Kokkare Bellur

About:

Kokkare Bellur (Village of Storks), a small village off the main highway between Bangalore and Mysore, is one of the few nesting sites in India of the spotbilled pelican. In addition, it is also home to hundreds of painted storks. The best time to see the pelicans is in December and January. The place is not a sanctuary, and the storks and pelicans live freely in the trees in the middle of village and are quite used to their human neighbors. Mysore Amateur Naturalists (MAN) have been working with the inhabitants of village to preserve the nesting site of the spotbilled pelicans, which are an endangered species.

This is one of those innumerable spots on the Bangalore Mysore highway which can be easily overlooked if you are not aware of the importance of the place. A blushing signboard on the highway which often hides its face from the traveling vehicles doesn't help the matters either. The place is 75 km from Bangalore and 12 km from the highway. After Channapatna, go towards Maddur. Before Maddur, is a village Rudrakshipura. It is just before the BPL factory. Take a left turn here and Kokkare Bellur is another 12 km on this village road.

Village of Kokkare Bellur is another haven for migratory birds, as well as bird lovers. This otherwise undescript village springs a surprise with numerous Painted Storks and Pelicans roaming around freely in the village. Best time to visit is around Feb - March and try to make it early morning (as early as 6 - 7). Kokkare Bellur is a short deviation from Bengaluru - Mysuru road. 75 kms from Bengaluru (infact, just after the milestone #75), before the Mysore Mylary hotel, there is a village road towards the left. Kokkare Bellur is abt 12kms from here. Almost half way through, there is a trijuntcion where u shud keep to the right. At Kokkare Bellur just park the vechicle(s) and walk around the village streets with trees on all sides infested with so many beautiful birds! This place offers a rare chance to spot some of the rare birds at very close distances. Yeah ... please remember to keep the silence and not trouble the birds/villagers.

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 Sans the storks, Kokkarebelluru is not exactly a tourist's paradise as there is nothing much to explore. Apart from storks of pristine white hues, you get to see many other colored storks as if some of the birds were bored with this colorless monotony and decided to get a glamorous makeover. If you haven't had your fill of birds, you can try Ranganathittu bird sanctuary as well, where you get to see an amazing variety of birds.

This wildlife reserve is the natural habitat of the painted storks and spot-billed pelicans that appear every year to nest amongst the huts of the villagers. These birds are used to people and thus it is incredibly easy to capture them on film.

Kokkare bellur, with its cluster of shady trees, a few dozen tiled houses and the simplicity of a rural lifestyle, could well be just another ignominious, wayside village in Karnataka. Come November every year, the branches of the old tamarind and peepal trees are teeming with feathered activity as flocks of Painted Storks and Spot billed Pelicans descend on this hamlet to build their nests and rear their young.

The main attraction of Kokkare Bellur is the Painted Stork, which is a familiar sight at marshes and inland waters as it is mainly a fish-eater. The Painted storks are distributed throughout India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Burma. Here you can also find the Spot billed Pelican or Grey Pelican which is a large squat water bird, chiefly grey and grayish white, with short stout legs and large webbed feet. The enormous heavy, flattened bill is underlined throughout its length by an elastic bag of dull purplish skin. Close inspection reveals large blue-back spots along the edge of the upper mandible. They are found in well-watered tracts throughout India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Burma.

Both Painted Storks and pelicans are colonial nesters and are known to nest in close proximity. The large tamarind peepal and Portia trees in Kokkare bellur resemble over-populated housing colonies. Standing in their shade you can have a ringside view to the drama of daily chores of these big birds. Each tree has about 20 nests at various levels wedged in different branches. These graceful storks tirelessly glide to and fro, sometimes with a sprig of neem leaves in their bills with which to line their nests, most times with juicy tidbits of fish to thrust down the wide open, pulsating and incessantly screeching throats of their fledglings. The Simsha River and a few other ponds in the vicinity provide the endless supply of fish these waterfowl require during the breeding season.

This rare proximity to these waterfowl in their natural habitat makes Kokkare bellur a bird lovers dream and a photographer's paradise. Amateur photography groups from Bangalore and Mysore make regular trips to Kokkare bellur during the breeding season. Even the flesh colored, gawky, fledglings jostling in their nests are so close that there is a strong urge to just reach out ant touch them. And what is more, the big birds themselves are so unselfconscious, displaying a rare confidence that the local villagers, for over four generations, have instilled in them.

As for the villagers, these Painted Storks and pelicans have come to be an integral part of their lives. More scientifically, these waterfowl, like most animals, can sense disturbances in nature and skip their breeding cycle in years of sparse rainfall. No wonder then, the farmers dread their non-arrival. And the guano that these birds so generously splatter over the tiled roofs and courtyards is valuable manure.

Over the years, though, the number of Spot billed Pelicans and Painted Storks arriving in Kokkare bellur has declined drastically. Naturalists attribute this to the dwindling number of trees and the resulting overcrowding of nests.

At Kokkare bellur does not offer much of boarding and lodging facilities, there is just a lone uniformed Forest Guard to justify the Governments recognition of is as a Preserve. But for us city dwellers, for whom even the common house sparrow has become a rarity, Kokkare bellur is a living lesson in mutual trust and confidence between man and bird.

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How to reach Kokkare Belluru?

Road Transport:There are buses from Mandya to Bangalore.

The village is located off the Mysore highway, about 75 km from Bangalore. There is a road sign for Kokkare Bellur, but it is easy to miss. The village is 12 km from the main highway.

If you are approaching from Bangalore side of the Mysore road, look out for a left after the first Cafe Coffee Day on the highway. Alternatively, ask for BPL factory which is around the corner of that turn. 

After Channapatna, go towards Maddur. Before Maddur, is a village Rudrakshipura. It is just before the BPL factory. Take a left turn here and Kokkare Bellur is another 12 kms on this village road.

Buses

You will get buses till Maddur. From there, you can take autos or any other vehicle that you can get in Maddur

Other Vehicles

You can take other vehicles too.

Road Quality

The same old story is repeated in varied proportions with all the picnic spots in Bangalore-Mysore highway. The highway is...well, like a true highway. But when you take a turn to meet your destination, it's as if you have left behind all of your good fortune and out to face the hardships of this cruel world, with an unforgiving road for the company.

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Hotels/Lodge/Accommodation nearby Kokkare Belluru:

Hari Priya Hotel
Bangalore-Mysore Highway ,
Mandya - 571 401
Tel: 0823-226112, 226117
Tariff Range : Rs. 250/- to Rs. 1250/-

It is a small village there is no restaurant. Nearest place to eat is Maddur or Cafe Coffee Day/ MTR joint on the way to Bangalore (20 km).

There are a couple of hotel in Maddur but the best option is to stay in Bangalore, Srirangapatna or Mysore and make a day trip

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Be there at the right time

Well, the best season to visit Kokkarebelluru is between December and January. If you end up in Kokkarebelluru in wrong time, you may not even have crows to show for your efforts. Also, keep some other places on your itinerary too, as it is impossible to spend a whole day at Kokkarebelluru, unless you are a distant relative of Dr. Salim Ali.

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Kokkare Belluru/Bellur Pelicanry Nearest Attraction