If you’d flown to Bangalore*, southern India, literally not slept all night, and then gone straight out to Lalbagh Botanical Gardens on what turned out to be a beautifully warm but very crowded Sunday morning, I’d understand that you’d probably want to see as many birds as possible before you fell asleep in the nearest comfy-looking bush and that - quite possibly - except for the grand building below (which was snapped out of the cab window on the way) you’d forget to take any photos of the place you’d gone to…I’d be forgiving, and I’d be rather grateful if on this occasion you were too…thankyou.

The Vidhan Saudha which houses the State legislative Assembly

Instead of photos then, just imagine birding in a large park with a small lake in it, and imagine the park full of beautiful girls in brilliantly-coloured salwar-suits and shy (but extremely horny) young men wooing them in the shade of large trees, the cloudless sky dotted with wheeling Black Kites, the sound of car horns in the distance mingling with the “pucock, pucock” of White-cheeked Barbets and the slurred “chli-wee” of Greenish Warblers, and Indian Palm-squirrels - which look remarkably like North American Chipmunks - skittering across the paths and chasing each other at high speed through the branches. You can imagine that? Okay then, that’s what my morning was like…

Immature Black Kites Milvus migrans

Adult Brahminy Kite Haliastur indius

White-cheeked Barbet Megalaima viridis

Greenish Warbler Phylloscopus trochilodes

Very pleasant of course, though I have to say that Lalbagh would probably be a little more ‘birder-friendly’ mid-week when Bangalore’s finest were hard at work instead of strolling arm-in-arm with their loved ones and keeping what birds there were up in the canopy (oh, aside from the House and Large-billed Crows who really aren’t scared of anything, no way sir…).

Those ‘canopy birds’ included the aforementioned barbets and probably five Greenish Warblers, as well as two individuals of a very colourless southern race of Great Tit, a female-type Golden Oriole, a female Asian Paradise Flycatcher, a very loud Common Koel (gving its bubbling and slightly manic “koel…koel…koelkoelkoel” call), and two Black Drongos.

Male Common Koel Eudynamys scolopacea

The lake area and the bamboo-shaded shallow ponds associated with it were pretty good for birds - probably because of the fence ringing the lake, which at least gives some security to the few birds able to tolerate the rather dirty water (Little Cormorants for instance, and - surprisingly - a Spot-billed Pelican, which I think was a wild bird), and the mosquitoes and biting bugs which throng the ponds and keep most people away (not a daft British birder of course, who learnt his lesson a little late). Blyth’s Reed Warblers, which like Greenish’s are winter visitors, were widespread, as were the striking Indian Pond Herons which transform from snow-white to streaky brown when they close their wings on landing. I also found a Grey Wagtail, and had rather nice views of a Common Kingfisher (the same species as at home though the race here is more saturated and a darker blue: whether they’re at home or in India, they’re beautiful little birds aren’t they?).

Little Cormorant Phalcrocorax niger

Indian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii

Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis

Not the most important birding ever done in southern India, but enjoyable nonetheless. I’m sure I’ll remember a few more species as I go through the field-guide (Common Mynah and Ring-necked Parakeet spring to mind immediately), but in the meantime I need a few hours sleep before the flight home…

Update: It turns out that I may not have seen many more passerines if I’d been able to go to Lalbagh midweek after all: for a depressingly familiar story on a developing city’s disappearing birdlife click here

* Bangalore lies in the southeast of the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is in the heart of the Mysore Plateau at an average elevation of 920 m (3,018 feet). The majority of the city of Bangalore lies in the Bangalore Urban district of Karnataka and the surrounding rural areas are a part of the Bangalore Rural district. The Government of Karnataka has carved out the new district of Ramanagaram from the old Bangalore Rural district.