BR Hills - Ranganthittu - Mysore

Well a trip with mixed luck. Christmas weekend and no wonder i was scouting for some getaway place for the long weekend. With bandipur, nagarahole, k gudi and jodigere trek failing to materialize it was BR hills which we decided to visit. We tried tried tried in vain to get the IB booked and finally settled for a room booked at a lodge there "Rajathadri Hill Villa" (80-41204126 / 4803) - a bright orange and yellow building and it was a fairly decent accommodation but w/o food, thats what we wanted - a base place to just rest and rejuvenate because we would be roaming for most part of the day. On searching the net we found 5 routes to BR hills from Bangalore:

• Bangalore - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Kollegala - Yelandur - BR hills
• Bangalore - Maddur - Malavalli - Kollegala - Yelandur - BR hills
• Bangalore - Mysore - Nanjangud - Kaulande - Santhemarahalli - Yelandur - BR hills
• Bangalore - Mysore - Nanjangud - Chamarajanagara - K Gudi - BR hills
• Bangalore - Mysore - T Narsipura - Santhemarahalli - Yelandur - BR hills

and the best advised was the 3rd & the 4th routes mentioned above. Well with no definite planning for 3.5 days at BR hills, we planned to include an early morning visit to Ranganthittu and then proceed ahead via Mysore and Nanjangud towards BR hills, and the visit at Ranganthittu turned out to be our best visit till date. A great start to our adventure and who knew what was in store for the next 3 days!!

We started off early in the morning with me, Raja and Nag this time (Guru was missing as he was in Delhi) to reach Ranganthittu as early as 7:30 am. Just last week I was here along with Joshua and Ajith and then we were advised by the boatman to come early in the morning before the crowd pours in. At 7:30am and there were no souls around, the first we got to see were a pair of Bulbuls in the shining orange light of the sun. The beautiful Asian Paradise Flycatcher made its appearance from nowhere and that heralded our day of good luck. We arranged for a boat ride for Rs.500/- for the 30 minutes ride. Finally after many long waits I was blessed to see the 3 Kings (Pied / White breasted / Small blue - Kingfishers) @ Ranganthittu and that made my day. In the boat ride we were near to the Spoonbills / Openbills / Night herons and they tend not to care our presence.

What all we got to see @ Ranganthittu was:

1)Red Whiskered Bulbuls 2)Asian Paradise Flycatcher female 3)Openbilled Storks 4)Spoonbills 5)White breasted Kingfisher 6)Pied Kingfishers 7)Small blue Kingfisher 8)Night Herons 9)Large Indian Egrets 10)Peacocks (first time @ ranganthittu) 11)Stone Plovers 12)River Terns 13)Grey Herons 14)Purple rumped Sunbird 15)Munia Pair 16)Tickell's blue Flycatcher 17)Rose ringed Parakeet 18)Marsh Crocodiles and many more...

After a good breakfast at the restaurant there, we started towards BR hills via Nanjangud. After Nanjangud, there's a deviation to the left (a board there indicates route to K.Gudi) and further ahead one can reach BR via Chamarajanagar or take another deviation towards Kaulande-Yelandur and then to BR hills. We reached there by afternoon and checked in to the hotel. Spent the whole day going around BR hills and got to see the wonderful sunset view from there. The temperatures were down and it was getting chill by the hour. If you have your own SUV, you are allowed to enter the K.Gudi (Kyatadevaragudi forests) forest range after taking permission from the forest department. However we could arrange for a safari after hiring a private jeep for Rs 1400/- for the next morning.

K.Gudi forests were green and wet (surprised to see such dense greenery all around) but the safari ride was dry with the lone sighting of an Indian gaur and some barking deer / spotted deers. The rest of the day was spent birding around the place with wonderful birding oppurtunities (one of our best birding activities).

The avians we spotted were:

1)Small blue Kingfisher 2)Indian Robin 3)Orange Minivets 4)Flame backed Woodpecker 5)Great Tit 6)Booted Warbler 7)Plain Prinia 8)Red Whiskered Bulbuls 9)Blue beared bee eaters (a lifer for us) 10)Golden fronted Leafbird 11)Coppersmith Barbet 12)White Cheeked Barbet 13)Jungle Babblers 14)Brahminy Starling 15)Indian Rock thrush 16)Pied Wagtail... and many more

(1. Golden fronted Leafbird 2. Booted Warbler 3. Jungle Babblers 4. Blue bearded bee eater)

As the laziest we are, the next day our initial plans of viewing the sunrise went for a toss as we were busy snoring at that time and got up only post 7am. Did some light birding and we left the place to Mysuru enroute Chamarajanagar (we had to leave as we had done our booking for only 2 nights). We chose a different route (no 4 as given above) to return as we didn't want to take the same route that we came by. From BR hills to K Gudi, the roads are excellent, newly tarred and right through the jungle where you dont get to hear anything other than the sound of the birds and animals. After the checkpost crossing at K Gudi, the road stretch is horrible till you reach the fringes of Chamarajanagara. Pathetic roads and wonder how the stretch is during the monsoons! Chamarajanagar was really hot and we needed some Tender coconut drink to cool us down! (U see we just need a reason to have something!!!) We reached the City of Palaces Mysuru mid afternoon and with difficulty got a room @ Deepak Lodge just behind the suburban bus stand @ Rs. 1000/- for a day. This time around we didnt want to miss the Karanji lake and we were off for birding there in the evening (We wasted 2 hours at the lodge and later got to know that Karanji lake is open right through the day till 5pm).

