On the 25th of last month on our way back from Mysore (where we were off for yet another sky watching trip) when Dilip told me of his voyage to Raichur I had a few (?) second thoughts. The temptation was strong but the thought of taking two days off from work, two overnight journeys by bus and the feeling that the journey may not really be worth it were pulling be back. By the time I reached Bangalore I had almost made up my mind and the fact that Seema did not protest too much made it a somewhat easy decision.
So we (Dilip and me) were off to Raichur on the 29th of Jan. We almost missed the bus, waiting for the bus to arrive at platform number three in Bangalore Bus Station. We kept checking all the buses that came and were told that the bus will arrive any time. Barely five minutes before the scheduled departure time of 9.30 pm one of the KSRTC staff with whom Dilip inquired told us that we were in the wrong platform and that we should rush to platform no.15. Rush we did, only to find there that we had to go to platform no.28. And where is that? At the other end of the bus stand, a good five minutes brisk walk. It was already 9.30 and we thought we would not make it. Dilip managed to run faster than me with the camera bag, the tent, the tripod and a heavy stomach! I followed, with my suitcase in one hand, tripod in the other and camera bag on the back. To our surprise, the bus was still there, apparently waiting for people like us to join. The journey itself was uneventful though we could not sleep well, thanks to the badly designed seat.
When it was daybreak the bus was nearing Mantralaya. Except a dozen of us, rest of the passengers got down at Mantralaya. We had a cup of tea there before the bus started on the last leg of the journey. It was one bumpy journey, thanks to the wonderful road. The distance of 50 km took an hour and half in our non-stop bus. But we were not complaining on the slow pace of the bus! Guess what! There were so many wonderful birds all so close to the road. Rosy Starlings, Brahminy Starlings, Bee Eaters, Drongos, Larks, Indian Rollers . . . by the dozen! We half seriously considered getting down somewhere on the way, take some pictures in the perfect morning light and continue our journey later! It was so tempting. We were now getting the feeling that the journey of 450 km would be well worth it.
At last we reached Raichur around 8.15 in the morning, had a quick wash and breakfast in the hotel right opposite to the bus station. The Prabhu hotel turned out to be quite good indeed and we were to return there twice on the next day. Now we had to reach Shakti Nagar, some 20 km from Raichur town (well, one can't call it a village since it happens to be a district HQ, but it looks like a big, unorganised village, nevertheless). Umashekar, our host for the trip would be waiting there. In fact, it was he who had initiated the whole trip. We reached Shaktinagar after a back breaking journey - the bus was a non-stop shaking machine - where Umashekar was waiting for us. After a coup of tea in "Gulbarga Hotel" which is a non-descript tea joint that serves very good "chai" we went to the room that Umashekar had arranged. It was already 10.30 and there was no time to be wasted. Of course, it was quite hot and we doubted if we would get to see any birds, let alone get good pictures, but it was better to try and get something, rather than stay put in the room and sleep.
Umashekar had arranged two bikes with Madhu and Raghu, two of his friends from Shaktinagar. Dilip and myself "boarded" the bikes and off we go!! Our first destination was a tank. Quite a tank it was, at least five km in circumference. But were there any birds? Thousands of them. Bar Headed Geese, Spot Billed Ducks, Shovelers, Shelducks . . . The picture below was taken with my 500mm lens and there over a hundred birds in the picture!
Soon the excitement turned into disappointment. The lake was covered on all sides by thick growth of spiky bushes that were threatening to pierce through our trekking shoes. After treading heroically for 20-30 minutes, we accepted defeat and climbed back to the tank bund. So, here we are, a few hundred meters from a few hundred birds, so near yet so far. We decided to walk a little more on the tank bund to try and find some opening that would allow us closer to the tank. A few minutes later we found ourselves within shooting distance of a group of painted storks, black necked storks, grey herons, terns and a lot more. It was close to noon now and the lighting was far from perfect, but that was that. You take what comes your way! The good thing was, we could shoot the birds from above the nest which we don't get often and seldom in places like Kokkare Bellur.
There were of course the little sun birds, bush chats, bee eaters, flower peckers all inside the bushes taking cover from the scorching sun. And the terns trying to catch their lunch.
It was too hot for comfort and we were getting tired, especially after the night journey by bus on bumpy roads and we decided to close our first session of birding.
After a simple but good lunch at one of the small hotels in Shakti Nagar we are joined by Umashekar and Rudrappa, an old friend and colleague of Umashekar. He is a bird watcher with a great passion for his hobby. Their enthusiasm to take us around was so great that we just went along in spite of the hot Raichur Sun of 2 pm, immediately after the heavy lunch. The expertise of the twosome in the various birds that are resident in the area was quite evident from the word go. We were going to a place called Magnur, some 15 km from Shaktinagar, across the border in Andhra Pradesh. As described by Rudrappa there were hundreds of birds, including a lone lesser flamingo but again so far from the tank bund, not within reach of our lenses. As if to make us slightly happy a group of birds took off all of a sudden providing a grand view for about a minute and settled down even farther away!
