motoring to Nandi Betta

motoring to Nandi Betta . . .

After a month-long hectic schedule of attending functions at different places, this Saturday gave the much needed break. And Nandi Betta was on the cards for a long time.

Unlike weekdays, I woke up early at 5 and left home by 6. Soon after crossing the BIAL, I could see Nandi Betta engulfed by huge clouds. I felt the place resembled the Coorg or Kodachadri hill range, with absolutely no visibility beyond a yard or two.

On the way up, from the foothills, heavy mist and clouds welcomed me till the very top. One can enjoy a beautiful drive up the hill with lots of greenery around, thanks to the pre-monsoon rains. I had a Coorg or Western Ghat feeling as hardly there were any dry patches. I could hear a lot of birds chirping in the trees, but I could hardly see them. Sipping a hot cup of tea at the tea stall, I started wondering when these clouds would move away so I could put my new 70-300 Nikkor to test. Winds blew faster, there came the rain. After enjoying the chilling breeze, I slowly couched into the car seat. It was already 9 am and there was no sign of sunlight. Parking the car at SankeyCircle [the first level, ticket counter, tea-stall], I started climbing up the hill. Reached atop by about 10 am and was hungry enough for a quick breakfast.

Indian Robin

About 1030 or 1045, clouds started drifting away and there was some light, not sufficient but lot better than what it was earlier. I was glad that I could locate where the chirping of the birds were coming from. Slowly and steadily I sneaked into the small forest region on the top. Struggled a bit initially to locate the birds through my lensview as they looked miles away. After clouds moved much away, I could see those sun-kissed tree tops and chirping of birds became a lot louder. Though I spotted a lot of birds, I could capture only a few of them.

red whiskered bulbul pycnonotus Jocusus

After a few clicks, rains forced me to cover my camera very frequently. So far I had spotted red-whiskered bulbul, fantail, white cheeked barbets, blue-capped thrush and Indian Blue robins were aplenty. While I was looking for more of Blue robins, they were full of activity in and around bushes, I could hardly get a good glimpse of them. Instead the others like barbets and bulbuls were happy to see the lens eye.

white cheeked Barbet

In the early hours of the morning, there were so many other birds. Due to mist and cloud, also most importantly with the lack of knowledge , I couldn identify most of the birds. This being my first attempt at birding, I consoled myself to acquire more knowledge the next time I click. After all, one has to pass through the hard learning curve. By noon a big crowd came in and with all the noise around, birds flew beyond the borderlines and into the distant sky. I descended down slowly with a note of promise to learn more about birding to make my next visit to Nandi Betta more fruitful.