After an unexcusable gap of 3 years I have returned to update this site :) Anyway this post is about a relatively unheard lake in Bangalore called Yellama lake on the NH4 highway. I was forwarded an email about a blog that inspired me to check this place out. And to my excitement the place was well worth the trip. The place is easily locatable as it is situated bang on the NH4 highway. The highway is under maintainence so the roads are pathetic and narrow and many places. The place that its the narrowest is flanked on both sides by the yellama lake water boday. Me and my friend Prime had set out on a Sunday morning at 5:30 to ensure we dont miss the early light for photography. Thanks to Sudhir I was able to rent out a 300F4/1.4x combination to try for the first time. The morning was extremely foggy to the extent that we werent able to figure out the suspensions in the KR puram bridge. It was pretty dense. After stopping for a fuel filling we shot off on the NH4 searching for the lake. Little did we realise that we had overshot the destination (the narrowest band) I referred earlier and went ahead. In addition to the lake we were also seeking a good stop for breakfast. But looking for one at 6:00 AM was a little too much I think - couldnt find a good hotel at that time. In the anxiety to find the place and a good eatout we kept speeding till our minds sprang an alarm when we saw the directions to Hoskote emerging. We decided to return back betting we had come along way. That turned out to be true. On the way back we encountered the narrowest section of the NH4 and matched it with the map to convince ourselves we were at the place we ought to be! This lake needs to be approached via a village adjacent to the lake. When you are going towards Hoskote (just for direction) and you cross the lake take a U turn and when you head back take the last left (so you should be taking the left just before the lake starts). Enter the village and head straight. That will lead you to a bund of mud. One can drive over it (like I did with the M800) or you can also park it down and walk over. From here you will be able to see the lake in good view. Then one can also walk towards the periphery of the lake towards NH4 to cover the lenght of it. This is how we can spot most of the birds as a lot of them thrive on the shores. The only worrying factor of the lake is the effluent discharge from the Cipla factory next to the lakeshore. We could smell strong odor of chemicals and wondered what the destruction to the ecosystem of the species was. Very concerning.
Below are the shots I managed for the different species we could photograph:
COMMON COOT
BLACK WINGED STILTS
HARRIER
POND HERON
NORTHERN SHOVELER
WHITE BROWED WAGTAIL
YELLOW WAGTAIL
RED MUNIA
SPOT BILLED DUCK
ZITTING CISTICOLA
SPOTTED DOVE
Others which we saw but couldnt manage a good shot were:
1. Northern Shoveler Female
2. White Breasted Waterhen
3. A few different warblers
4. Greater Coucal
5. Buschats
6. Robins