By now, we were quite tired and really wanted some rest. So we decided to go back to our room and come back to Magnur lake in the evening, to catch the birds from the other side of the lake and hopefully from a closer range. We slept like logs and woke up well after 4.30. After another cup (two cups for Dilip) of refreshing tea at Gulbarga hotel we were off again to Magnur lake. We reached there around 5.30 and the light was fading quickly. We had to walk about ten minutes carefully, taking care not to disturb the birds. Unfortunately there are no trees, bushes or anything to provide cover around this tank and we were sticking like sore thumbs against the skyline as we walked towards the lake, with cameras and tripods in hand. That was enough to alert the birds when we were a few hundred yards away. And that's it. Evey one of those winged wonders took off, and landed safely at the other end of the tank, way beyond the reach of our lenses. Disappointment was writ large on our faces. By now, the sun was about to set and there was just nothing we could do to catch the birds that evening. As a consolation we were treated with a colourful sunset.
We had a special place to visit that night. It was the tank bund of a lake where we would be staying for the night in our small four men tent. The idea was to catch the birds when they start their early morning journey to nearby fields to catch their share of worms and other delicious stuff! It was a wonderful stay, with stars twinkling overhead. Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebula, h & chi Persei and other familiar objects in the sky were keeping us company. It was a fairly sound sleep for us, except for Rudrappa. In our dreams we were probably thinking about just one thing: will the birds oblige tomorrow morning?Just as Umashekar had told us, the bird calls started around 5 am. We peeped out of the tent only to see complete darkness outside. There was no point trying to spot the birds at that time. So we lied down for another half an hour or so and then came out into the cool morning breeze. The activity of birds was a lot more by now and many birds had left/leaving already. Our anxiety grew. Will we be able to get a few decent shots? Or will the birds disappear before the light is enough to get some pictures? Our luck seemed to be running out with every passing moment. In the meantime, Umashekar was enjoying the view of the distant birds with his spotting scope. He said he had purposefully kept away from trying to photograph the birds, just because of this reason. The number of birds in the lake kept reducing and we only got some silhouette shots as a reward for all our efforts.
Just when we were almost giving up, a small group of spot billed ducks passed overhead, turned around showing off their colourful wings and the next moment they were gone. What wonderful colours these creatures have! And the grace! We were lucky to get a couple of good shots.
We didn't know then but Umashekar had arranged for delivery of hot tea to the tank bund. He is one resourceful person! Madhu who was with us the previous day had come all the way with a flask full of the wonder fluid which was the most welcome drink at that time and location. After the tea break we packed up our tents and started back to have a shower, breakfast and some rest, hopefully. We had not got very far when we found this Blue Faced Malkoha right next to the road, obligingly sitting on the power cable and allowing us to take some close ups! The morning was now proving to be more exciting than we thought!!
After the quick breakfast myself and Dilip set off again on Madhu's bike for Manslapur lake, a good 30 km drive. It was close to 11 am and sun was beating down. But go we must, having come all the way to catch something special. After a drive of an hour we reach Manslapur lake. And there, from a distance of half a kilometer, find what we came looking for. Lesser Flamingos! There were just about 15 of them, quite close to the shoreline and we thought we were getting more lucky. But these birds are so alert, they start slowly paddling their way deep into the lake. Fortunately, in this lake we had some bushes and small trees to take cover and we manage to get within shooting distance.
In the mean time, I spot a group of Indian Silverbills in a nearby bush. They were so obliging, never got perturbed by my presence and gave enough chances to get some nice pictures.
In the meantime, the flamingos decided to take to their wings, probably bored with their fishing bout. If these birds are gracious in water, they are just magnificent in flight. I thought they will now go away and disappear. But surprise! They decide to make a round trip and land exactly where they were a minute ago. That was completely unexpected and gave a chance to get several pictures in flight. It was indeed a lucky day!!
Flamingos were not the only birds in the lake. There were Shovelers, spot billed ducks, cranes, herons and of course, egrets; hundreds of them.
When we were busy shooting, a couple of boys working in the fields next to the lake joined us, curious to know what we were up to. They were surprised and happy to know that we had travelled all the way from Bangalore just to see and photograph these birds which they see day in and day out! Fresh, sweet carrots and green "chana" arrive along with water along with the assurance that the water is safe for drinking!! You should go to the rural India to experience hospitality, pure and simple.The boys do something more than that. They tell us that there is another lake close by and there are lot many more birds. Marchard Lake is the name and it is just one kilometer by walk and 3-4 km by road. We are tempted. Will we get to see more flamingos? Or some bar headed geese? Or something else? At close range? We did not have much time at our disposal. We had to drive back to Shaktinagar and then back again to Raichur to catch our bus to Bangalore. We had to hurry up if we wanted to take a chance.
Back to the bike whose seat was by now hot enough to bake Dosa. We were at Marchard lake in ten minutes. And there, less than a hundred meters from the road, we see what we had hoped to see. In hundreds. The visitors from the Himalayan foothills, the Bar Headed Geese!! These beautiful birds breed in the Himalayan foothills and migrate down south during winter.
After spending about half an hour at Marchard lake we drive back to Shaktinagar after a short stop at Raichur to eat something at 4 pm. We were completely exhausted by now. But then, the trip was well worth it. Two full days spent in the hot sun, three sleepless (OK, half sleepless!) nights, 900 km journey by rickety bus, it was all worth it. And we met four nice gentlemen. The success of the trip was largely because of the foursome; Umashekar, Rudrappa, Madhu and Raghu. Thanks a ton for all that you did during the trip!! From my side, Dilip is the one who instigated me into it, so special thanks to him!For more pictures from the trip see my web album at: Raichur Trip Photos
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