Saturday evening and as usual, maddening crowd and Karanji lake was no exception. People queing up for the boat ride, ice cream parlors mobbed by children, couples whining away time, all the same everywhere... The walk through avian housing exquisite birds is a wonderful and first of its kind concept where we get to see rare species not found commonly in India. The butterfly park was another that we got to miss due to shortage of time here. Good, well maintained park and strictly you are supposed to be out by max 5:30 pm. The water body also covers a decent area and you get to see quite a few varieties of birds only if you are interested in bird watching.

(1.Juv. Brahminy Kite above -- not Shikra as mentioned! Regret the error!!! 2. Karanji lake)

1. Juvenile Brahminy Kite, 2. Waterhens, 3. Purple Moorhen, 4. Small blue King, 5. Egrets, 6. Spot billed Ducks, 7. Indian Cormorants, 8. Snake bird (Darters)... The next morning we decided on visiting Lingambudhi lake (the last major lake of Mysuru that was missing from our list for birding). Finding the way was a bit difficult as its located at the tip of Mysuru near Vivekanandanagar.

Some pointers to reach Lingambudhi lake are 1. Ramuswamy circle 2. Court road 3. Ramakrishna nagar 4. Vivekanandanagar last bus stop (bus nos 67c / 72 -- not very sure of this)...

After a tiff with the lodge owner on the room allotment, we were out early finding directions to this lake. A cup of hot tea with biscuits and then asking few people around we reached there by 6:45 am and mark my words we were shivering in the early morning cold... All of our initial snaps were shaking because of our shake but as the sun rose, we were stable and there wer a lot more birds than expected to give us company. Lingambudhi lake is a very good place for birding but grossely neglected with slush and weeds all around and many places inaccessible, still there is a relatively big unmarked jogging area that you find many people using and you also get to see many birders camping there. The list of avians we saw here (or rather we recognized) was pretty good...

1) Pied Bushchats 2) Indian Robins 3) Pied Wagtails 4) Spot billed ducks 5) Shovelers 6) Painted Storks 7) Purple rumped Sunbird 8) Golden Oriole 9) White breasted Kingfisher 10) Red legged Stilts 11) Rose ringed Parakeets 12) Greater Coucal 13) Babblers..... (i have lost my records and my memory too...)

It was a good meeting with Ravinaryana Chakravarthy, an experienced birder and and INWian.... he gave some good tips on birding and quickly identified some species before we could even realize...

Seeing the number of birders, we feel like david's in an area full of goliath's.

After birding session, we left mysore and after an heavy lunch at Haripriya hotel in Mandya, it was time to be at home. Finally ended our eventful trip sans wildlife and with lots of birding... wish to be more on such adventures.

Place: Rajatadri Hill Villas (BR hills)

Ph: 080-41204126 / 4803 / 9845338234

Srinivas (caretaker) - 9972727006

(@the BR hills temple)

Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!

Birding @ Kokkarebellur, Ranganthittu and Kukkarahalli kere

After the fortnight of festivals and absoutely no plans for Nov 1 (Karnataka Rajyotsava day), we finally decided to go birding again. Initial plan was for 2 days, but later had to limit it to a day because of some emergencies. Guru was unwell and as it was a last minute plan, myself and Raja decided to go ahead with the plan planned at 11 pm the previous night. We intended to cover Valley School - Kokkare bellur - Ranganthittu - Kukkarahalli kere and Karanji lake and return back to bangalore by evening. 


Nov 1 2008: Chilly Saturday morning, left our homes by 5.30 am, reached Valley school area quite early. Valley School area: This has become our favorite jaunt mainly because its just in the neighborhood and nobody to disturb. This time we proceeded straight into the campus to the lake for some good birding. Rue our lethargy, the entire series of photos taken here have vanished without a trace and I hardly remember all the species which I saw.. Some which I can recollect are:

• Little Cormorant (the most common water bird we have seen)
• Small blue King
• Pond Heron
• Indian Silverbills
• Pied Wagtail couple
• Red Whiskered Bulbul
• Jungle Prinia
• Tiger butterfly & many others
• A giant spidey with its huge web...

and many more... We spent a good 2 hours here birding, the best part is you never realize how the time moves so quickly when birding. After satisfying our urge for birding here, we had to move quickly to cover the remaining places for the day; we took the route via Kanakapura to our next place - Kokkare bellur. Well the idea was not so bad as feared because 60% of the roads were good but we had to drive around 20 kms more to reach Kokkare bellur. Enroute to Kokkare bellur we saw a small pond where again we had quite a few sightings which included:

Black kite relaxing under the shade

• Black Ibis pair
• Grey Herons
• Spot Billed Ducks

@ Kokkare bellur:

