Showing posts with label Pheasant-tailed Jacana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pheasant-tailed Jacana. Show all posts

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Bird update at Puttenahalli Lake

Here's Madhurima's note and pix of the birds she spotted today morning at Puttenahalli Lake. Would you like to join her on a weekend? Reply to puttenahalli.lake@gmail.com. Depending on the number of people interested, we can arrange for a bird watch.   

Lots of good news. When I walked into the lake premises today, I saw a pair of what I think are Black-winged Stilts flying out. Then I saw 2 Purple Herons, followed by a flock of 12 Scaly-breasted Munia and then the Oriental White-eye showed up with the missus. And that was not all, after coming home and zooming into the photos of some Little Grebes that I had taken, I realized that they weren't Little Grebes at all. They were baby Coots. The Pheasant-tailed Jacanas are still here. Hopefully we will have some Jacana chicks soon.










Sunday, June 14, 2015

Birds captured after the rains

Thanks to the rain and the treated water, the level has gone up at the lake. Unfortunately though, the notoriously difficult to control alligator weed is also growing lushly. We hope when the level increases even more, the weeds will be submerged and rot. Well, we may be unhappy about the weed spreading but the birds are very happy about it. The number of birds frequently the lake has increased. 

For the past few months, Madhurima Das, a "resident birder" from the neighbourhood has been regularly doing a weekend census of the birds at the lake, and taking pictures as well. Today she was happy to have captured a few candid moments. Pictures below.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana in breeding plumage

Little Cormorant 

Great Cormorants that flew past for a recce perhaps!

White-throated Kingfisher with catch

Spot the two Purple Herons? 

Pheasant-tailed Jacanas in a mating dance perhaps .... 

Little Grebes - they had laid three eggs but lost two to predators. Way of the wild!

A first time visitor to our lake - Jacobin Cuckoo, considered to be a harbinger of the monsoon!  

Pics: Madhurima Das
Captions: Usha Rajagopalan

Monday, September 23, 2013

Reproductive success at its best!

Extracts from an email from Vishnupriya Hathwar, who frequents Puttenahalli Lake 

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Just wanted to share somethings that many of you may have already observed [ or maybe not].. here goes !!

Due to the wonderful rains, the lake has filled up quite a bit, leaving only smaller islands for the birds.
In this, the most common birds- the Common Coots have chicks that are almost grown to adult size [ only the plumage is still lacking].
Spotted a pair of Coucals - appears that they too have a young one!! Spotted a small Coucal with FRESH plumage flying across the lake.
I have personally never seen a young one of a Pond Heron up close... happened to see one meek little pond heron with its drab mottles and blotches of dirty brown hiding in the weeds between the gate [entrance to the lake] and the island.

Long shot of coot and chick (Pic: Usha)

The purple swamp hens and the dabchicks [ little grebes] are not far behind in reproductive success !! some of them have chicks as well!

I am kinda missing the kingfishers and purple herons actually !! oh yes - managed to see the Pheasant tailed Jacana as well !! beauty of a bird I would say.

One suggestion - is it possible to introduce lotus leaves into a part of the lake?? This would get the Jacanas to start breeding there as well !!
I know some of us would question about the maintenance part... but that's something we need to do all the time right??

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Over the last couple of years, more than 60 species of birds have been spotted at Puttenahalli Lake. We were pleasantly surprised to come across Golumolu's blog post in June, about birding in Puttenahalli Lake - that can be read here.
To know more about the birds of Puttenahalli Lake, check out the PNLIT Flora and Fauna webpage, that has this carefully documented.

Monday, September 16, 2013

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