Bannerghatta Butterfly Park

Location: Bannerghatta National Park
Date: Mar 21st 2010
To get there: [Click here for Google Map].
Distance: About 25kms from Bangalore
Trail type: Gravelly road, asphalted in some places. There are cross country paths to reach temples or ponds.
Facilities: Near the national park (about 2kms from the starting pt of the trek) has plenty of road side eating places and a KSTDC restaurant. Constant development is taking place here. Bannerghatta town is bustling, though I have never explored it.


Mar 21st being the 3rd Sunday we decided to tag along for the bird watching outing co-ordinated by Geethanjali. I was giving this the miss since getting the family to the starting point by 6.30am is a task by itself. However, we decided to give it a try and managed to make it just 10minutes late. That was enough to catch the group before they set off.

The trail, she had picked for this month started from the turn-off to the right at the circle in the center of the town. The road was muddy/gravelly and asphalted in spots which is what we walked on. The group was large and so the pace was slow. Suited us fine as my son is 5 and daughter is 9.

We walked for about 2kms along this road. Initially we crossed a village, then a hillock and dry shrub vegetation. In this stretch we were able to enjoy a foraging Hoopoe, a flyby of an Oriental Honey Buzzard, melodious Ashy prinias, Pied Bushchat, Red-Wattled Lapwings, Bulbuls among others.

The road then curved around a stagnant water body where buses were being washed. On the right after that, there were a nice clearing and an inviting stone bench. Kids immediately wanted to open our backpack and have a go at the buns, cakes and biscuits which was our breakfast. It was indeed a fantastic spot as while eating we enjoyed the antics of a Green Bee-eater close by.

Few metres after that, the group was looking to climb a hill to reach a pond and temple. It being already 9am, we decided to head back home instead. Our car-pool group, 3 engineers (Gautham, Gautham and Krupa) and our family decided to check out the Bannerghatta Butterfly park. So, we deviated to take a look. Good decision.

The foliage from the ticket counter to the enclosed building housing the butterflies was great. We got to see Asian Paradise Flycatcher, White-Browed Fantail (could be White-throated as we didn't ID properly) and a large flock of active Small Minivets. Fantastic birding.

The butterfly building was quite good. About 8-9 species could be enjoyed flitting around flowering bushes. At the back they have a museum with display that is quite large and informative. A continuously playing film on butterflies can also be seen.

After spending a couple of hours here, we headed back and were in Jayanagar by noon after a surprisingly easy drive.

Overall the bird trail may have been better enjoyed further down from where we started. The butterfly park is great for kids 4-12. Well worth a stop when visiting the zoo or trekking near this location.

Some more images:

http://picasaweb.google.com/naturerambles/3rdSundayBannerghattaButterflyPark#

Eastern Ghats - Bio-diversity Study

During 2nd week (10 to 13th) of December, AWIFO (Asian WIldlife FOundation) conducted a Bio-diversity study in the Eastern Ghats area, above Rajmundry. Schedule (meaning wifes work!) somehow worked out at home leaving me free to participate. 3 of us (Joy, David and me) took the Sheshadri Express from Bangalore reaching Rajahmundry early Thursday morning. There we joined about 25 others from Andhra, Chennai and even Singapore. There were Butterfly experts, Drangonfly/Damselfly (Damselfly sits with the wings upright) experts, Birding experts, Entomologists, Photographers and some just along for the ride. I went only as an amateur birder hoping to contribute and learn from the trip.

Some highlights:

Day 1: Cruise down Godavari River

From the railway station we went directly to Papi Hills, where we boarded a boat for a day long cruise along the Godavari River. It was an experience of a lifetime. The river is wide and it was quite smooth sailing. There was plenty of avian activity though it was more on the shore and we could not get too close due to shallow water. Brahminy Ducks (Ruddy Shelducks), flocks of Small Pratincoles, River Lapwings, Open Billed storks were among the many species we saw. We had lunch on the boat itself and also were treated to a Bison Dance on a sandy beach by the Tribals who had come along with us. Forest area was thick all through. We were treated to a Peafowl couple who had come out to enjoy the river as well.

