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Your email address will not be published.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

Bengaluru’s flowering Tabebuia Rosea trees: Think green, not just pink

Cities must not confuse beauty with ecology; Bengaluru’s pink weeks are lovely, but unchecked ornamental planting could make the city prettier but less alive.

Late each winter, Bengaluru briefly transforms into an Indian Kyoto, as roads blush pink, office parks turn photogenic, and social media buzzes with claims of a local “cherry blossom” season. But the star of this spectacle is not cherry at all. It is Tabebuia rosea, the pink trumpet tree, a neotropical ornamental whose native range runs from Mexico to Ecuador. What seems like a harmless aesthetic win is, ecologically, far more complex. The history Bengaluru’s pink canopy is not new. Much of it can be traced back to the 1980s under forester S G Neginhal, who drove a major greening…

Similar Story

Inside Chennai’s AQI: Why hyperlocal monitoring of air quality is crucial

Official data masks Chennai's toxic air. Citizen Matters travelled with the IITM team to map variations in air quality. Watch the video to know more.

Across cities, official Air Quality Index (AQI) readings often overlook local hotspots. Chennai has eight Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) that function 24/7 throughout the year. But this isn’t enough to map particulate matter. Air changes every few metres, as researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras tell us. Seasonal variation, construction, vehicular movement, and proximity to industries also change the air we breathe, In 2022, over 17 lakh people died in India due to air pollution (PM 2.5), according to a Lancet study. With better hyper-local air data and public awareness, citizens and policymakers can target pollution…