May 4th, 2025

My previous blog post which I hope you have read, spoke of my recent and rather futile expedition to Bethamangala lake where my friends and I had gone to photograph the Knob-billed ducks but ended up scoring a duck instead (certainly no pun intended). So as we came away empty handed, we decided to try our luck at least for a Buck at the nearby Blackbuck sanctuary before returning home to Bangalore.

Our drought however, continued and blame it on the wrong time of the day but we could not buck the trend … yeah, the blackbucks barely graced us with their presence and needless to say, no noteworthy pictures were created here either.

And hence my previous caption holds good here too – No Luck, no Duck, no Buck! (And you definitely need to read the earlier post to get the context)

Well regardless of our poor outcome, let me share with you the brief glimpse that we had of the bucks and of the Kolar Gold Fields/Bharat Gold Mines Limited (KGF/BGML) grasslands of the Kolar district, Karnataka, India because … well just because!

Kolar –

Kolar/Kolara city is the district headquarters of Kolar district. In the past, Kolar was famed for its gold mines at Kolar Gold Fields, KGF (also called Bharat Gold Mines Limited, BGML) but these have not been operational since 2001.

Kolar is also home to several temples like Someshwara, Kolaramma Devi, Kotilingeshwara, Sri Ramalingeshwara, Anthargange Sri Kashi Vishweshara Temple and others.

KGF/BGML Grasslands –

Sprawling across a humungous 135 hectares, KGF Grasslands is a vast area which lies in the region of the erstwhile Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) which is also known as Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML).

This grassland area of the now defunct mines, is home to various wildlife species, of which the most notable is the Blackbuck. Birdlife is also quite prominent here with several migratory and resident species.

The access to this region with its rather unkempt and overgrown shrubbery and trees, is via a narrow dirt road which lies alongside the premises of the Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) and can easily be missed from the main road. Even with the Google location, we had to take the help of the security guard at the BEML gate who then guided us accordingly.

KGF/BGML Grasslands and local guide –

As I always say, one should sufficiently research a place before visiting it and also get useful data if possible from local sources. This helps to save time and get optimal results too. So this time with a bit of online hunting, I made contact with an avid wildlife photographer called Shankar, who also works in the police force in Bethamangala.

He informed me that the KGF region had a good population of blackbucks and that the best time to spot them would be early mornings. However, as mentioned, we were returning from our bird hunt at Bethamangala lake and hence it was mid-morning when we reached the grasslands. Once the sun is high in the sky, the blackbucks usually disappear into the shade of the bushes and trees and hence do not offer the kind of photo ops that we hope for and dream about.

Shankar also sent a couple of Google location options to this place and we explored both in sequence (details given at the end).

Blackbuck – 

The Antilope cervicapra or Indian Antelope or Blackbuck is indigenous to India and Nepal. This ungulate (hoofed mammal) falls in the ‘Near Threatened’ category as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

These herbivorous animals are found in open grasslands that are sparsely forested.

I have also written about these beautiful animals in my blog post on the Jayamangali Blackbuck Conservation Reserve, Tumkur

Our trip –

We had originally left Bangalore at 4.30 am and it took less than 2 hours to cover the 95 km distance to our first destination of Bethamangala lake.

After wallowing a while there on a rather fruitless (or duckless) session (which I call Part 1 of the fiasco), we left the place and embarked on the 12 km drive to the KGF grasslands which we arrived at in 30 minutes at the first of the 2 Google options.

As mentioned, it was quite late in the morning and though the chances of spotting the blackbucks was slim but as the car bumped along the dirt road through the grassland, we did manage to get a glimpse or 2 of some errant ones who instead of resting with their fellow-bucks, had decided to Buck the trend and stray across our path. So we managed a few really bad shots but as they say – a buck in the lens is worth many in the bush … or something to that effect! (disappointment makes for poor jokes😏)

A short video –

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The car valiantly struggled across a couple of kilometers before the road turned into a pile of rocky hurdles, after which we had to turn back but not before photographing a temple atop a distant hillock which we could view from our dirt track. I was told that this was the Ponnumali Murugan Temple of KGF.

We then explored the other Google location (location 2) which was a few meters away along the main road. That turned out to be literally a Dirt track, with piles of garbage which our car desperately squeezed through. We could not go too far because the track itself disappeared within a short distance but we did manage to spot a couple of blackbucks with the unappealing backdrop of mounds of trash.

So location 1 is the better route to choose.

And this is how the Part 2 of the fiasco ended, with the buck doing a duck of sort on us!

Birds of KGF/BGML – 

The birds too were not in prime attendance at this hour, but a few put in an appearance nevertheless, which included a Red vented bulbul, Pied kingfisher and Black winged kite.

What is available and what you should carry – 

Some of the items you could carry are caps, sunglasses, binoculars, camera and its associated paraphernalia, folding stools, snacks, water etc.

Early mornings are quite cold in winters, so equip yourself accordingly. Layering your clothing may be a good idea because it gets hotter as the day goes by. Do not wear bright colored clothing but go with neutral colors that will suit the natural surroundings.

Do not strew food around or litter. Please bring your trash back.

Do not make loud noises or create any commotion while watching the animals. They are extremely shy and skittish and dart away at the smallest sound.

Things to do in the Surroundings –

As mentioned earlier, Kolar district is home to several famous temples and other places of interest.

During our previous visit to Ramasagara Lake, we visited the Sri Ramalingeshwara temple and this time we went to the Bethamangala Lake.

Where to eat –

Shettar Thindi along the highway has become my go to place after discovering it on my previous trip. The Mulbagal dosa was compensation of sorts for an otherwise barren expedition.

This was followed by the customary raiding of the nearby fruit and vegetable stalls to gather our treasure of fresh produce, to assuage our feelings of overall disappointment.

Best Time and season to Visit –

Early mornings are definitely the best time of the day for sighting both the animals and birds because as the day gets hotter, most of them disappear into the shade and out of sight. We had come here post 11 am after our visit to the Bethamangala lake, which is why we did not see too many of them.

I will hopefully visit again at an earlier time.

The blackbucks are resident all year round, so they can be sighted in any season. Of course, it is more comfortable to visit during the cooler months because summers can get uncomfortably hot.

Phone and internet connectivity –

Phone signals were good throughout. Airtel, Jio etc seemed to work fine.

Getting there –

KGF/BGML is around 82 km from Bangalore.

There are excellent roads from Bangalore to Kolar. One can choose Old Madras road or the spanking new Bangalore Chennai expressway which is quite a dream to drive on.

It is most convenient to travel by car, though there regular public transport options by bus too between Bangalore and Kolar. From Kolar bus stand, autos can be hired for last mile connectivity.

On this trip, we visited Bethamangala lake first and then proceeded to the grasslands 12 km away.

There is supposedly more than one entrance to the grassland. Shankar sent me 2 locations. After trying out both, I would recommend the first entrance because the second location was not too accessible and also strewn with garbage.

Location 1 – https://maps.app.goo.gl/ks7mYRyLDNZqb6D28?g_st=aw

Location 2 – https://maps.app.goo.gl/fSfPokHRT9HFAGxX8?g_st=aw

Please Note –

This was a personal trip and my narration is based on the inputs I received from various sources as well as my own experiences.

For more pictures see My Facebook – Blackbucks of KGF/BGML Grasslands, Kolar

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I would really appreciate your feedback and comments in the comment box below.

May 4th, 2025