Manjarabad Fort

This was more of a family social trip than a nature or bird watching trip to Sakleshpur over the last weekend of Dasara. My sister has lived here for the past 25 years or so and we usually plan a trip during Dasara. However, since her house is at the end of town close to where the forest cover again starts, one can just do birding around the house itself. This time we also planned to visit Majarabad fort more for something to do than for hope of spotting birds.

On way to Sakaleshpur, we found couple of very good lakes, one 5km after Hassan and the next a few kilometers further. We were able to enjoy Bronze-winged Jacana's, Coots, Moorhens, Kingfishers and other common birds here. Our hopes to do much bird watching in Sakleshpur got a setback as there was incessant rain all through our stay. That still did not stop us venturing out with Umbrellas and jackets couple of times. The birds which also decided to ignore the rain and fly about were: Red-whiskered Bulbuls, House sparrows, Oriental Magpie Robins, White-browed Wagtails, Couple of Purple-rumped Sunbirds, a lone Grey Wagtail and a Long-tailed Shrike. Several Dusky Crag Martins were the most active doing fast low flights repititively in the same pattern as if on a race-track. My guess is that they were catching insects in the air.

As planned, we drove up to Majarabad fort in the rain saturday afternoon. It is only about 5km from the town. Look for a huge board with the name and some shops on the left at a hairpin bend. You need to park here and walk up a little and then climb 250steps (my daughter Nithila counted it!) to reach the fort. The fort itself is fantastic apparently built by Tipu Sultan in 1782 as per a ASI board at the start of the trek up. Some of the watch towers are in good condition giving good views of how the soldiers would have scanned the horizon during those times. Birding was tough due to rain. There was a raptor which disappeared too quickly. Many Dusky-crag Martins gave us company though.

On the way back, just a km before Sakaleshpur town, we stopped at the road side to scan some paddy fields. This was under a Ficus tree. (F.virens?). Looking up we noticed a lot of barbet activity and could easily spot the white-cheeked ones. I noticed a flash of red on one which was smaller in size and assumed some coppersmiths were also there. Tracking it on the binoculors gave me a flash of blue also and I knew we had something else here. It started to rain heavily and we had to reluctantly return home. We came back again to the tree in the evening about 4ish hoping for a better look. This time, the bird liked our determination and came down the canopy to the lower branches to feed on the white fruits. No doubt now. It was the Crimson-fronted Barbet(Magalaima rubricapilla), our first time ever! A truly beautiful bird to watch scampering around the tree most of the time high up in the canopy. We spent quite some time enjoying it. I made one more trip back to try and get a few images even though light was fading fast. The bird again rewarded me by coming down once helping me get some record shots. It made our trip memorable.

We were on our way back to Bangalore early next day morning. There was morning sun at the lake near Hassan for us to observe a Pheasant-tailed Jacana family with 2 really cute chicks. One final note, if you happen to breakfast at Mayura Hotel (best with a family as it has a spacious play area) near Belur Cross, check out the trees for lot of Tickells (Pale-billed) Flowerpeckers.

Bangalore's very own hill station - Nandi Hills

Location: Nandi Hills
Date: Aug 30th 2009
To get there: [Click here for Google Map]. From Hebbal take NH7 towards Devanahalli Airport and Hyderabad. After you pass the airport look for really small sign to turn left towards Nandi Hills.
Distance: About 60kms from Bangalore
Trail type: There are lots of trails to pick from. As soon as you enter there is a large Nandi hills park map and one can plan using it. A trail starts from the point going through fairly thick vegetation and up (steps). You can join the trail anywhere which goes around the hill along the fort boundary giving you lots of great views.
Facilities: Mayura Pine Top is the KSTDC run hotel there which has basic facilites and fairly decent food with fantastic views. Lots of other roadside type shops are also there. A large kids playarea can also be found.

For some days prior we had been thinking of visiting a good place for bird watching where we had not been recently. Nandi hills was tempting and hoping for some early migration season surprises we set out for it sunday leaving Hebbal with all 5 of us on board by 7am.

We were at the foothills around 8am and stopped as soon as the climb started. We were rewarded with a sighting of Sirkeer Malkoha which promptly skulked far away from us! Driving up, the group started to focus mostly on the wild flowers that are peppered among the hills foliage. While discussing and enjoying this at one of the several hairpin bends before we reach the main entrance, we got to see a Short-toed Snake Eagle comfortable gliding almost to a standstill in the high thermals looking for food below. We parked right at the entrance even though cars are allowed all the way to the top where Mayura hotel is, since a trek to the spot gives us more oppurtunites for birdwatching. There is a nominal entrance fee charged here to enter the hill station.

