IISc Bird/Nature walk, 161119
Deepa Mohan
7:59 PM (42 minutes ago)
to sharmila, Nature, Kiran, Sagarika, Ambarish, Nutan, pranshugaba, Pragati, avinandan.94, vinaya15927, rahul.navlanka, Arnab, dijeesh.v, subramaniansivam, Vijaya, manjulerao, Praveen
Hi everyone,
I was very happy with the response for the walk this time, and luck was certainly with us in terms of the variety of flora and fauna that we could observe and learn about.
It was indeed nice to have Naivedya along for the walk though he had to leave a little early. And I was impressed by Ambarish's interest and knowledge in spiders and insects, too.I too would like to have their contact nos. or email ids.
I usually write a short account of the walks I conduct or participate in; here is my email to Bngbirds, which is the umbrella birding/nature group of Bangalore. I have given the link to my photos on both an FB album and a Flickr album in it.
Looking forward to these walks becoming regular. As you would have seen yesterday, the friends who come with me are all keen birders and nature enthusiasts, very respectful of the spaces we walk in, and keen on conservation. So I do hope that Nature Club can allow me to bring a few more people, who, in their turn, can be helpful to the others who may be comparitively newer to the natural world and its wonders.
From: Deepa Mohan
Date: Sat, Nov 16, 2019 at 10:31 PM
Subject: Birding/nature walk at IISc, 16 Nov '19
To: bngbirds@yahoogroups.com
For the second time. the Nature Club at IISc invited me to conduct a birding/nature walk on the campus; this time, the turnout was quite good, and a group of us started out from the nursery area and walked along the campus.
One unexpected bonus was the presence of Rahul Narlankar, an experienced birder from Manipal, who is at IISc for a 2-month period. He responded immediately to my invitation and we were happy to have him with us. Almost immediately, in the midst of the calls of the White-cheeked Barbets and the Ashy Drongos, he pointed out the difference between the calls of the Green and Greenish Warbler, and also explained some of the ways warblers can be identified.
A beautiful Paradise Flycatcher caught our eyes at this point, flaunting his white tail-feather ribbons as he lured us on. We looked up into the tall trees, and spotted some White-eyes and Cinereous Tits, while overhead, the Black Kites wheeled, displaying the typical v-shaped wedge in their tails. However, some of them were making calls rather like Ioras, a call that I have not heard before.
We were able to show everyone the tiny beauty of the Pale-billed Flowerpecker, and soon, the Purple and Purple-rumped Sunbirds too. Sharmila was able to see a female Loten's Sunbird sitting on the path...a most unusual sight!
As we walked to the IGP Station, set on the gneiss, in a clearing, we found Red-whiskered Bulbuls on the bare branches of nearby trees. But soon, our attention was riveted skywards...because first a Honey Buzzard, and then three Booted Eagles (both pale and dark morphs) put up a lovely aerobatic show for us, swooping up and down on the thermals,being mobbed by the Black Kites, and soaring back again. Having thoroughly enjoyed this display, we spent a while also looking at the wildflowers, and the several butterflies and insects in the area. Antlions, Stone Beetles and Jewel Bugs, Gaudy Grasshoppers, Handmaiden Moths and Lynx Spiders... we enjoyed seeing the handsome six- and eight-footers.
As we walked towards the faculty quarters. we heard the calls of a Greater Coucal, and Rahul also pointed out the typical shapes of several other birds, like Dusky Crag Martins, Barn Swallows, and Little Swifts. The beauty of the well-grown trees, with full canopies, was a delight to walk through. I pointed out various native and non-native species, and it was a delight to look at the various hues of the wildflowers.
I was very happy to find several youngsters, like Ambarish, knowledgeable about insects and spiders, and we were very happy to see the colourful show put up by a variety of butterflies.l
We walked until the call of the "White-breasted Iddli" could no longer be denied, and then we adjourned to Nesara Canteen for a companionable, laughter-filled breakfast, and the promise of more walks with the Nature Club on this verdant, wooded campus, that must surely rank as one of the natural hotspots of our city. Those of us who had travelled all the way from south Bangalore did not grudge the time we spent getting back home!
the eBird list, compiled by Rahul Narlankar, is at
https://ebird.org/india/checklist/S61482758
(37 species)
Butterflies:
Apefly
Blue, Pale Grass
Cerulean, Common
Cupid, Plains
Jezebel, Common
Mormon, Common (mimicking the Common Rose)
Pansy, Blue
Pansy, Lemon
Pansy, Yellow
Pierrot, Common
Pierrot, Red
Rose, Common
Skipper, Indian Grizzled
Yellow, Common Grass
Yellow, Three-spot Grass
Wanderer, Common
I have put up the photos on an FB album
here
And on a Flickr album
here
7:59 PM (42 minutes ago)
to sharmila, Nature, Kiran, Sagarika, Ambarish, Nutan, pranshugaba, Pragati, avinandan.94, vinaya15927, rahul.navlanka, Arnab, dijeesh.v, subramaniansivam, Vijaya, manjulerao, Praveen
Hi everyone,
I was very happy with the response for the walk this time, and luck was certainly with us in terms of the variety of flora and fauna that we could observe and learn about.
