Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Third Sunday Outing - Bird List- March 2010

Never expected  52 birders from all over Bangalore to attend the Third Sunday Outing inspite of the scorching summer heat.It was also great pleasure to see Dr.Subbu join us for this trail.One gets to learn so much from his knowledge and which he loves to share with.The initial plan was to start the trail from the National Park Gate on the Bannerghatta - Kaggalipura Road and continue till the forest check  gate.After parking the cars near the village temple, we walked along the village road, and surprisingly were able to see many birds on this stretch. Though couple of participants felt that the place was dirty and was stinking, personally I felt that its also an eye opener that one need not go to the forest alone to enjoy fauna. There is a need to popularize the concept of urban wildlife.As per the suggestion of Jayaram Jahagirdar ,who knows the terrain pretty well, and Dr.Subbu's enthusiasm to go "off road", we decided to explore the Suvarnamukhi Pond area. The pond water is believed to have curative powers.Nearly two kms stretch from the road to the pond area was uphill . We opened our snack sacks mid way and continued our trail towards the pond. Notable sighting on this patch was spotting a pair of Rufous-tailed larks, giving a good photo opportunity for many of us, by posing nicely on the rocks.After a session of 'Garam garam bhajjis" we returned to the base via the Champakadhama Temple Hill.

Thanks to all the enthusiastic participants, it was again a good birding trail.Hope to see everyone's photo links soon.

Here are the list of birds spotted.
  • Blyth's Reed Warbler
  • Hoopoe
  • Asian Koel
  • Red Vented Bulbul
  • Red Whiskered Bulbul
  • Purple Sunbird
  • Tickell's Flower Pecker
  • Eurasian Golden Oriole
  • White Cheeked Barbet
  • Small Green Bee-eater
  • White Browed Wagtail
  • Ashy Prinia
  • Plain Prinia
  • House Sparrow
  • Black Kite
  • Red Wattled Lapwing
  • Red Rumped Swallow
  • Large-Billed Crow
  • Oriental Honey Buzzard
  • Common Kestrel
  • Pond Heron
  • Indian Robin
  • Pied Bushchat
  • Jungle Myna
  • Common Myna
  • White Throated Kingfisher
  • White Headed Babbler
  • Greater Coucal
  • Common Tailorbird
  • Jerdon's Bushlark
  • Long Tailed Shrike
  • Rose Ringed Parakeet
  • Yellow Eyed Babbler
  • Cattle Egret
  • Laughing Dove
  • Ashy Wood Swallow
  • Lesser Whitethroat
  • Great Tit
  • Rufous Tailed Lark
  • House Sparrow
  • Black Drongo
  • Ashy Drongo
  • Purple Rumped Sunbird
  • Grey Wagtail
  • Spotted Dove
  • Common Swallow
  • Common Iora
  • Brown Shrike
  • Rosy Starlings
  • House Crow
  • White Browed Bulbul
  • Little Cormorant
  • Pond Heron

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Third Sunday Nature Trail - 21st March 2010

Its time again to reconnect with nature, and enjoy the flora and fauna around Bannerghatta.

This month's Third Sunday Trail will be on 21st March 2010.

Place : Road connecting Bannerghatta Circle to Kaggalipura

Meeting Time : 6.30 AM

Meeting place : Bannerghatta Circle ( Opp.Police Station)

Google Map Coordinates : 12.813779, 77.581093

Comfortable clothing,good walking shoes, a cap, water bottle,binocular ( if you have), a camera ( if you like to shoot) and snacks is what you need to join the trail. This outing is free and open to all ages who can walk the trail of around four to five hours . 

We recommend car-pooling between participants. While confirming participation please also indicate your contact details and the route you will be taking to reach Bannerghatta Circle. If traveling in your own car, please do indicate if any spare capacity is available. 

Folks who would like to come and stay overnight pl. confirm earliest so that we can make adequate arrangements.

Call me at 9845383882 or Mahesh at 9448384472 to confirm .

Geetanjali

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD CENSUS - 2010

A three day Great Indian Bustard (GIB) census will be held on 2nd, 3rd and 4th of April 2010 at Sirguppa in Bellary District, Karnataka jointly by Sloth Bear Foundation of Bellary and SWAN of Hospet. They are looking for about 20 genuine volunteers who are willing to rough it out in the scorching heat of Bellary which may go up to 45 degrees celcius at times. The accomodation is very basic in a house at Sirguppa owned by Mr.Anand Kundargi, a naturalist or tents in the villages. 
The idea is to have a minimum of 4 groups who travel in a groups of 5 or 6 in a jeep with one local guide who has knowledge of the entire area and a GPS equipment. The entire GIB area which was covered so far will be divided into 4 areas, North, South, East and West and simultaneous survey will be carried out so that any possible overlap will be avoided. 
Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), a majestic bird was declared extinct in Karnataka in the year 1998. Later it was rediscovered by naturalists Santosh Martin, president of Sloth Bear Foundation, and Abdul Samad, president of the Society for Wildlife and Nature (SWAN), Hospet after a search for 3 years and numerous expeditions.
Interested volunteers have to register on or before 31st march 2010 with complete personal details and prior experiences in wildlife census. Fee for the program is Rs.1000/- which includes simple food and accomodation. Volunteers have to reach in the evening at 5 pm on the 8th march for an orientation program at Mr. Anand Kundargi's residence in Sirguppa.

