ISROLAYOUT LAKE (DEVARAKERE)

Little Cormorant basking under Sun

Isro layout lake also called as Devarakere is situated in southern part of the Bangalore city (12.89N,77.55E).  It is a small lake stretched over an area of about 5 acres. I have been a regular visitor to this lake since 2002 and have witnessed how our ecosystem gets affected due to the unplanned growth or development of a city.
  

When I first visited Devarakere in 2000 I was surprised to see such a beautiful place so near to my residence. During those times still this part of Bangalore was considered as outskirt of the city and the population was very sparse. The land around the lake was vacant and had natural vegetation and was also acting as a catchment area. Since this is situated in an elevated area we were able to see around many kilometers standing from any point.

Dragon flies - One of the main preys of birds

It was not until 2002 I started visiting this lake regularly. During those days I was gaining interest in the birds and just for the curiosity I went to this lake thinking whether I could find any birds here. I was not disappointed. In my first visit only I saw small blue kingfisher and was so much excited. From then on I started visiting this lake regularly exploring more and more of it.

This lake was under Karnataka Forest Department and also there was a watcher who was protecting the lake from illegal hunting and fishing. This would be the main reason for the rich biodiversity it had once. Later on this was handed over to Lake Development Authority. Problem started at this point. The lake lost the vigilance it had and people started misusing by fishing and hunting and also using this for grazing livestock.

Small blue Kingfisher

In recent years human houses have popped up like mushroom around this lake. This led to increase inflow of sewage water to the lake and considerably affected the aquatic life. Though efforts have been made to divert away sewage from lake by building canals this is also draining away rain water from the lake. Now there is considerable decrease in the fish population of the lake. Due to this, the once common birds like cormorant, egret and lesser pied kingfisher are difficult to be seen.

This is not just a story of one lake but almost all lakes in Bangalore. Ultimately saving our environment lies in the hands of local citizens like us and can we do that?

List of Birds of ISROLAYOUT LAKE (DEVARAKERE)

SL	Common Name	Scientific	Status
1	Common Kingfisher	Alcedo atthis	widespread resident
2	Pied Kingfisher	Ceryle rudis	widespread resident
3	White-throated Kingfisher	Halcyon smyrnensis	widespread resident
4	White-breasted Waterhen	Amaurornis phoenicurus	widespread resident
5	Purple Swamphen	Porphyrio porphyrio	widespread resident
6	Common Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus	widespread resident
7	Little Cormorant	Phalacrocorax niger	widespread resident
8	House Crow	Corvus splendens	widespread resident
9	Large-billed Crow	Corvus macrorhynchos	widespread resident
10	Common Myna	Acridotheres tristis	widespread resident
11	Rosy Starling	Sturnus roseus	widespread winter visitor & widespread migrant
12	Jungle Myna	Acridotheres fuscus	widespread resident
13	Purple-rumped Sunbird	Nectarinia zeylonica	widespread resident
14	Purple Sunbird	Nectarinia asiatica	widespread resident
15	White-cheeked Barbet	Megalaima viridis	widespread resident
16	Coppersmith Barbet	Megalaima haemacephala	widespread resident
17	Red-vented Bulbul	Pycnonotus cafer	widespread resident
18	Red-whiskered Bulbul	Pycnonotus jocosus	widespread resident
19	Black Kite	Milvus migrans	widespread resident & widespread winter visitor
20	Brahminy Kite	Haliastur indus	widespread resident
21	Indian Pond Heron	Ardeola grayii	widespread resident
22	Little Egret	Egretta garzetta	widespread resident
23	Cattle Egret	Bubulcus ibis	widespread resident
24	Intermediate Egret	Mesophoyx intermedia	widespread resident
25	Common Tailorbird	Orthotomus sutorius	widespread resident
26	Ashy Prinia	Prinia socialis	widespread resident
27	Indian Robin	Saxicoloides fulicata	widespread resident
28	Oriental Magpie Robin	Copsychus saularis	widespread resident
29	Thick-billed Flowerpecker	Dicaeum agile	widespread resident
30	House Swift	Apus affinis	widespread resident
31	Spotted Dove	Streptopelia chinensis	widespread resident
32	Green Bee-eater	Merops orientalis	widespread resident
33	Red-wattled Lapwing	Vanellus indicus	widespread resident
34	Great Tit	Parus major	widespread resident
35	Spotted Owlet	Athene brama	widespread resident
36	Pied Bushchat	Saxicola caprata	widespread resident
37	Asian Koel	Eudynamys scolopacea	widespread resident
38	Greater Coucal	Centropus sinensis	widespread resident
39	Asian Paradise-flycatcher	Terpsiphone paradisi	widespread resident
40	Little Grebe	Tachybaptus ruficollis	widespread resident
41	White-browed Wagtail	Motacilla maderaspatensis	widespread resident
42	Grey Wagtail	Motacilla cinerea	very local resident & widespread winter visitor
43	Rose-ringed Parakeet	Psittacula krameri	widespread resident
44	Eurasian Golden Oriole	Oriolus oriolus	widespread resident
45	Blyth’s Reed Warbler	Acrocephalus dumetorum	widespread winter visitor

Magpie robin

Little grebe