The Village of Pelicans and Storks!
Part a recommendation from Sidda and Jo and part the excitement of having picked up my new bike, I decided to visit Kokkare Bellur. Sidda said this place was about 45 kms from Bangalore on the Bangalore-Mysore highway and had an unusual presence of large water birds like Pelicans and Painted Storks.
I started early at 7.30, on SAT the 25th of Jan 07, took to the Kanakpura road and the later diversion towards Mysore road. This stretch was awesome, not yet available for mass transport and the pain was to travel at 50kmph (I'm still under speed restriction) on such a good road. It took a good 85 kilometers to reach Kokkare Bellur, having taken a left-side diversion after Tippur and before Maddur in Mandya district (I'll let Sidda explain to me what moved this place another 40 kms farther).
Between the bustle of the Bangalore city and my destination were some typical Karnataka villages. Large stretches of land, now empty after the recent harvest, some which were being prepared for the next season.
It was quite surprising to be at Kokkare Bellur. As you reach the village, quite unexpectedly, you would find the trees full on Pelicans and Painted Storks - 'kokkare' in the native language which gives the village its name. I felt like being in a Harry Potter movie at first.
Pouched bills, webbed feet and a huge wing span - you can't mistake a pelican for anything else. After a quick googling, I think that the pelicans at Kokre Bellur are 'Spot-billed Pelicans' Wikipedia: Pelecanus philippensis which is a vulnerable species among the 8 types of pelicans in the world. These birds are great fishers and magestic fliers often doing short distance migrations. Nesting on high perches, most of these birds had young ones.
Down on the ground, in a fenced area there were two young pelicans. These were being looked after by the local kids and they were only too eager to show these off to visitors.
Painted Storks Wikipedia:
Mycteria Leucocephala are a work of art themselves. Painted heads, strong long yellow beaks with a curve at the end, long legs - a distinct bird again. I think these outnumbered the pelicans easily and gave more aerobatic displays to me.
I expected a lake of some sort close-by that keep these water fouls happy, but found none. There was a river that flowed by and may be these birds found this enough.
The blistering heat and an increasingly large gang of kiddos forced me to turn back early. The kids started playing on my bike, ate the chocolates I had carried with me and started demanding lessons on how to use my camera.
Abhi/Abhishek was at first a curious onlooker. Later we started roaming together he told me about the village and I taught him how to take snaps. See the complete album on Snapfish.
posted by ദീപക് -:-Deepak @ 8:15 PM
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