K B Srinivas: Trip to Bellary

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