for this weekend. Started very early from my house at around 5AM and reached the place by 6:30AM. The weather was very chilly. I wish I had taken my Glouse along with my Jacket. There was thick fog all along the way.

There were already couple of cars by the time reached. They were getting ready and waiting for Birds arrival. I started slowly by visiting the small pond to check if there were any Sandpipers which I had seen in my last. I did see a lone Sandpiper which was having busy trying to find its food. I left him alone and started going slowly on the mud road.

Along the way I heard lot of Munia calls. I stopped my bike and started walking towards the call. I found lot of Silverbills moving in a grou, there were atleast 30 of them gorging. I had never taken a good photograph of a Silverbill this time I was lucky and some good shots. After sometime I went ahead and spotted a Pippit and an Indian Roller. Got some very good shots of Indian Roller for the first time. I always wanted to take a photograph of an Indian Roller Take-off even this time around I failed to take one:-( Maybe next time.

On the grass I saw lot of small Spider webs. With lot of fog around, the web had lot of small water droplets which looked like beautiful pearls. These spiders weave their webs between the grasses. And lot of cars just drive over these grasses without seeing any of these. Lot of birds come here to feed on insects just like these spiders. If there are no insects then soon there will be no Raptors for which most of us go there.

Along the mud road I spotted atleast 6 Grey Francolins not together but in pairs at different times. It was amazing to see them. This is just the third time I had seen these birds.

In my last trip I had seen lot of raptors but this time they were very low in number. I just saw a Common Kestrel, a Harrier and Kites. Probably I did not watch the birds closely which were flying very high over the poultry farm. Also my identifying skills of Raptors is bird. I'm still learning. I did not see any kestrel perching. But did see them hovering and pouncing onto their pry, what a beautiful sight:-)

There were around 4-5 cars standing at some spot away from the mud road spot. Looking at them I thought they should have found some raptor. I stopped my bike and started walking towards that group. On reaching there I did see a raptor which was wondering why every were staring at him/her. Later on enquiry I was told it a was a Harrier, my first sighting:-) I dont know which Harrier it was.

Also I saw lot of Bay backed Shrikes and Black Drongos. It was interesting to see lot of territorial fights between Drongos. Also I saw 3 Indian Rollers at one place where 2 of them were fighting each other. I'm not sure whether they were male and the third one a female.

Few days back I had read someone had spotted a Western Reef Egret at Hesarghatta. So I thought of visiting couple of ponds again in search of this bird. At the first pond which was big I did not see any birds. Probably because there were lot of Cattles trying to cool them down in the water. I headed towards another small pond where I finally found the Egret. It was a lone bird feeding at the edge of the lake, my first sighting. Along with this bird there were 2 more sandpipers which were feeding. Just as I was watching a Kite came to the lake for fulfilling its thirst. It tried to land very close to the Egret and there was a small fight where in the Egret tried to fight for its territory. At the end Egret won it. The kite left. Itwas an interesting Duel.

At noon I thought of coming back home. While I was on my way, right at the Poultry farm I saw a bird just landing which had some kind of prey in its claws. I managed to get some shots IDing. It looked amazing. This sighting made me to check some more area around the Farm.

From their I drove to the Open grassland which is next to Film Institute. On the way spotted few Parakeets, Orioles and Mynas. Nothing much.

When I reached the grassland I did not see much activity there. It was already 2PM and it was hot. I tried to start back to home. Again this time I stopped at another place when I heard some birds calls. It was near the compost area after Poultry Farm. This area amazingly had lot of bird activity even at 2PM.

First thing I saw was White Throated Kingfisher. Then I saw Red whiskered Bulbul, its been quite a while since I saw a Red Whiskered Bulbul. There were few Yellow-Billed Babblers, Great Tit, Common Iora and Golden Oriole. And then I saw Black-Headed Cuckoo, both male and female. It was amazing. Never seen them before. Just when I thought it was enough and started my way towards my bike I saw another Cuckoo which looked like Common Hawk Cuckoo. An amazing sight. It was very tolerant and allowed to get very close. An amazing experience.

Best way to end the day:-) Hesarghatta never ceases to amaze me. Lot of us come here to see raptors. If we spend sometime in the area around Poultry farm we cand definitely find more avaian life which will defnitely surpirise us.

Amazing way to end the day with sighting of these Cuckoos:-)

List of birds seen during the trip.

1. Pied Bushchat
2. Siberian Stonechat
3. Paddyfield Pippit
4. Oriental Skylark
5. Ashy Crowned Sparrow Lark
6. Baybacked Shrike
7. Brown Shrike
8. Pied Cuckoo
9. Black-Headed Cuckoo shrike
10. Common Hawk Cuckoo
11. Grey Tit
12. Ashy Prinia
13. Jungle Prinia
14. Common TailorBird
15. Zitting Cisticola
16. Red Vented Bulbul
17. Red Whiskered Bulbul
18. Indian Silverbill
19. Indian Roller
20. Yellow-Billed Babbler
21. Large Grey Babbler
22. Common Myna
23. Jungle Myna
24. Rosy Starling
25. Crow
25. Green Sandpiper
26. Western Reef Egret
27. Little Egret
28. Cattle Egret
29. Black Kite
30. Brahminy Kite
31. Black Shouldered Kite
32. Golden Oriole
33. Common Iora
34. Black Drongo
35. Purple Rumped Sunbird
36. Purple Sunbird
37. Red Wattled Lapwing
38. White Cheeked Barbet
39. Rose Ringed Parakeet
40. Common Kestrel
41. Grey Francolin
42. Montagu's Harrier
43. White Throated Kingfisher
44. Laughing Dove
45. Rock Pigeon
46. Shikra
47. Tawny Eagle
48. White Eyed Buzzard