Bangalore – People & Place

Another Saturday and all set for yet another trip to Ragihalli. This time both of us (Me and Vaibhav) had a lot of time and we decided we are going to cover the area between Ragihalli all the way to Thattekere Lake. But as always nothing goes as I plan, however this time around it was for good I guess.

We took the right turn from Ragihalli Gate on our Apache RTR 160 & 180 and stopped about 100mts from there.

We ventured into the open space on the right. And withing no time we spotted Pied Bushchat – Female, Little Brown Dove and Bay-Backed Shrike.

A little further Black Kite with a piece of flesh and another one answering nature’s call. They are nesting on top of tree. The kite with the flesh flew back to the nest. Not sure if the young ones are hatched. Just near the tree you can find at least 5 White-Throated Kingfisher.

And then we spotted Spotted Owlet. Not one but two of them.

There were lots of House Sparrows, Jerdon’s Bushlark and White Throated Munia feeding on the grains from hay. They were in huge quantity.

Soon we found a group of Yellow Billed Babbler who are always found in group.

There’s a small water body close by and call of Red-wattled Lapwing attracted our attention. They were soon found mating.

Found Pond Heron sitting on a tree.

We found two Lesser Coucal there, lots of Sunbirds, Prinia, Black Drongo and Bushlarks.

We spent some good amount of time here and we decided to move ahead. While heading back to the main road I chose to sit next to the tree where we spotted Hoopoe earlier, wishing I get to see it again. While waiting for Hoopoe I saw Jungle Myna.

And this insect while Vaibhav was trying to follow some bird’s call.

Finally we were back on the main road, engines started and we moved ahead. We spotted a Shikra on the way, which flew away because a truck passed by honking. We stopped there are started exploring the area. We saw Eurasian Collared Dove and to our surprise Vaibhav spotted Oriental Honey-Buzzard. Another vehicle honking and the Oriental Honey-Buzzard flew. We managed to get one shot of the Oriental Honey-Buzzard though. Saw a White Cheeked Barbet, Small Minivet, Common Iora (Female) and White Browed Flycatcher .

While waiting for the Oriental Honey-Buzzard to come down we met another group who were out for birding. After some time we lost the sight of the eagle and had to move ahead. We reached Ragihalli in some time. Stopped at our regular shop to have a tea and anna sambhar. After getting the fuel we started again. Just before Ramakrishna Ashram some birds call attracted out attention. We stopped there looking for the bird and decided to explore that area.

We spotted some Sunbirds, Bush Lark, Indian Robin, and while Coucal. While we moved a little ahead to get a better shot of coucal I saw a raptor landing on a tree. To our surprise it was Oriental Honey-Buzzard. Soon we forgot about Coucal and moved quietly towards the eagle.  There were lots of flies above its head. In the same area there were a lot of dragonfly.

We were very happy. After taking some rest we started again. Now we crossed Shivanahalli and stopped in front of an open field. Jackpot! I saw Asian Paradise-Flycatcher.

And Sirkeer Malkoha!!!

And Indian Treepie!!!

And Indian Roller, our (Karnataka’s) State Bird!!! Whoo ha. What a day!

There were quiet a few Green Bee-Eater out there.

It was already 1:15 PM and it was time to return. Cameras were packed and we headed back after a very satisfying day.

Here’s the complete bird list -

Babbler, Yellow Billed

Barbet, White Cheeked

Bulbul, Red-vented

Bulbul, Red-whiskered

Bushchat, Pied

Bushlark, Jerdon’s

Cattle Egret

Coucal, Greater

Crow, Jungle

Crow, House

Dove, Eurasian Collared

Dove, Little Brown

Dove, Spotted

Drongo, Black

Flycatcher, Asian Paradise

Flycatcher, White Browed

Heron, Pond

Honey-Buzzard, Oriental

Green Bee-Eater

Indian Robin

Indian Roller

Iora, Common

Kite, Black

Kite, Brahimy

Kingfisher, White-Throated

Koel, Asian

Lapwing, Red-wattled

Malkoha, Sirkeer

Minivet, Small

Munia White Throated

Myna, Jungle

Myna, Common

Owlet, Spotted

Prinia, Ashy

Prinia, Plain

Rose Ringed Parakeets

Shikra

Shrike, Bay-Backed

Sparrow, House

Sunbird, Purple

Sunbird,Purple Rumped

Treepie, Indian

Wagtail, Pied