Saturday 25 September 2021

Hennagara Lake

A panoramic view of the Hennagara Lake


Hennagara Lake

Bangalore has quite a few lakes within the city with a good bio-diversity. One such lake that I used to frequent is the Hennagara lake near Jigani in Bangalore. With 330 acres, this is a fairly big lake, especially considering this is within the city.

I have made a few trips, in the last couple of years, to the lake due to its proximity to where I live. The eastern part of the lake is just outside an upcoming residential layout, which has very few buildings and nothing near the banks of the lake. The bank is lined with some shrubs, plants and trees, giving the birds and butterflies some space on their own.

The western side of the lake has a agriculture field. Such diversified environment brings about a variety of birds to the place.

Wire-tailed swallow - கம்பிவால் தகைவிலான்


Black drongo - கருங்கரிச்சான்


Plain prinia - கதிர்க்குருவி

Coppersmith barbet - செம்மார்புக் குக்குறுப்பான்

Common kingfisher - சிறால் மீன்கொத்தி

Purple-rumped sunbird - ஊதாப்பிட்டு தேன்சிட்டு


The water is abundant with aquatic life makes it a good place for fishing activities. However, the birds that depend on fishes also finds the place quite co-habitable with the humans!


Indian pond heron - குருட்டுக் கொக்கு



Little egret - சின்னக் கொக்கு


A few other common birds which me and my friend spotted, but could not get a decent photograph are here. The list is quite big.

Common hawk cuckoo, Blue faced malkoha, Booted warbler, Blythe's reed warbler, Purple sunbird, Yellow billed babbler, Southern coucal, White-throated kingfisher, Pied kingfisher, Ashy prinia, Red-whiskered bulbul, White browed wagtail, Red wattled lapwings, green bee eater, paddyfield pipit, pied bushchat

Well, it is not all birds around. There are other beautiful creature around, if one cares to look for. But since I am mostly interested in the butterflies apart from the birds, that is what I was looking for.

Here are some colourful ones!

Branded evening brown


Pea blue


Indian wanderer - The female mimicking the Glassy tiger


Dakhan common gull

Lemon Pansy


There are more colourful ones, if you care to look for. But was not able to photograph everything. Some of the other common butterflies are

Common mormon
Plain tiger
Common castor
Angled castor
Common crow
Chocolate pansy

During the migratory and breeding season the lake will have a lot of bird activities. Birds from the northern part of India come here for breeding and nesting. The period between October and March is quite a busy time in this lake.

Purple heron - செந்நாரை


Spot billed pelican - கூழைக்கடா starting for the morning


Spot billed pelican - கூழைக்கடா some calm time


The Great cormorant - பெரிய நீர்க்காகம் having its morning breakfast

The Great cormorant - பெரிய நீர்க்காகம் taking off after the breakfast

Painted stork - மஞ்சள் மூக்கு நாரை


Brahminy kite - செம்பருந்து just caught a fish!

Grey heron - சாம்பல் நாரை

This is not all. As always is the case, what we see is only a fraction of the beauty of nature. The place is definitely worth a visit for anyone who wishes to see a good deal of bio-diversity without getting out of the city.

Hope you enjoyed. Do let me know if you had a chance to visit and how your visit was!


A colourful sunset at the Hennagara lake