Bird watching at Puttenahalli Lake

“Nearly 110 species of birds, fully or partially dependent on water have been recorded utilizing the tanks in Bangalore. This diversity of birds belongs to 6 avian orders and 25 bird families.” – Dr S. Subramanya, an authority on lakes At Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar

we have positively identified 15 species of the 110 (with the help of close-up photographs; otherwise most of the birds were always too far off or reclusive). These include those that belong to the families of coots, cormorants, ducks, herons, jacanas, kingfishers, kites, lapwigs, wagtails.

There are some that we are yet to photograph/identify and we are sure that there are others that we are yet to spot. We have also seen large garden lizards, snakes, snails and loads of fish.

All this means that the water body is offering the birds and other creatures, food and nesting grounds, and restoring the circle of life! About half the lake birds of Bangalore are known to be migratory, escaping the harsh winters of Central Asia and the Arctic. These are generally expected in Bangalore end Sept-April.

We really hope we are lucky enough to see some of them at our lake. If you would like to see for yourselves the gorgeous birds photographed by Sujesh S., do join us at the gazebo at Puttenahalli Lake (near MLR Convention Hall, Brigade Millennium) by 7 a.m. on Saturday, 10th Sept.

Comments:

  1. Deepa Mohan says:

    Saw this too late to be able to join, but I’ll be coming to the lake soon and enjoying it! Thank you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Similar Story

Beyond the parks and gardens, Bengaluru’s ‘wasteland’ ecosystems call for protection

Open Natural Ecosystems in Bengaluru harbour rich biodiversity. Take a look at what they hold and what we risk losing to unchecked development.

When we discuss urban nature, we often forget about real natural habitats. In Bengaluru, widely called the Garden City, most talks about urban nature focus on landscaped parks, roadside trees, and manicured gardens; in other words, artificial ecosystems designed for looks and human comfort. As lay citizens, we usually notice only such nature as we see around our homes, workplaces or other areas we generally pass by. While these places do have some ecological value, they mostly support a few highly adaptable species. This has strong negative implications for native flora and fauna that depend on open scrublands, grasslands, rocky…

Similar Story

The wild in the city: What citizen scientists tell us about Bengaluru’s biodiversity

Spatial and temporal biodiversity patterns, as observed by citizen scientists in the city during 2016-2025, were studied at a datajam in December 2025.

Imagine you’re out on a morning walk, phone in hand, when you spot a butterfly you’ve never seen before. You snap a photo, log it into a citizen science app, and voila! You’ve just contributed to crucial biodiversity monitoring. This isn’t just a hobby; it’s part of a global movement where ordinary people collect, record, and sometimes analyse data about plants, animals, and ecosystems. Citizen science stretches the reach of ecological research. Every observation adds to unique longitudinal datasets that reveal phenology — periodic events in the life cycle of a species — along with species distribution shifts and population…