5th Bangalore Bird Race was scheduled on 16 Jan. Probably the largest in terms of team members 7 in total, and diverse in its composition, the Black Eagles set from IISc campus in the wee hours. Ably lead by Dr Gururaja KV and supported with occasional glares and looks by the wise captain ((c) guru) Priti Gururaja. Bringing human touch with identifiying and pointing with avanyaru nodi, ivan ivanallava... was Dr Harish Bhat with constant ribbing on sarathi of the trip. I wonder where Dr HS Sudhira stores that inexhaustible source of energy in his 5o kg fragile frame? Its definitely not easy manoevering the bangalore traffic. He knows best being the man who gaveus urban sprawl! But his driving skill, we will explore in instalments. His passion for bird watching, was evident in the way he was excitedly pointing out the (at least to me difficult to spot even with binocs) lone rangers in distances. Dr Raghu Hedge, had come with his full trek kit, awe inspiring camera in tote, water bottle hitched to the everpresent backpack. How can I not mention my pick up and drop, cousin Dr NA Aravind, who with his keen ears and sight could come to identifying conclusion in a jiffy.(the one he dilly dallied did cost the eagle's their 15 seconds on the ramp PS also as Harish rightly said, who wanted a three way tie to the bird of the day???? sharing 2/3 of nice calenders!!)
As the team assembled at the CES parking lot, as is the tradition, (BTW, I am going to bird watching after a gap of a few decades??) and started off in royal style to wards the silver jubilee pond. If you are looking for all the birds we spotted on the way, I will link it later. The sight of almost empty and barren pond bought tears to the eyes of team members whose fond memories were ignited in a unique way. the highpoint of this leg was the spotting of only the second sight till date of orange breasted green pigeon (link). the oohs and aahs of the team members were heard by the obgp but still he managed to strike a stoic pose knowing fully well the fans and load of appreciation ahead.
The end of this leg culminated in the Nesara with steaming idli vadas bathing in sambar and hot coffee. Team left for the Hebbal lake, which unfortunately resembled the hampi ruins. The numbers and variety of winter visitors were meagre and not worth the stopover. But an interesting point here was a keen kid in his pre-teens, evincing interest to join the eagles on their expedition. He was sporting a pretty high tech camera, aiming and shooting any thing coming in the way. The kid was given some key pointers on birding and id by our Sudhira in his inimical style.
Surprisingly, traffic on the bellary road didnot test Sudhirs prowess. At puttenahalli lake (I don't know why it is still called so, because I could neither spot lake or water) which is covered mostly by hyacinth(?) few waterbirds were noticed and after a brief chat with the guards on duty, we left. A surprising feature by the side of the entrance is the CNR bar and resturant (renovated) evoking strong memories of the former director of IISc.
