Aug 152012
Rediscovering Nature in the IT Corridor of Hyderabad at Durgam Cheruvu
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| The Birders at Durgan Cheruvu |
Durgam Cheruvu was named because it meant Secret Lake and was very difficult to both find and reach. During the times of Qutub Shahi Sultans the lake was surrounded by jungle so thick that except for few locals nobody knew of its existence. Its water was pure and potable, so the sultans built secret system of pipe lines to take the water from the lake to the Golconda Fort around 10 KM away to the top of the fort using a very innovative system of pipes, and Persian wheels to lift water. The reason this lake was chosen was because it was very difficult to reach and chances of enemy poisoning the source of water for the fort was remote, hence water bodies close to the fort were ignored for water supply to the kings and Durgam Cheruvu was used as source of water for the Sultans.
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| Kingfisher Hiding Behind A Rock |
Where is the lake today?Well if you are in Hitec City in Hyderabad it is bang opposite Inorbit mall continuously being encroached by builder mafia and debris being dumped in to it. The lake is still surrounded by dense jungle but most of it is concrete and glass except for the core area which still remains pristine.
We visited the lake last Sunday early morning with GHAC Nature group for bird watching. GHAC founder and full time adventurist Diyanat Ali was the skipper. After parking our vehicles in a lane where Tea Shops have mushroomed we hiked down to reach the shore of the lake. It started as a slow day for bird watching with multiple generators in the vicinity belching out smoke as well as loud noise that kept the birds hidden. Fortunately after 45 minutes the gensets stopped breathing and slowly we started hearing the chirping of bird sounds.
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| Red Vented Bulbul |
We spotted 11+ species of birds like common Coot, Little Grebe, Little Crake, White Breasted Waterhen, Common Moorhen, Common White Breasted Kingfisher, White Belied Heron, Median Egret, Cattle Egret, Red Vented Bulbul ( with a twig in its beak to build a nest), Spot Billed Duck, Little Cormorant, Magpie Robin and our national bird the Peacock.
While hiking for coming back to the main road I was more focused on the ground due to rains it was slippery. It turned out to be a good decision, not only I avoided a few falls and saved my camera but I also captured some beautiful bugs and wild mushrooms on the camera. I was also very happy to capture some wild flowers including 2 beautiful trees of Indian Acacia one with yellow flowers and another with lavender.
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| Pink Acacia Flowers |
But in my opinion the highlight of the day was Kingfisher whom we caught on camera not only diving in water but also trying to hide from us behind a rock as if shying away from being clicked.
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| Kingfisher Landing On The Rock |
We parted ways thanking Diyanat Ali for helping us identify various birds and some of the insects also. We are already planning the next bird watching session. Watch out this space for more.
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| Crimson Rose Butterfly |
Thanks for reading.
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| A Wild Mushroom’s Topical View |
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