We trekked to the top and then chose to walk along the trail which goes around the hills along the fort. Birds were not as plenty as hoped. The sole grace being a very quick flyby of an falcon possibly Peregrine. But just before we reached our parking spot we spotted the first arrival of a single Grey Wagtails for the 09-10 migration season. Close by a Puff-throated Babbler decided to hop right across our paths giving me trigger fingers on the camera. :). We started back around 2ish and were back in Bangalore by 3.30pm.

Somethings to know if you do happen to go with family for a picnic/trek. Monkeys are everywhere and they smell a picnic basket even before you get out of the car. We saw one family which parked the car, got out and before they could stretch and admire the surroundings, one had snuck behind them and was almost into the car! Later, I was sitting on a slope when I felt a tug behind me which happened to be a monkey taking the water bottle out of the backpack! Yes, they are probably hooked on to coke which is what it probably thought it was. So, advice is to pack finger food if you happen to picnic and eat quickly and fast in an open place, ie no over hanging branches. Leisurely picnics are out of question. And yes, remember, Nandi Hills is now a no-plastic zone so try to pack accordingly and not litter the area. Enjoy! It is a fantastic and cool place and we are lucky to have it within an hours drive from our city.

Manchinbele Reservoir

Location: Manchinbele lake / reservoir / Dam
Date: Aug 22nd 2009
To get there: [Click here for Google Map]. From Mysore road take a right turn immediately after Raja Rajeshwari Dental college and much before Bidadi. Go past the tourist spot Big Banyan tree or Dodda Alladha Mara. Ask for Manchinbele along the way. There are some yellow direction boards posted when you get near.
Distance: About 30kms from Bangalore until the turn off from Mysore road. Then 10-15kms to reach the reservoir.
Trail type: We didn't find any trails to trek. One option is to walk along the asphalted road along the shore.
Facilities: Not much near the reservoir. There are plenty of shops around Big Banyan tree.


It was a last minute decision that saw us at Machinbele Saturday afternoon. The previous day we just felt like going out somewhere and do some birding, that is as much as is possible with a 5yr old and 9yr old. Still just the thought of getting away from the noise and dust of Bangalore to somewhere quieter and greener was too enticing and picking Machinbele we left around 9.30am with a nice packed lunch and snacks from the Gokulashtami or Krishnastami festival.

Our 9yr old, Nithila, does like to watch birds but as she says not more than 30mins, so she got her set of books to keep herself amused knowing full well that appa would stop every now and then. Swarup, the 5yr old knows his mynas, crows and barbets, but given the choice he made us open the snack box within an hour of our trip! That left Sangavi and me some free time at our stops all along the way to Manchinbele for some good car birding.

The sight of the reservoir is very scenic when we first crest a hill and see it for the first time. We chose to stop there and were rewarded with good sightings of Purple sunbird male in non-breeding plumage and the highlight for us, Yellow-eyed babbler. This is a very beautiful bird and a first time for both us. We drove along until we reached a point from where we could see the dam gates. On the left there was a small pond which had excellent bird activity. Here we got to see the Streaked weaver which was busy collecting things from the roadside most likely for its nest somewhere.

We headed back from that point and took a left on a fairly decent road which took us along the reservoir shore. We could spot some army activity in the middle which looked like some cleaning up or training. At this time, it started drizzling and we could not find any outside picnic spot or trek. So, we ended up parking under a tree with a good view of the water body and enjoyed our sandwiches there. The spot was great because as soon as the rain stopped there was a burst of bird activity in the foliage on the hills. It was a pleasure watching the birds getting out after huddling under some leaves and trees. Tawny-bellied as well as the Yellow-eyed babbler, Long-tailed Shrike, White-browed Wagtail, Purple Sunbird, Oriental White-eye and Red-wattled Lapwings were among the active ones. Only disappointment was that we could not spot any water birds such as storks or ducks, other than a lone Grey Heron.

Reluctantly we headed back to Bangalore unable to keep stopping anymore as we were already behind our schedule. Overall it was a nice outing though we didn't get to do even a small trek. The place is scenic and hopefully it will remain that way in the future. There was some mention of boating being introduced here. Hopefully that's not permanent else we will lose any chance of migratory birds making machinbele their destination. As always if you do plan to visit, try to enjoy the nature and leave it as is for others to enjoy in the future.