A birding trip to Kokrebellur had
been on my mind, ever since I heard of this exotic village where migratory
birds flock in year after year during
this season. So last weekend, we were off to Kokrebellur, 80kms from
Bangalore, zooming off through Bangalore-Mysore highway at sunrise.
Spotbilled Pelicans, Painted
Storks, Black Ibis breeding on the tamarind trees of this village is a sight
which left us spellbound. We were completely bowled over by the sight of these
huge birds, the size of which would easily put the local birds to shame. These enormous
birds swarming in flocks on the top of tamarind trees, noisily flapping their wings, building nests, briskly flying in and out carrying small branches in
their beaks made this place resemble a
crowded street, which in reality is a peaceful village. In comparison to these avian species, we
birdwatchers looked like jobless jacks
hanging out here merely watching this
flurry of activity and flashing our cameras.
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| Spotbilled Pelicans |
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| Painted Stork |
The villagers here never seem to trouble these birds, and look upon their arrival every year as sign of good luck and prosperity. If these avian visitors don’t arrive, villagers believe their crops will be lost that year . It seems the underlying fact behind this popular belief is that these bird droppings are a rich in phosphorous and potassium and act as good manure for crops.
To reach this haven, we took a
turn from the highway and drove 12 kms inside. The barren landscape suddenly gave way to a beautiful green
stretch, with fields of paddy, sugarcane and raagi fringed with cluster of
coconut trees. Sericulture seemed to be
quite popular here and we passed several silk farms on the way. At times we had
to drive over stack of hay, the villagers had spread out on the road to get sun
dried.
On the way was Tailur Kere lake, painted
in golden honey by glistening rays of rising
sun and the silhouette of numerous birds wading in the water sketched quite a contrast
against the backdrop. Watched the Pelicans, Cormorants, a bevy of Blackwing Stilts and other unidentified duck-like birds
wading here.
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| Tailur Kere |
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| Flight of the Painted Stork |
Later
we drove towards the bridge over Shimsha river. We stopped here and sitting
inside the car gorged on a quick breakfast of bread, jam and juice. The river brink was peppered with a generous sprinkle
of lovely white waterlilies. Common Coot was seen gracefully wading between these
lilies, randomly pecking on leaves and disappearing at times behind tall blades
of grass. How lucky is it to be dreamily swimming between these beautiful water lilies all day
long.
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| River Shimsha |
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| Common Coot |
We then decided to call it a day, pleased at having spent an otherwise lazy Sunday morning, birdwatching in this beautiful village.
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