The morning walk, in cool, cloudy weather, is a great joy.

What do you call a bee that comes from America?

A last-minute decision, and six of us, including a birder from Noida, Delhi, who will be moving to Bangalore in a while…off we went, in the predawn dark, to T G Halli Reservoir.

Every now and then, a glimpse into lives very different from our own, brings us up sharply against alternate realities.

It was still rather cloudy and overcast as several of us met at Vajrahalli Gate, on our way to the Turahalli Forest Trail, where a few more nature lovers from the nearby areas also joined us.