Finding the hidden birds in urban green spaces

Walks are a great way to explore the hidden treasures in the city, including birds. Deepa Mohan narrates the story of one such walk.

I was requested by Irina Ghose and Gopal Swaminathan to conduct a nature/birding walk at Lalbagh for their daughter Divya, who was celebrating her birthday.

We gathered most of the group together for a “landmark” shot:

And off we went.

We started with the commonest of birds, the Blue Rock Pigeon:

And the Black Kite (here, a silhouette in the sky):

At the lake, we saw a Little Egret and a Purple Heron:

A Purple Swamphen:

A Common Moorhen:

A White-throated Kingfisher looked out over the rose garden.

The Spotted Owlets didn’t seem too enthused to see me back again with another group:

It was very nice to see several of the children jotting down the birds’ names:

The birds were not the only beautiful things around! This flower is from the Lafoensia vandellina, which is a heritage tree of Lalbagh. Here is another post I made about this tree.

Some of the historic structures in the park also seemed lost in green dreams of long ago:

In the middle of the cultivated gardens I did find some tiny, exquisite wildflowers.

Here’s everyone at the end of the walk, they seemed to have had a good time!

I left the children and the adults celebrating in the park, one of the jewels of our city.

More photos in the FB album, and the eBird list is here.

Such urban nature walks show us the natural wealth that is still available to city-dwellers.

Related Articles

Lots of birds at Kaikondrahalli Lake
Children like the lake, so do the birds!
Spot the birds flying in to Bangalore
Feeding birds and animals for 15 years!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Similar Story

Bengaluru’s insects and arachnids: How to understand their world and make friends

'Commonly Spotted Insects and Spiders in the City of Bengaluru' is a valuable guidebook for nature enthusiasts.

Would you believe me if I told you that amidst the hustle and bustle of Bengaluru, there’s a whole world of tiny architects, serial killers, woodworkers, and coordinated dancers, each leading very peculiar lives? Their small size often helps them escape detection, but they are hard to miss once you train your eyes to notice them. A new guide, Commonly Spotted Insects and Spiders in the City of Bengaluru, can help you tune in to this fascinating world of many-legged, antennaed and often winged creatures.  And maybe, with the interesting nuggets that the book provides about each animal, you will…

Similar Story

Alleged arson, road plans and builders’ greed: All that Dindoshi Hills is fighting

Dindoshi Hills, located close to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, are being targeted by builders who want to denude and excavate the forested hills.

The green cover at Dindoshi Hills in Malad East is one among the disappearing forests of Mumbai. Rich in biodiversity, it extends over 138 hectares and is close to Tulsi Lake and Kanheri Caves. Unfortunately, the hills have fallen prey to the greed of developers, leading to deforestation. During a study conducted by Vanashakti from June 2021 to October 2022, we found forty species of plants in the close vicinity of the site. This includes Strobilanthes callosa, locally known as karvy, which blooms once in seven years and is categorised as ‘threatened’ in the IUCN Red List. We also observed…