Report : Bangalore Bird Race 2009

A few weeks back, Sudhansu Nayak, a person whom I met a few months back because of a common passion we share – Photography, informed me about an event – It was called “Bird Race” and was to be conducted in January 2009. I had no ideas what this meant, and decided to dig the dirt out – The bird race is an all day event, the objective is to go around Bangalore (no restrictions on type of transport) and spot birds, mark them in a log-book provided. The bird race starts at 6 AM, and we are supposed to submit out finds at the venue by 5:30 PM. Judges take a sometime to go through the logs, and decide the winner. This is one race that I didn’t even think of winning – the entire aspect of going out, watching birds for an entire day sounded very intersting, and I jumped in right away. Without second thoughts, we decided to pull in Mallik and Amit Mitra, two very well known and respected bird photographers. I and Sudhansu are relatively new comers to serious birding – Mallik and Amit are very well known by most of the bird photographers in Bangalore. So we were heavily banking on their experience and ability to ID birds.

So, with our team all formed up, Sudhansu came up with the team name “Albatross”, and we were all set to go. Well, almost all set to go.

And now, the report of the D-Day:

Bird Race 2009, Bangalore was scheduled on January 18th. Co-ordinating and planning mostly over phone and eMails (which can be very confusing for a few people like me), we decided to do a dry run of our planned places on January 17th, which basically involved visiting the scheduled places and checking them out for birds, and also the estimated time to get from one place to another. This didn’t work out, owing to different reasons. Sudhansu had to visit Nanadi Hills anyway – A famous ornithologist from Bangalore was taking folks from his work place around to show them the birds there. I and Mallik decided that we will scout different areas and check for the availability of birds (I ventured into Kanakpura Road area – Details on this on a later post). Finally, on the night of the 17th, all of us decided that Nandi Hills should be our primary spot due to the bio-diversity of the place.

January 18 : All of us met at Sudhansu’s place early in the morning, and we were off to Nandi Hills. Amit is familiar with the Nandi Hills area, as he photographs very often. On the way, stopped for tea near Devanhalli, and marked off a few birds immediately – Common crow, Cattle Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Purple Rumped Sunbird, Indian Robin, Common Mynah. At the foothill, we spotted a small lake with a couple of egrets sitting around – decided to stop the car and venture out. We ended up with a around 10 species of birds including barn swallows, sandpiper, lapwing. Looking at the birds there, most of us had a big problem – our photographer instincts kicked in, and everyone of us started snapping photographs of a lovely sandpiper. The foothills is very diverse – with birds like Sky Lark, varieties of Shrikes, Indian Roller, Green Barbet, Coppersmith Barbet, Bee Eaters, Laughing Dove to name a few. It took a while to realize that we were there for the competition and not for photographs. So, we decided to keep photographs to a minimum and use the cameras and lenses for “record shots” – proof that we had actually spotted the bird, in case questioned.

At the top of Nandi Hills, we spooted almost every bird that was documented to be seen there – Orange Thrush, Blue Capped Thrush, Oriental White Eye, Bush chat, Common Buzzard, Oriental Honey Buzzard, and our bird of the day – The Asian Paradise Fly Catcher. The only bird we missed was the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon. Had breakfast there, met up with fellow competitors, and continued. I was quite surprised at the diversity of birds that could be found there – I’ll never forget the Oriental White Eye – I’d always been thinking that the bird was a larger one – till I actually saw it. Very cute, very small – I don’t think I’ll forget its call easily. I’ve seen the Asian Paradise Fly Catcher before, and it’s one beautiful bird – Amit was the one who spotted it, and it ended up with me, Mallik and Sudhansu running behind the bird to get more than “record shots”. Once we were convinced that we wouldn’t be able to find more birds, we left Nandi Hills, and on the way, ticked off a few more birds from the checklist. Stopped to buy grapes – what’s visiting Nandi Hills without getting some grapes?

Next stop – Jakkur Lake. I’d never even known that Jakkur had a lake. Ticked off a few more species – Purple Heron, Purple Moorhen (Purple Swamphen), Little Grebe, Common Coot. Hebbal was a disappointment – We managed to scare away a Purple Heron (accidentally) and get some beautiful photos of the Grey Heron. We also saw a couple of Lapwings who weren’t that scared of our relatively larger camera equipment (Details on that later). Recently, Hessarghatta lake has been home to a lot of raptors, and so, off we went to wards Hessarghatta. Stopped for lunch on the way, and braving all traffic jams, we were off. Amit mentioned that whenever one saw and photographed a Common Buzzard at Nandi Hills, he was bound to be pulled over by the cops – it’d happened to him, and a friend. Fortunately, that didn’t happen this time.

Hessarghatta was another disappointment, with very few birds visible. Mallik and Sudhansu noticed that there was a car closer to the lake shores, and we aksed a few kids who were awing our gear how to get there – They were only too happy to help us. We eneded up there, to spot some pipits and stalked some buntings. Laid flat on the ground at a distance of less than 3 metres away from two buntings that were busy searching for food – got some shots, before the buntings decided that they had to fly away.

It was almost 4:30, and we had to back at Manipal center by 5:30. Sudhansu decided to take up driving activities. If there’s one thing Sudhansu can do better than photography – It’s his driving ability. I was in the front seat, next to him, closing my eyes for a nap at times, but my hand could never let go of the camera on my lap, or the hand rest. We were there on time, with our total count to a mere 67 birds – something that Amit was very disappointed with. I was happy because I got to see and identify more birds that I’d normally spot over a month’s time. At the venue, we met up with folks who were much elder to us, seasoned bird spotters, and knew all the areas and tricks of the trade. We knew we didn’t make it, for the three teams that had reported before us had respectable totals of more birds. We didn’t stay back for the prize distribution ceremony, as we were only too tired. I read that the team that won had been to Nandi Hills, probably much earlier than we did – Their total also stood at a respectable 145 birds, with the first and second runners up totaling to an impressive 130+ birds.

We missed out on a lot of birds that are found in abundance – Greater Coucal (none spotted!), Painted Stork, Spot Billed Pelican, and a lot of other birds. I guess taking part in the competition has only opened the door – Energy draining, and taxing, but worth it. It was a fantastic experience to be with these folks and do what all of us liked to do most – spot birds.

A few links :
More information on India Bird Races

Sudhansu’s photo gallery – Sudhansu is very varied when it comes to photography – From Streets of Bangalore to birding in Jungles of Bannerghatta, he photographs everything that appeals to him!

Amit Mitra – Amit is also on India Nature Watch – He is one of the most respected bird photographers in Bangalore

Mallik – Another respected bird photographer in Bangalore – A long time photographer, Mallik’s photographs speak for themselves

Niranj – A newbie to bird photography – Something that I don’t intend to give up for now

Gear Information
Sudhansu : Canon EOS 40D, Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L USM IS
Amit Mitra : Nikon D70s, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM, Sigma 2x Teleconverter
Mallik : Canon EOS 400D, Canon EF 400 f/5.6 L USM, Tamron 1.4x Teleconverter, Kenko 1.4x Teleconverter
Niranj : Canon EOS 350D, Canon EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L USM IS

PS: Photographs from this event, if any *good* ones are found, will be added later. I am too tired to get them out of the camera right now.

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