Birding at Karanji Kere

Posted by Nbhat

I reached Mysore around 9:30 AM courtesy my laziness and then went to Zoo. I was under the wrong impression that entrance to Kranji Kere was through the zoo, worse I checked that only after getting into the zoo. I should have done better research.
As I had gotten into the Zoo i thought let me take a stroll around and see the Zoo. It was much better than I had expected. The trail to go around the Zoo is well marked. Also its a good beginning for the children to learn about animals. The trail is 3 km long and it took me almost an hour to cover though in little bit of hurry. Zoo officials say it takes 2.5 hours. Many of the enclosures you have signs explaining animal, habitat and food habits. Especially the bird enclosures. That was impressive.
I walked around a kilometer and a half to reach the lake. It was almost 11:00 AM and still I was greeted by Coucal at the entrance and lot of other birds followed. There is a aviary and butterfly park inside the lake park. Aviary is well maintained and the peacocks can be seen within a distance of 2-3 feet. In the lake there are many small islands where birds nest and stay. There are seats all around to watch them. There is also a watch tower giving good view. Despite reaching late I could do good birding!

Getting there
There are lot of buses from Bengaluru through out the day. From KSRTC bus stand in Mysore its around 3 km. There are separate entrances for Zoo and lake. There is a underground pathway which is under construction. If you are driving to to Mysore lake is well within the city limits.

Little Cormorant From Karanji Kere

White Ibis (Juvenile?) From Karanji Kere