Sivakumar Mallya, Sudha Iyengar, Janhvi Vyas, Aadya Umesh, Suma Seshadri, Kavitha Umesh, Jayashree Govindarajan, Rishov Biswas, Ramaswamy G S, Padma Ramaswamy, and I, went to visit Gulakmale kere (lake) and T K Falls.

Because of the heavy rain,we started in cool, cloudy and misty weather. Here is the Champakadhama temple at Bannerghatta…an old temple that appears to be lost in the mists of time.

The mist was everywhere.

We first stopped at the small pond near the path to the Bhavani temple:

Having spotted some Baya Weavers,

We moved to Gulakmale kere,

where we watched a colony of these birds on a date palm.

Aadya faithfully documented all that she saw, and as usual, sketched, too. Here’s her sketch of the Baya Weavers’ nest:

Even as they built their dwellings, a White-rumped Munia arrived to try and occupy them.

Nature, as a teacher, gave me a geometry lesson.

The sky slowly cleared

We then went to T K Falls, where the water had been released due to heavy rain over the Suvarnamukhi river, resulting in a beautiful cascade:

I took a video of the scene a little further downstream where we crossed to the Muniswara temple area:

Wildflowers were everywhere.

Cleome monophylla, Spindle Pod

Tarenna asiatica, Asiatic Tarenna:

Chinese lanter tree

Hibiscus lobatus (very tiny)

Grewia damine

Cadaba fruticosa - Indian Cadaba

I found a very good website to identify wildflowers,

here

There were plenty of birds, like the

Ashy Prinia on the Marsh Glory

Cinereous Tit

Coppersmith Barbets

Purple-rumped Sunbird

Southern Coucal

Many butterflies delighted us.

Crimson Tip

White Orange-tip

Blue Tiger

Plain Tiger on Stachytarpeta

Common Crow

Here are three pathologists, one senior banker and one Jobless Person:

On the way back this beautiful Brahma bull (even though a little emaciated) looked majestic.

Here we all are, about to tuck into brefus at Udupi Banashree on Bannerghatta Road

Gulakmale bird list:

here

T K Falls

here

Butterfly list

Blues, various Cerulean, Common Crimson Tip Crow, Common Cupid, Plains Emigrant, Common Emigrant, Mottled Gull, Common Jezebel, Common Leopard, Common Orange-tip, White Pansy, Lemon Rose, Common Rose, Crimson Tiger, Blue Tiger, Plain Tiger, Striped Yellow, Common Grass Yellow, Spotless Yellow, Three-Spot Grass

FB album

here