Beyond the Usual

I’d taken enough photos of flamingos over the past four months, but I still headed to Hoskote Lake to see them one last time. They were gone. Thankfully, a few other interesting sightings made their departure a little easier to take.

Here’s the photo story.

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I went straight to the spot where the flamingos had been seen last. They were nowhere to be found. Instead, a pair of Black-winged Stilts was quietly working the shallows, making for a rather nice consolation prize.

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I managed to capture a little of their morning routine on video too.

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Further along, I found a pair of Little Grebes keeping close company.

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A Purple-rumped Sunbird mistook its reflection in a bike’s mirror for a rival, leading to a rather amusing standoff.

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A lone Black-winged Stilt stood quietly in the shallows.

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A Glossy Ibis flew past, its dark plumage revealing flashes of gloss as it caught the morning light.

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A Black-winged Kite perched quietly on a post.

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An Indian Roller suddenly took off from the fence, flashing its brilliant blue wings.

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A female Pied Bushchat perched on a mound, quietly watching the activity around the lake.

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The Black Drongos were putting on quite a show, chasing each other through the branches and taking turns in the air.

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The Red-wattled Lapwings were hard to miss, with a few taking off while others stood watch nearby.

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A Zitting Cisticola perched neatly on a dried stalk, giving me a chance to appreciate one of the lake’s smaller residents.

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A couple of Paddyfield Pipits were busy on the ground, picking their way through the grass and mud.

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A pair of Red-rumped Swallows caught my attention, resting on the wire between quick flights around the lake.

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An Asian Green Bee-eater paused on a thorny branch.

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The most endearing sighting of the day was an Indian Nightjar, beautifully camouflaged and quietly revealed along the trail.

Some Nightjar facts:

• Spends much of the day resting quietly on the ground, blending into the leaf litter
• Large eyes are well adapted for seeing in low light.
• Mostly active at night, feeds mainly on flying insects.
• Lays its eggs directly on the ground.

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A little Asian Green Bee-eater perched quietly on a thorny branch, glowing softly against the blurred woodland.

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I waited for it to take flight, but it was busy preening. So I kept the camera rolling until it finally flew.

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Amid the blooms of Parthenium, a Baya Weaver paused with a tiny morsel in its beak before taking flight.

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A quiet moment followed between two Green Bee-eaters, one pausing to preen while the other watched patiently from the same thorny perch.

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I kept the video rolling until they finally flew off together.

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I paused for a moment to take in the vast blue sky stretching over Hoskote Lake.

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My last sighting of the day was this Oriental Skylark. Its crest kept changing with every movement, making for a wonderfully memorable final encounter.

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The flamingos may have been gone, but Hoskote Lake still had plenty of stories to tell. A rewarding morning of unexpected sightings and quiet moments.

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

A Maxi Morning at Harohalli Lake

 CR, CA, AK and I had formed a small birding WhatsApp group to plan our birding trips together. The plans were easy enough to make; actually getting all four of us out on the same day was another story. Sometimes three of us made it, sometimes two, but somehow, never all four.

Until last Sunday.

For once, all four of us were free at the same time, and we finally managed to turn one of our many WhatsApp plans into an actual birding trip. We headed to Harohalli Lake, not quite knowing what the morning had in store for us.

Turns out, the lake had plenty in store.

To make the morning even more special, we also ran into K, whom I had met on my previous trip.

And what a haul it was!

So here’s the maxi post from a long-overdue outing with the full gang. A morning packed with birds, action, surprises and plenty of good birding moments.

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A Red-whiskered Bulbul greeted us as we began our morning at Harohalli.

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Meanwhile, a Large-billed Crow was crowing, as lore says, announcing the arrival of guests.

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The noisy one, a Red-wattled Lapwing, was surprisingly quiet.

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The Common Kingfisher was busy preening, seemingly oblivious to all the attention.

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I managed to capture the whole routine on video.

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This unusual heron got us all excited. AK initially thought it was an old Purple Heron, but a closer look suggested a Striated Heron or possibly a juvenile Pond Heron.

