3rd Sunday Outing of Birdwatchers Field Club Anekal Lake, 170411

April 17, 2011

Geetanjali had mandated a bright and early start, but of course all of us arrived at intervals, so each us seemed to find our own way down into the semi-dried Anekal Lake bed, and moved around to try and spot the birds.

Water birds are not amongst my great favourites. They are exceedingly shy, and have only to spot a movement about half a kilometre away to take off in a fine display of flapping wings and dripping water! I’m putting the bird list to the others, but we feel that we sighted a Ruddy-breasted Crake, and we hope the experts will help us id the bird from the (as usual) lousy shots that we got of the very shy bird in the reeds. Update: sighting confirmed! Yay!

However, the sight of four Pied Kingfishers flying in formation and later hovering for their catch, a couple of chequered keelbacks in the water, the usual camarederie of the birding community….he confirmation of the shy Ruddy-breasted Crake…. more than made up for the low bird-count and our sadness at the pollution that the lake is suffering from.

My photos and a short account are

here

Vaibhav's shots are here Arun's shots are here (They are all Face Book pages) Looking forward to the others' shots, I'll add the links.... Thomas got some wonderful shots of the Pied Kingfisher hovering in mid-air...you can see them here Bird List: Babbler, Common Barbet, Coppersmith Barbet, White-cheeked Bulbul,Red=vente Bulbul, Red-whiskered Coot, Common Cormorant, Little Crake, Ruddy-breasted Crow, House Crow, Jungle Drongo, Black Grebe, Little Kingfisher, Common Blue Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, White throated Koel, Asian Kite, Black Kite, Brahminy Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Little Egret, Intermediate Heron, Grey Heron,Pond Iora, Common Jacana, Bronze-winged Lapwing, Red-wattled Moorhen, Common Moorhen, Purple Mynah, Common Mynah, Jungle Owlet, Spotted Parakeet, Rose-ringed Prinia, Ashy Prinia, Plain Roller, Indian Sandpiper, Wood Shikra Stilt, Black-winged Stork, Painted Sunbird, Purple Sunbird, Purple-rumped Swallow, Red-rumped Swift, Asian Palm Tailorbird, Common Waterhen,White-breasted Wagtail, Pied