Last sunday, 16th October, Anil, Srinka & me happened to visit Bellandur lake. 6:30 pm to 7:30pm. Bellandur lake is one of my favourite spots around. Years ago, as part of the bngbirds I had been there, and not until 2002 did I re-discover it. It was such a pleasant surprise to find such a rustic countryside so close to the city. Dharin was driving his kinetic, I was behind, we were searching govt. schools in that area. And, Belandur lake thrilled me like anything.
I guess I have so much to say 'bout this lake that I can go on & on. Its very close to Airport, and also easily approached from the kormangala part of the town.
I had wanted to walk around the lake in the afternoon. That morning while running along the tank bund, a water snake had crossed my path. So, I was keen on spending some time looking around. Plans went awry, and we reached after the sun had gone down. Instead, we had an yellow full moon, which had climbed around 30 degrees, playing with the clouds. Yes, a cloudy sky.
What you see here is the eastern sky, the lights are from the outer ring road (Marathalli to sarjapur sector). A big tree, paddy fields (not distinguishable), & the lake water (white streaks)flowing out. All shots taken in sports mode (least esposure time). Didn't have a tripod for taking pictures in night-mode. All images shown have had their brightness & contrast tampered.
Anil with his new Canon A95 was experimenting a lot. He was thrilled with some of the shots that were coming out. Srinka simply loved the moon, and couldn't take her eyes away from it.
This particular road goes away from Bellandur lake towards *** agrahara - a small village -. The katcha road is flanked by paddy fields. Its a breath-taking sight. Off-late, people are converting these agricultural lands for other purposes. This particular tree, had a nice sun-bird on the top-left branch (10 O clock position), when I was running that morning. A chirping bird seen from close quarters is a wonderful sight.
I love planes. One of the wonderful things about Bellandur & Varthur lake are that planes seem to just fly over the lake. As they approach for landing they just disappear into the coconut trees. And, thats a wonderful sight. Herz a craft that was coming in. All the above snaps were to the left of the road - eastern sky -
To the west, among the paddy fields, stands this solitary coconut tree. And, this tree with green fields around, is a joyous poem to me.
Some planet, just to the right of the tree. Know what, one of the great fun in life, is walking in fields - agricultural fields - They usually have a small path for walking, and for city-folks like me, it needs some getting used to walk on them. You need good balance. And, just after rains, its fun to walk on them. Water from the lake irrigates these fields.
And now the planet has miraculously moved to the left of the tree. Wow! what magic ;-)) Lakes in the outskirts of Bangalore have traditionally been networked. I mean, they are kind of directional, connected graph. Each lake after it gets filled up, the excess water starts flowing thru man-made(???) canals towards the nearest lake. I see this arrangement in lots of lakes around B'lore. Its important that these canals are preserved. Lotz of lakes are drying up for these network is encroached upon.
Now, we walked back to the lake, and took the road (which is on the tank-bund) towards Bellandur village. Here, we had the lake to our right, and the paddy fields to our left. Right, besides the lake, to our right, is the airport. The light in this snap comes form it. Water hyacinth - weeds - have majorly covered up the lake surface. These invasive species are becoming a scourge of the lakes. The dark patch at the bottomof the image are the weeds.
The lake again. The lake is huge. Don't recall the figures. This could be easily converted into a eco-tourism spot. And, the lake better maintained.
Here, the lights are from the Koromangala region. Notice the reflection of the lights. And, also the weeds in the lower half of the frame.
Therz a temple mid-way on the road. The road, a snaky one, tarred ages ago, wide-enough to take a bus on it. Anil, liked this tree (Rain tree ??), just before the temple. Srinka kept looking at the moon all along. I looked around for owls. No luck.
This un-edited snap looks terrific isn't it ;-) Night photography is a challenge, Most of the time nothing had come out of my earlier aim & shoot analog camera. These were a pleasant surprise, with simply fast exposure time, and little adjustments with the brightness & contrast. Thanks actually to the bright moon. Talking about one of may favourite lakes with mostly grey images isn't the best way around. But still, I hope to have excited you enough to visit a lake closeby. Check it up, find out its health.
Bellandur lake can be reached from the airport side by
1) Taking the wind tunnel road, and ask for Yamlur village
2) Going on the airport road, past the airport, and taking the right at the petrol bunk before Marathhalli, basically you follow the airport compound wall are reach Yamlur village.
3) Can also be reached from Koramangala thru the outer ring road, coming thru Bellandur village.
This pansy with it torn wing majorly attracted me. I went around it, and took hazzar snaps. I was looking for that elusive snap. This one ?? So many snaps, I feeel I will write on them in detail later. Infact, as I was following this butterfly, seemed to develop some personal attachment for this guy. Some more of his clan were flying around, but this chap with his torn wing was easily identifiable and emotional bonds were spontaneously established ;-)