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A Grey-headed Swamphen made its appearance next.

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A Jungle Prinia perched nicely among the thorny branches.

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The male Baya Weavers were still hard at work, weaving their elaborate nests.

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I watched an Asian Green Bee-eater return with a bee after a successful sortie, while two others looked on.

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An Oriental Magpie-Robin posed beautifully in the foliage.

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There was no dearth of Red-vented Bulbuls either, with several of them around the lake.

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An Ashy Prinia perched beautifully on a tender green branch.

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At this point, I met K, whom AK and I had bumped into on our last trip. Together, we watched a male Baya Weaver diligently building his nest and calling out to attract females. Quite the optimist, especially this late in the season!

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A lone Painted Stork was wading quietly through the shallows.

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I also took a video of the lone Painted Stork.

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We asked a walker to take a group photo, and finally got the full gang together. From left to right: my camera, me, CR, AK, K and CA.

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A Little Egret was quietly working the shallows, and I managed to capture it on video.

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A White-breasted Waterhen was quietly foraging along the water’s edge.

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A pair of Common Kingfishers enthralled us, perched together on a bare branch above the water.

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Then a White-throated Kingfisher joined them in the middle.

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I followed one Common Kingfisher as it went fishing, and managed to capture the sequence as it launched from its perch and flew low over the water with a small fish in its bill.

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An Oriental Darter sat with its wings spread wide, drying its feathers in the morning sun.

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We had been hearing the familiar “brain-fever, brain-fever” call all morning. Finally, CR spotted the elusive caller — a Common Hawk-Cuckoo, the bird behind that unmistakable sound.

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An Asian Green Bee-eater perched among the thorny branches, catching the morning light before taking off.

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A pair of White-rumped Munias perched quietly among the thorny branches.

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CA identified a Loten’s Sunbird by its extra-long, deeply curved bill, a useful way to distinguish it from the more common Purple Sunbird.

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A male Purple Sunbird in eclipse plumage, its breeding-season brilliance replaced by softer olive and yellow tones, but with a telltale dark streak down the throat. And there he was, caught in the act of snatching a spider, a tiny predator beneath the guise of a nectar feeder.

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Two Indian Silverbills perched close together on a thorny branch, bill to bill, in a tender moment of courtship and pair bonding.

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The lake stretched quietly into the distance, a perfect backdrop to the morning’s birding.

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CA spotted this Common Iora. AK identified it as a female, but she refused to come out in the open, keeping herself mostly hidden among the tangled branches.

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The Coppersmith Barbet too seemed to have taken inspiration from the Iora and decided that hiding was the best strategy.

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A little cluster of Tridax daisies.

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K spotted this Bronze-winged Jacana sitting unusually still among the aquatic vegetation, raising suspicions that it might be sitting on eggs. In this species, it is the male that takes on incubation duties, so there may indeed have been a clutch hidden beneath him.

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Flitting through the foliage, the Indian White-eyes paused to feed, even hanging upside down to reach a tasty morsel.

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A Purple-rumped Sunbird mingled effortlessly with the White-eyes.

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From the nearby Air Force base came a different kind of bird — an Avro 748, its metal wings cutting across the blue sky.

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And there they were: three beautifully camouflaged Bronze-winged Jacana eggs tucked among the aquatic vegetation. A perfect confirmation of K’s suspicion that the jacana had been sitting on a clutch.

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A Purple Heron claimed the little island for itself.

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A delicate Yellow Walking Iris stood tall among the blades.

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The peacock’s loud calls echoed throughout the woods. It was a delight to spot him, and even better to frame him between the trees.

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A Scaly-breasted Munia perched among the thorny branches.

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Lantana flowers, bursting with orange and pink, added a splash of colour.

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A Yellow-billed Babbler perched on the fence.

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A Darter perched on a bare branch.

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The last sighting of the day was a pair of Lesser Whistling Ducks, quietly wading through the still waters.

And with that, our long-awaited birding outing came to an end. Harohalli Lake gave us a morning worth remembering and finally, all four of us made it!

Do share your thoughts in the comments.