It was indeed nice to have Naivedya along for the walk though he had to leave a little early. And I was impressed by Ambarish's interest and knowledge in spiders and insects, too.I too would like to have their contact nos. or email ids.
I usually write a short account of the walks I conduct or participate in; here is my email to Bngbirds, which is the umbrella birding/nature group of Bangalore. I have given the link to my photos on both an FB album and a Flickr album in it.
Looking forward to these walks becoming regular. As you would have seen yesterday, the friends who come with me are all keen birders and nature enthusiasts, very respectful of the spaces we walk in, and keen on conservation. So I do hope that Nature Club can allow me to bring a few more people, who, in their turn, can be helpful to the others who may be comparitively newer to the natural world and its wonders.
From: Deepa Mohan
Date: Sat, Nov 16, 2019 at 10:31 PM
Subject: Birding/nature walk at IISc, 16 Nov '19
To: bngbirds@yahoogroups.com
For the second time. the Nature Club at IISc invited me to conduct a birding/nature walk on the campus; this time, the turnout was quite good, and a group of us started out from the nursery area and walked along the campus.
One unexpected bonus was the presence of Rahul Narlankar, an experienced birder from Manipal, who is at IISc for a 2-month period. He responded immediately to my invitation and we were happy to have him with us. Almost immediately, in the midst of the calls of the White-cheeked Barbets and the Ashy Drongos, he pointed out the difference between the calls of the Green and Greenish Warbler, and also explained some of the ways warblers can be identified.
A beautiful Paradise Flycatcher caught our eyes at this point, flaunting his white tail-feather ribbons as he lured us on. We looked up into the tall trees, and spotted some White-eyes and Cinereous Tits, while overhead, the Black Kites wheeled, displaying the typical v-shaped wedge in their tails. However, some of them were making calls rather like Ioras, a call that I have not heard before.
We were able to show everyone the tiny beauty of the Pale-billed Flowerpecker, and soon, the Purple and Purple-rumped Sunbirds too. Sharmila was able to see a female Loten's Sunbird sitting on the path...a most unusual sight!
As we walked to the IGP Station, set on the gneiss, in a clearing, we found Red-whiskered Bulbuls on the bare branches of nearby trees. But soon, our attention was riveted skywards...because first a Honey Buzzard, and then three Booted Eagles (both pale and dark morphs) put up a lovely aerobatic show for us, swooping up and down on the thermals,being mobbed by the Black Kites, and soaring back again. Having thoroughly enjoyed this display, we spent a while also looking at the wildflowers, and the several butterflies and insects in the area. Antlions, Stone Beetles and Jewel Bugs, Gaudy Grasshoppers, Handmaiden Moths and Lynx Spiders... we enjoyed seeing the handsome six- and eight-footers.
As we walked towards the faculty quarters. we heard the calls of a Greater Coucal, and Rahul also pointed out the typical shapes of several other birds, like Dusky Crag Martins, Barn Swallows, and Little Swifts. The beauty of the well-grown trees, with full canopies, was a delight to walk through. I pointed out various native and non-native species, and it was a delight to look at the various hues of the wildflowers.
I was very happy to find several youngsters, like Ambarish, knowledgeable about insects and spiders, and we were very happy to see the colourful show put up by a variety of butterflies.l
We walked until the call of the "White-breasted Iddli" could no longer be denied, and then we adjourned to Nesara Canteen for a companionable, laughter-filled breakfast, and the promise of more walks with the Nature Club on this verdant, wooded campus, that must surely rank as one of the natural hotspots of our city. Those of us who had travelled all the way from south Bangalore did not grudge the time we spent getting back home!
the eBird list, compiled by Rahul Narlankar, is at
https://ebird.org/india/checklist/S61482758
(37 species)
Butterflies:
Apefly
Blue, Pale Grass
Cerulean, Common
Cupid, Plains
Jezebel, Common
Mormon, Common (mimicking the Common Rose)
Pansy, Blue
Pansy, Lemon
Pansy, Yellow
Pierrot, Common
Pierrot, Red
Rose, Common
Skipper, Indian Grizzled
Yellow, Common Grass
Yellow, Three-spot Grass
Wanderer, Common
I have put up the photos on an FB album
here
And on a Flickr album
here