Bioblitz at Puttenahalli Lake conducted on July 17th, 2022

About ten of us spent a couple of hours on Sunday morning (the 17th of July) at our Puttakere covering as much as ten metres. And yet, even as we appeared to move hardly at all, Time flew!  There was just so much to keep us absorbed. The space was a compressed scroll, opening out into discoveries of sight and sound and scent - and eventually, even taste! Kaustubh Rau who led the Bioblitz began by having us look closely at the trunk of the mahogany on which fire ants (an invasive species, apparently) ran up and down sticking and stitching their leafy nests even as the lichen grew slowly, patiently. Those ants looked like ants but we also saw "spiders" which turned out to be ants, spiders who strung up their egg sacs (little green dots) in their nest-webs, spiders who left their "signatures" in their webs. What an intricate world theirs is!

It was a beautiful morning, shot through with that special silver-gold light of the monsoon (when it's not raining). A pair of dragonflies were locked in a long embrace, butterflies flitted about, coots and grebes chased each other  in a flurry of wings across the water. At one point mynahs started calling out loudly. We turned to see what the cackling was about and watched as the mynahs escorted a long rat snake (most probably) across the path, heckling it all the while. 

We saw cormorants, darters, purple moor hens, egrets, water hens, coots, spot billed ducks, a swooping brahminy kite, a slider turtle, all hanging out comfortably in what was evidently their home - sitting on the perches, drying their wings, staring out at the water, occasionally chatting with each other or diving into the water for a snack. A mother grebe left her nest with three little chicks following. The fourth eventually left, hitching a ride on daddy's back! 

In those two hours, we peered down, gazed up, crinkled our eyes to stare at movements across the water. There were strange beautiful fruit dangling from gorgeous broad-leafed exotic trees (the "Buddha Coconut" tree); the Kadam, the "badminton ball" (even though, as one participant pointed out, badminton is not actually played with a ball!) tree, a huge leafed "money plant", the cassia, the "pride of India", all held our attention. Eventually we ended up at a shortish tree (tall-ish shrub) studded with bright red "cherries". Delicious! 

Nearing the end of the walk, we spotted a darter trying to rid itself of what looked like a ball of string from its beak, desperately rubbing it against various surfaces. It was painful to watch. The bird was evidently in some distress. The trustees were informed and they called the ARRC, hoping they would be able to bring some relief to the bird- they had released a fishing net from the beak of another darter only a week ago. The next day, we got to know that the darter had not allowed the rescue team anywhere near. No matter; it turned out that the bird had managed to get rid of the string ball all by itself, no human intervention needed after all.

Bioblitz or no, humans reverently gazing at them or just hurrying past or no, creatures live out their compelling lives - and although in a sane world their ability to do so should not lie within the power of humans, at the moment it does.  Photographs when uploaded on to the inaturalist.org platform (under "Puttenahalli Lake") allows for all these to live out their natural lives on this planet as they were meant to do.

Sonali Sathaye

South City resident

All new - flower, winter migrant, booklet

We weren't actually accumulating the news but all these happened together. As November came to a close we received our booklet (with little text and loads of photographs) on the evolution of Puttenahalli Lake; a couple of days ago we spotted the first flowers of the Passion Flower and yesterday morning  Madhurima, our bird census recorder, spotted a new winter migrant, a Striated Heron at the lake. We are unable to choose which one is more exciting hence sharing all three with you! The pictures may not do complete justice to the original but take a look. 

The PNLIT booklet is courtesy Earthwatch Institute India, our partner to bring citizen science and experiential learning to lake conservation. It is a beautifully brought out though in limited edition. The booklet may be seen here.

The Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata) has many petals arranged in a ring hence referred to as "Kaurav Pandav." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_incarnata.  It is growing on the pergola, giving company (future competition?) to the Clock Vine (Thunbergia coccinea). 

Passion Flower (Pics: Nupur Jain)

Clock Vine (Pic: Prakash Ananthpur)

The Striated Heron is a rarity in an urban lake like ours according to our in-house birder S.K. Srinivas. He himself has not seen it and is hoping to spot it today.  According to online info on the bird, it is also called Green Heron because of the iridescent colour of its back. It is said to be a creative fisher that uses a bait such as a leaf or a small twig which it flicks on the water. The curious fish  becomes food for the heron. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striated_heron  

Striated Heron (Pic: Madhurima Das)

We do hope Srinivas, Madhurima or indeed anyone of you reading this mail will go to the lake, spot the heron and photograph the bird baiting the fish. And send us the photograph/video. :-)


Madhurima also sent another photograph which simply had to be shared - a Little cormorant landing on the head of a Kingfisher. Tsk .... tsk ....! Birds are no less than human kids. 

Cormorant on Kingfisher (Pic: Madhurima Das)

A happy Sunday to all. 


BestUsha

Nothing fishy about this

A thriving Puttenahalli Lake full of water is a great sight. If there is one person happier than us at PNLIT, it must be Yellappa, the man who got the fishing contract for our lake. About a year ago he had released fingerlings of several species such as the Indian Catla, Rohu, Mrigal and the Chinese Carp (Common, Silver and Grass). He also introduced Snakehead, called Varal locally which according to the Fisheries Dept. is not grown much in our city. It is expensive and is a delicious fish.