Volunteers owning Jeeps or SUVs and are willing to use them in this project will be a welcome proposition. 

For more details contact:

Mr. Santosh Martin
President
Sloth Bear Foundation
No.7, Martin Road,
BELLARY-583101
Mobile : 9845269512

or 

Mr. Samad Kottur
President SWAN
Basaveshwar Badavane
Hospet.
Mobile:9448989263

Program Details:

Day 1 : Reach siruguppa in the evening at about 4.00 pm. You can either drive down or take a train/bus to Bellary and later travel to Siruguppa (40Kms) by bus or request the organizers to make travel arrangements .

Day2: Wake up call 4:30 am. Tea and off to the site from Siruguppa (approximately each site is about 20 kms from Siruguppa). Start the search program by max 7.00 am and go on till 10.30 am. Breakfast at site or at Mr. Anand Kundargi's place. Free till lunch at 1.00 pm and again free till 3.00pm. Reach the site again by 4.00 pm to continue the search till 7.00 pm. Back to the base. Compilation of data followed by dinner.

Day3: Wake up call 4:30 am. Tea and off to the site from Siruguppa (approximately each site is about 20 kms from Siruguppa). Start the search program by max 7.00 am and go on till 10.30 am. Breakfast at site or at Mr. Anand Kundargi's place. Free till lunch at 1.00 pm and again free till 3.00pm. Reach the site again by 4.00 pm to continue the search till 7.00 pm. Back to the base. Compilation of data. Dinner and disperse.

Posted via web from itnatureclub's posterous

GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD CENSUS - 2010

A three day Great Indian Bustard (GIB) census will be held on 2nd, 3rd and 4th of April 2010 at Sirguppa in Bellary District, Karnataka jointly by Sloth Bear Foundation of Bellary and SWAN of Hospet. They are looking for about 20 genuine volunteers who are willing to rough it out in the scorching heat of Bellary which may go up to 45 degrees celcius at times. The accomodation is very basic in a house at Sirguppa owned by Mr.Anand Kundargi, a naturalist or tents in the villages. 
The idea is to have a minimum of 4 groups who travel in a groups of 5 or 6 in a jeep with one local guide who has knowledge of the entire area and a GPS equipment. The entire GIB area which was covered so far will be divided into 4 areas, North, South, East and West and simultaneous survey will be carried out so that any possible overlap will be avoided. 
Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), a majestic bird was declared extinct in Karnataka in the year 1998. Later it was rediscovered by naturalists Santosh Martin, president of Sloth Bear Foundation, and Abdul Samad, president of the Society for Wildlife and Nature (SWAN), Hospet after a search for 3 years and numerous expeditions.
Interested volunteers have to register on or before 31st march 2010 with complete personal details and prior experiences in wildlife census. Fee for the program is Rs.1000/- which includes simple food and accomodation. Volunteers have to reach in the evening at 5 pm on the 8th march for an orientation program at Mr. Anand Kundargi's residence in Sirguppa.

Volunteers owning Jeeps or SUVs and are willing to use them in this project will be a welcome proposition. 

For more details contact:

Mr. Santosh Martin
President
Sloth Bear Foundation
No.7, Martin Road,
BELLARY-583101
Mobile : 9845269512

or 

Mr. Samad Kottur
President SWAN
Basaveshwar Badavane
Hospet.
Mobile:9448989263

Program Details:

Day 1 : Reach siruguppa in the evening at about 4.00 pm. You can either drive down or take a train/bus to Bellary and later travel to Siruguppa (40Kms) by bus or request the organizers to make travel arrangements .

Day2: Wake up call 4:30 am. Tea and off to the site from Siruguppa (approximately each site is about 20 kms from Siruguppa). Start the search program by max 7.00 am and go on till 10.30 am. Breakfast at site or at Mr. Anand Kundargi's place. Free till lunch at 1.00 pm and again free till 3.00pm. Reach the site again by 4.00 pm to continue the search till 7.00 pm. Back to the base. Compilation of data followed by dinner.

Day3: Wake up call 4:30 am. Tea and off to the site from Siruguppa (approximately each site is about 20 kms from Siruguppa). Start the search program by max 7.00 am and go on till 10.30 am. Breakfast at site or at Mr. Anand Kundargi's place. Free till lunch at 1.00 pm and again free till 3.00pm. Reach the site again by 4.00 pm to continue the search till 7.00 pm. Back to the base. Compilation of data. Dinner and disperse.

Posted via web from itnatureclub's posterous