Hebbal Lake is located in the north of Bangalore at the mouth of National Highway 7, along the junction of Bellary Road and the Outer Ring Road(ORR). It was one of the three lakes created in 1537 by Kempe Gowda. Like most lakes or "tanks" in the Bangalore region it was formed by the damming natural valley systems by the construction of bunds.
Having heard and ready plenty about the photo ops this location offers; I decided to do an exploratory visit. It was a lazy Sunday on the 11th July when we decided to take a drive down to the lake for a picnic of sorts. We left home at 11:00am and reached the lake 40 minutes later.
The lake is an excellent place for birding and the ideal time to visit would be in the early morning.
The more adventurous folks could even have a deal stuck with the local fishermen to take you on one of the Coracles/ boats that they use to fish in the lake. This offers an even better opportunity to get closer to the birds.
Coming back to our trip; the one thing we had to constantly watch out for was the presence of couples of various age groups in various stages of....ahem.... having a camera in hand makes things that much more difficult. The other big nuisance is having folks come up behind you and ask in a loud voice which TV channel are we from... This is very irritating 'cause it not only throws you off but also scares the birds away.
So the lessons learnt are:
1. Reach the lake early in the morning well before the couples reach the spot.
2. Have someone watch your back (Standing at the edge of the lake it does not take too much for someone to scare you and as a result you and your camera take a dip in the water)
3. Carry a notepad to note down the sightings for later reference.
Having said this....take a look at some of the pictures taken on the day when the couples and kids permitted me to shoot in peace. Looking forward to going back soon... and very early in the morning. Thanks for reading!!!
