Hoysala and Bisle Ghat birding
When : May 2016 Weather : Cool 20C
Day 2 of our Indian hill station visit and our guide suggested that we head off to a place called Bisle Ghat forest, about 1.5 hours away…as we had time, we did just that, but as it turns out it was a pretty disappointing outing…the 1.5 hour journey turned out to be nearer 2.5 hours and the bird life in Bisle was non-existent at 1030 by the time we arrived…
the moon over hoysala frm the night before
walking along the forested fringe on the way to Bisle Ghat, this beautiful sunbird appeared…Loten’s Longbilled sunbird
Parakeet
parakeet
arriving at Bisle Ghat, it was so quiet that I could only shoot these mushrooms!
and this skink
After another 2.5 hour drive , it was 2pm by the time we got back to Hoysala and lunch. After lunch we saw so much bird activity in the garden and shot these in about 30 minutes….if only we had stayed put in HVR!
A spot breasted fantail….just so pretty!
magpie robin
preening himself in the sun..
a pair of shy scaly breasted munias then started playing …and I was happy that I was finally able to use the manual focus on my P900 to focus behind the foreground twigs….thanks to HB!
and then this speckled breasted bird appeared…
flaring his feathers…
and started singing loudly and melodiously…I wondered why….
and then I saw the reason why…..he was courting his mate! I’m informed by Nishant that these are magpie robins although I’m wondering why juveniles are being so frisky!
this gorgeous butterfly flitted around merrily in the garden
at first glance I thought this was just another mynah…
until Nishant told me this is a jungle Myna….I was struck by the aquamarine blue eye!
and just before we checked out of the resort…this blue flash appeared ..
terrible blurred shots of the back but it was all I could muster of Tickell’s Blue flycatcher..HB managed to get it good though!
my abiding memory of these two days in the Hassan district of Karnataka will be of the wonderfully red flame of the forest trees…..they were magnificent and just everywhere..
Our stay in the Hoysala Village Resort was excellent…great food…excellent birding on our doorstep and outstanding service..I think that if you had only one day in the area, I would just stay in the resort and enjoy it and the flowers and birds… you don’t need to make long drives to the other ‘attractions’….
The Natural Traveller 