Blackbucks and birds of Maidenahalli

The much-anticipated maiden trip to Maidenahalli happened last Sunday. Located around 140 kms from my home in Bangalore, Maidenahalli is home to Jayamangali Blackbuck Reserve, a grassland conservation area for Blackbuck antelopes. Starting at 5:30am, we reached the reserve by 8:45am, stopping at times to see some birds. Here's a photo tour...

Some scenic distractions on the way...

On the way, we stopped near a banyan tree to try spotting birds...

We saw a Green bee-eater...

At another stop, we spotted a pair of Rose-ringed parakeets...

Another sight as we passed a small village...

Soon we were on the mud roads of the reserve and admiring the beautiful clouds and hills around...

First sighting of a male blackbuck leading a small herd far away...

They seemed to have sensed our presence and reached the horizon in no time...

We moved ahead to find a male blackbuck sporting its beautiful corkscrew horns...

Within no time it ran away...

We parked the car and tip-toed on the grassland, hiding behind shrubs and small trees to try our luck in spotting the blackbucks. After a while we found a small group of does with one male... 

The ladies were all ears and alert to any approaching danger...

A pair of does...

They sensed the danger and ran like crazy...

After the blackbucks were out of sight, we looked around for birds. We met a beautiful Eurasian collared dove...

Nature has tried its best to make it really appealing for critters with breathtaking landscape...

Even the poop pellets of blackbucks looked photogenic...

Male and female Rock bush quail foraging...

Female Rock bush quail...

Wild fruit pecked by birds...

A spooked Oriental garden lizard...

A male Pied bush chat...

Female Pied bush chat...

Frog...

Red-vented Bulbul...

A grasshopper camouflaged...

Male Indian Robin...

By now the sun had got strong, forcing the blackbucks and birds to vanish into shady places...

We utilized the lull to have lunch and an hour of sleep in the car...

After the refreshing siesta, we returned to the place where we had spotted the first herd of blackbucks...

We found two male blackbucks indulging in lekking. Male blackbucks engage in competitive displays to entice visiting females...

An alert pair...

Birds were out in the open as the sun was less harsh. A Yellow-billed babbler...

Green bee-eater...

Shady tree...

We found a lot of Baya Weaver bird nests...

The nests are partially built before the males begin to display to passing females by flapping their wings and calling while hanging from their nests. The females inspect the nest and signal their acceptance of a male. Once a male and a female are paired, the male goes on to complete the nest by adding the entrance tunnel...

A female Baya Weaver has just arrived to inspect the nest. The air was suddenly filled with possibilities...

Little Green bee-eater...

Final sighting of the day was a female Laughing Dove...

The laughing dove gets its name from its particularly characteristic call, which sounds like human laughter, a low rolling croo-doo-doo-doo-doo with a rising and falling amplitude...

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