Pelican flight @ Kokkarebellur

• Spot billed Pelicans
• Black Kite
• Black Ibis

and few more, again these series of photos have vanished. On the way to Kokkare bellur, we spotted a black kite peacefully resting under the shades of a tree. We stopped below him and he gave us some nice shots and inquisite looks. We managed to reach Kokkare bellur by 11 am. Here you can just park your vehicle anywhere and go birding, you will find lots of birdies atop many trees and if lucky on the roads too. We could spot mainly the Pelicans and a few Black Ibis only (the remaining visitors were yet to arrive) here. A tree full of Pelicans with their crooning and fluttering give you good oppurtunity to watch them and capture them in your lenses, but kindly avoid standing under those trees else you would be garnished with white paint all over your body. The black Ibis show was distant as they were perched against the sun which made it all the more difficult to view them directly or capture a clear image. The locals here are very helpful and protective of the winged visitors and any wrong move from your end will result in broken bones! But the sight of children asking for money from the visitors is not a good sight to see! After more than an hour here with the sun steadily rising and burning our heads, we decided to move on to Ranganathittu near Srirangapattinam.


Marsh crocodile @ Ranganthittu.


Ranganthittu bird sanctuary: Its a small sanctuary in the Mandya district but the most famous in and around south karnataka. The restaurant here satisfied our appetities which the first thing we did when we landed here. Afternoon times and the sun blazing, birding was not so productive so we bought tickets for the boat ride on the Kaveri lake. Huge crowd had gathered as it was a saturday and we had wait in a long queue for the tickets. The only advantage going boating is you are taken closer to the birds resting on the trees in the middle and the birds are quite comfortable with the boats being paddled around. Not to miss are the huge crocodiles you see from close quarters, this time we were lucky enough to spot some 7-8 crocodiles around. The few winged visitors which I could recognize seeing here are:

• White Ibis
• Spoonbills
• Night Heron
• the King
• Pond Heron
• Colony of Bats
• Marsh Crocodiles

Well the sightings were not so good, wish to be back here at leisure during some weekday when few people are around. From here we had plans of covering Kukkarahalli kere and Karanji lakes in Mysuru but owing to time shortage we decided to cancel Karanji lake visit this time.



As we reached the periphery of Mysuru, at the first traffic signal we asked for directions from the constable there; he gave us the most easiest route to take, from the signal take right turn, left at the next signal, and right at only the next traffic signal. We landed right on the fringes of the lake with those directions without a glitch.











Kukkarahalli kere, Mysuru: For starters, its located in the heart of the Mysuru city adjoining the Manasagangotri campus. A neat walkway has been created which is used effectively by the walkers / joggers and also bird watchers! The entire walkway around of the park is approximately 4kms. What started for us as a small walk around ended up making us cover the entire 4kms watching different varied winged visitors spread across the lake. My favorite King (kingfisher bird) was very shy and reluctant and only gave poses from long distances; still waiting for a decent shot of this beautiful king. The sunset here was amazing with the winged visitors perched on the trees in the foreground and the golden sun providing the orange blanket all across the horizon. Few of the winged visitors which we could identify were:

• Spot Billed Pelicans
• Pond Heron
• Little Egret
• Purple Moorhen
• Spot Billed Ducks
• Common Coots
• Cattle Egret
• Pied Wagtail
• Grey Heron
• Asian Koel
• Parakeets
• White Ibis

and few others which I am yet to recollect. As it was dusk our plans of climbing the Chamundi hills on foot went for a toss and instead we drove up the hill to visit the temple. The temple remains closed between 6.30pm to 8pm and is open till 9.30pm. The Mysuru city view from the hill top is beautiful especially if the palace lights are on, it presents a spectacular sight. From here we drove straight back to our homes, infact we covered the bangalore mysore strectch in flat 120 minutes on the saturday evening.


Route: To Valley School: On the Kanakapura road, just 100mts after the NICE road junction a yellow board next to a tree on the right hand side leads to the valley school campus. Good roads upto Kanakapura.


To Kokkare Bellur: On the Mysore highway, just before Maddur town, a huge old board to the left indicates the route to Kokkare bellur which is 16kms from there. Roads are pathetic.


To Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary: On the Mysore highway, after Srirangapattinam, a deviation to the right leads to ranganthittu bird sanctuary which is around 6ms inside. The same route further leads to Hunsur, Madikeri, Virajpet, Nagarhole, Irpu falls, HD kote. Excellent roads.


To Kukkarahalli Kere: As you approach Mysuru city, in the first traffic signal on the outer ring road take a right turn and straight ahead and then left turn at the next signal, and again right turn at only the next traffic signal leads to the lake. Please ask for directions with the locals as you are bound to reach nowhere following my directions. Excellent roads.


Tips: Carry water. Food source Bangalore (for valley school); Maddur town and highway restaurants (for Kokkare bellur); hotel at Ranganthittu and Mysuru city hotels (for Kukkarahalli kere).
Overall a nice birding experience but felt more time was required at Ranganthittu and Kukkarahalli lakes.



Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!