Yellappa and men fishing, 10th May 2017

Snakehead aka Varal (Pic: Madhurima Das)

The fish are growing very well and Yellappa has begun harvesting to sell in his shop. Each time he enters the lake with his net, a crowd gathers along the side to watch him and his team throw a net into the water and draw it in with a mix of fish in different sizes.

Interested onlookers

A few days ago at about 8 a.m. when the place was crowded with morning walkers, children going to school and idlers, he got a whopper that made everyone drool. They had netted a Silver Carp, weighing over 5 kgs.

Silver Carp, 31st May 2017 (Pic courtesy Yellappa)

A young Cormorant with catch, 4th June 2017 (Pic: Madhurima Das)

Yellappa now prefers to fish at 2 a.m. The seasoned angler that he is, the dark does not faze him.  He "knows" where the fish will be, catches them, throws the smaller ones back into the water and collects the rest in his baskets. No one is around at that time to drool over Yellappa's catch. No one sees how many he gets and how big each fish is. We don't get any part of his collection, neither in catch nor in cash but as long as he ensures there's enough fish for the birds we are happy. 

Flocks at the lake

Puttenahalli Lake is looking truly gorgeous... 

Aerial view of Puttenahalli Lake, 22-Aug-2016 (Pic: Geetha Srikrishnan)

... not only to humans but to birds as well. Last Saturday, Madhurima, a resident of South City, who's been keeping a weekly bird census, spotted twenty Cormorants in all the three sizes. This is great news but the even better news is the presence of so many young ones. 

Indian Cormorants

Indian Cormorants (adult and juvenile)

Grey Heron (juvenile)

Night Heron (juvenile and adult)

Grey-headed Swamphen (earlier known as Purple Swamphen) (juvenile)
(Pics: Madhurima Das)

One month after launching our donation drive, we have raised Rs.3 Lakhs against our target of Rs.6 lakhs. We need to raise the remaining amount at the earliest so that we can wrap up the donation drive for the year and move on to making further improvements in the lake. 

Just as little drops of water make the ocean, our small steps over the past several years have given a new lease of life to the lake. Likewise, please donate whatever you can. Your contribution will help PNLIT nurture this precious bird haven. 

Donations may be made by cash, cheque, direct remittance or online through donation partners. For details on how to donate, please see here.

If you are making an online payment, please send a screen shot of the transaction and your contact details to enable us to send you the receipt. 

Cheques in the name of "PNLIT" or "Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust" may be sent to our registered office: 

PNLIT, Usha Rajagopalan,
B3, 502, South City, Arekere Mico Layout, Off Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560 076 

Donations are eligible for income tax exemption, u/s 80G of the Income Tax Act (50% deduction from taxable income) 

Bird babies day out at the lake

The excitement continues at the lake. Today Madhurima spotted several bird parents with their chicks. 

We had a babies' day out at the lake today. First the Coots brought one of their babies out. A Brahminy Kite spotted it and dived towards it, but unsuccessfully. So no casualties. Later the Coots brought out both their babies. Then the White-throated Kingfishers brought out two juveniles and the Wagtails also presented,  what looked like a juvenile.  And then, an Ashy Prinia brought out a tiny little Ashy Prinia! It was so tiny that we could not see it with our naked eyes. - Madhurima

Coots

Ashy Prinias

Wagtails

Little Cormorant

White-throated Kingfishers

Bird Watch at the Lake - Spotted Dove

So far  we'd only seen Rock Pigeons at our lake but yesterday, at about 5.15 p.m., we saw a Spotted Dove! It was sitting on the dead tree our volunteers had planted in the lake bed. 

Though a common bird, we were seeing it for the first time and were quite excited about its presence. Its soft cooing was what attracted our attention to the bird. Delightful!

The dead tree is such a favourite with birds that we have planted a few more at various points in the lake bed. It is great to see different kinds of birds sitting on some branch or the other!

Usha

Spotted Dove

Myna and Little Cormorant 

Pics: Usha Rajagopalan

Two birds at the lake

The dead tree which our volunteers had placed on the lake bed in June this year has always had some bird or the other perching on it. 

Volunteers helped shift the dead tree to the lakebed (June 2013)

Today it was the turn of a Little Cormorant. The sight of these cormorants is heartening since they are predominantly fish eaters. From June to now, it is not only the birds that are new to the lake but also the water level as you can see around the dead tree in the photographs.  

Little Cormorant

Another lovely bird spotted today was a Pheasant-tailed Jacana in breeding plumage. They typically breed in the monsoon, laying eggs in floating nests. We didn't spot any nest today but will be on the lookout for them. 

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

What is more conspicuous, indeed at several places in the lake are the nests of the Common Coot. The coots are hatching or swimming with chicks of various sizes everywhere. They are converting the lake into a veritable nursery! 

Usha