A promising Bangalore Lake in transition

Location: Doddakallasandra Lake or Konankunte Lake
Date: Dec 26th, 2018, 4pm to 6pm.
To get there: [Click here for Google Map].
It is located in South Bangalore behind Sri Kumarans Childrens Home, Mallasandra.
Distance:  15kms from Vidhana Soudha
Trail type: Go on the path between the school gate and parking lot. After 50 meters you will come on to a short walking path around hundred meters with benches to rest. Rest of the lake is inaccessible at this time.

Facilities: Benches to sit in few places. No toilet facilities. Food, you are still in the city so plenty of places close by. Avoid picnicking. If you have to, get only finger food in reusable boxes and do not litter.

We used to visit this lake 10 years back when my child was studying at this school. One just needed to scramble up to the bund from the parking lot to enjoy the then fairly clear and beautiful lake.

So, I was looking forward to checking out the lake again when a request came to me for a quick bird survey on the lake. Few of us reached at the same time and trudged up the initial short path towards the lake. On the right hand side there is foliage to make it a nice habitat for forest birds while on the left we have flowering trees along the school compound attracting many nectar feeding birds.

As we reach the lake, there is a newly made walking path on the left for about 50 to 100 meters with benches for those inclined to sit and take in the vista. Rest of the lake can be circumvented fully by the adventurous though not at all welcoming or easy at many points. There is a small island in the middle.

The first thing that strikes you as a bird watcher are the numerous Gray Herons that inhabit the tall trees on the island. They can be seen flying to and from the shore, sometimes carrying nesting material. As you scan the waters, numerous Little Grebes and Common Coots are spotted easily. Egrets on the far side trees with Pond Herons on the shores. Spot billed Ducks and Cormorants

can be seen along the islands as well. As we were walking along the short path, there are numerous trees which hosts Warblers, Sunbirds, Mynahs as well as a lone Brahminy Kite. We were also lucky to spot a pair of Common Moorhens and a solitary Green Sandpiper flying across the water.

The lake itself has had better days. Because of pollution from sewage and garbage inflow from neighboring localities, it has turned green with algal growth with significant amounts of garbage along the shores. Though much effort is being made to clear the garbage and revive this lake by various groups, the source of the problem remains and garbage makes its way to the lake within weeks. This problem is also being worked on and hopefully will be solved soon.

After about an hour or so, we headed back to our cars. A pleasant surprise awaited us as we saw a flock of about 30 to 50 birds swirl around and settle on a tree adjacent to the school. They turned out to be mainly the migrant Chestnut-tailed Starlings with few Rosy Starlings also. Happily we returned to our cars and were again greeted by several large flocks of Rosy Starlings returning to roost on the trees near the lake. It was an amazing sight to watch as 100s of them settled down quickly on small trees to rest for the night.

Ebird check lists from the 2 visits we made to this place for the bird count:
Dec 19th Morning
Dec 26th Evening

As always, do not litter the place. Even though some spots may look bad, we don't really want to add to that, do we?