Day 2: Maredumilli

After the cruise, we drove to Maredumilli for the night. Early morning saw us birding around the bungalow. It was misty but I still got my first sighting of a Vernal Hanging Parrot as well as Chestnut Bellied Nuthatch. We left after breakfast and birding in a Farm and River side picnic spot on way to Mothugudem. At the farm, Joy and Me went along together to see Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Black Hooded Oriole and Verditer Flycatcher. When we stopped for some shots of the Habitat along the way, we were treated to a group of Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters having their mid-day lunch. It was incredible to see this uncommon (for us) birds casually going on sorties for the flying insects. We also got sight of Yellow-crowned Woodpecker here which we saw only because it was sharing the same trunk as a Bee-eater. By evening we had reached Mothugudem.

Day 3: Mothugudem

Mothugudem, our quarters were in a bit of plains with the Eastern Ghat Range surrounding us. Morning by 6am saw us out and treated to Plum-headed Parakeets which were as common as Rose-ringed here in Bangalore. Asian Pied Starlings, Ashy Woodswallows, Minivets, Velvet Fronted and Chestnut Bellied Nuthatches, etc., were the highlights for the morning. Prabhu took us to a Dam close to Chattisgarh Border. Here we sighted a lone Blue-rock Thrush. On the way back we had lunch at a scenic waterfall and joined in on some serious Butterfly and Dragonfly hunting along a river. We were lucky to sight pair of Malabar Pied Hornbills and also a Heart-spotted Woodpecker.

Day 4: Mothugudem to Rajahmundry

Morning we managed to squeeze in some more birding and were treated to a lone Barred Jungle Owlet sitting openly on an electric wire. Soon after breakfast we left for Rajahmundry to catch our trains to Bangalore. Ride was quite uneventful though I missed the sighting of a Crested Serpent Eagle perched on a roadside tree.

Overall a great experience and it was fun spending the 4 days with other like minded nature lovers. Hopefully AWIFO is able to establish this area as a rich bio-diversity spot and protect it for the enjoyment of future generations.

Images from the trip:
Birds
Insects
People
Miscellaneous

Canopy 2009 Photo Contest

Well, a side trip on my part where I submitted a few on my photographs to the Photo Contest conducted by ATREE along with the organizers of 5th Canopy International Conference held at IISc Bangalore. It was judged by eminent persons in the field of wildlife photography and nature conservation:- Ganesh H Shankar, Mark Moffet, Shekar Dattatri, Sandesh Kadur. So, it was a pleasant surprise when my image taken during our Muthodi trip was given the 1st prize. I sincerely feel 90% of the credit should go to the Langur which posed for me so well with the forest canopy in the background, tailormade for this contest! 10% to me for taking and entering this image into the contest. :) 2nd place was given to Kalyan Varma for a technically difficult and beautiful image of fireflies in the night, 3rd place to Ashwini Kumar Bhat who entered a mesmerizing image of a shadow creeping across lush canopy.


My 2 shortlisted images were:

The image was taken in Timber Yard, Dandeli during a Bird-watching trip. We had finished going around the place and were returning to our vehicle. I lagged behind taking shots of the sunset seen from between the foliage. The cut and neatly piled logs gave a contrast to the nature that we were trying to find and enjoy. I composed the shot to highlight it and got this exposure after a few tries.






Early morning views of Muthodi forest range are magical from the Sheeghekhan Estates which is located on top of a small hill. We were in the balcony before dawn and enjoying the blankets of mist over the canopy before the rising sun slowly started melting them away. A langur was also sitting on a branch some distance away basking in the morning sun. Its peaceful posture with the backdrop of the Canopy was a wonderful sight and it captured the moment very well.