Hello, USA

Seeing two lifers on the day you land in a new country is cool. It happened when we'd stopped at a 'rest area' somewhere on the way to PA, after having picked me up at Newark airport. The ride was a long one (almost 5 hours), and these 'rest areas' provide you a nice opportunity to stretch a leg [even if you're a dog] when making long journeys on the broad and luxurious highways in the US.

One was a Tufted Titmouse. A small sparrow-sized bird with a 'tuft' at the back of its head, resembling Robin Hood with his pointed hat. But that's as far as the semblance goes. It's not a green bird and does not have blond hair. It's no good at archery. It's a dull colored bird with a gray back and a white underparts, but with a big black eye that stands out remarkably well against its white face, (perhaps giving it its name?)...

The one I saw was perched right at the top of an almost leafless tree. Without binoculars I was just about able to make out the slight 'tuft' but it was too difficult to make any identification. Thankfully I didn't have to strain my eyes for long because it soon descended upon a nearby bush giving a clear enough view for a positive identification. I had wanted to see this bird while in Canada near Toronto, since it is quite common in this region. I recall sitting in the Marriott hotel in Brampton looking up my Peterson's Fieldguide for common birds that I might see the next morning on a trip to a nearby conservation area. Not having binoculars ready did make the sighting somewhat disappointing, but I wasn't so bad, especially since it was a lifer! Having spent more than 2 months here in the US now, I have seen this bird many times since then, and the best view that I had was actually through my window in the dormitory building! (through binoculars ofcourse!) :)

The other one was a White-Breasted Nuthatch. Nuthatches, in general, are masters at navigating along branches and trunks, able to move in any direction with their strong and agile bodies, even more so than woodpeckers who can only move upwards along a tree-trunk using their strong tails as support. This one was on the same tree as the Titmouse had been a few moments ago although I did not get a good enough view of it that day. Nuthatches are even smaller than sparrows and this makes it very difficult to watch them with any level of satisfaction without binoculars. I could not tell if it was a male or a female, but it did remind me of that trip to Dandeli in the winter of 2009 when I'd first seen a nuthatch (Velvet-Fronted Nuthatches and Chestnut-Bellied Nuthatches). Since then, I did see this species more clearly again, guess where? From my window at the dormitory :)

Phantastic Dandeli

Tucked away in the Western Ghats on the border of Karnataka and Goa lies a lovely forest that is part of the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary. Endemic species like the Malabar Trogon, Malabar Pied and Malabar Grey Hornbills, Malabar Parakeet, Malabar Whistling Thrush, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Crimson-fronted Barbet and Ruby-throated Bulbul can be seen here which attracts bird-watchers from all over the country to this wonderful place. I was part of a 4 days + 3 nights birdwatching trip to Dandeli which was organized by Nature India (an eco-tourism venture run by Adesh and Mandar), along with 10 other participants: Kalpana, Jayanthi, Sharada, Mohan, Sucharita, Mr. and Mrs. Jayaram, Uma, Vamsee and Saru. Over the course of these few days, we managed to see many attractive birds and the following is a short [?] account of this trip.

Travelling through the night by a Volvo, we had reached Dharwad early in the morning. After a quick breakfast in Dharwad, we began our birding at a Timber Depot which was on the way to the Kulgi Nature Camp in Dandeli. The Depot had plenty of tall trees and we saw many impressive birds here which included a rather inactive but photographically co-operative Malabar Grey Hornbill, male and female Malabar Pied Hornbills, a flying Lesser Adjutant Stork, an Ashy Drongo enthusiastically chased a dragonfly, a nesting White-rumped Munia and a handful of energetic Grey Wagtails. Malabar Giant Squirrels were also relatively common here and we could see them sitting high in the trees.

Lunch and a short nap at the Camp were followed by more birding, this time in the camp vicinity itself. A large broad-leaved tree right behind the dining shed seemed to be popular with the local birds, and we saw Common Woodshrikes, Large Woodshrikes, Oriental White-eyes, Coppersmith Barbets and a single Crimson-fronted Barbet as they moved about in the dense maze of branches. A couple of Vernal Hanging Parrots nibbled at the nearby bamboo shoots, flaunting their bright red beaks and rumps.

In the evening, we visited Ganeshgudi which was a long narrow dam-like structure with a huge water-body on one side, and the forest on the other. The sun was a little low by now, casting a warm glow over the forest. In this beautiful ambience we saw a pair of Asian Fairy Bluebirds, Orange Minivets, Chestnut-tailed Starlings, a moulting Bronzed Drongo, a Crimson Sunbird, and a Black-headed Cuckooshrike (which I happened to miss). Later in the evening, we visited a bridge on a nearby river to witness the roosting of [numerous] Great Pied and Malabar Pied Hornbills. Unfortunately, all we saw were a few Malabar Pied Hornbills far far away, some Brahmini Kites flying idly, numerous bees, and a sky replete with House Swifts displaying their amazing acrobatics in mid-air. While strolling on the bridge, I also happened to notice a large yellow hornet appear from nowhere, pick up one of the sleeping[?] bees and vanish as swiftly as it had arrived, carrying its passenger to what must have been a rather unpleasant ending!

Early next day, we visited the nearby ‘safari’, and well, ended up seeing nothing at all. Atleast so to say. All we saw were a few Barking Deer, some Grey Junglefowl, a lone male Indian Peafowl, and a White-cheeked Barbet which was seen very well in the morning light. Thankfully, we soon headed off to a much more productive birding location which was the nearby Timber Depot.

The Depot was more like the place you’d want to be in the morning on a birding trip. Here, I was introduced to a new concept which was that of the ‘mixed hunting party’. Insectivorous birds like drongos, woodpeckers, etc. tend to venture out as a collective unit in search of, well, insects and other invertebrates. As the group progresses through a patch of woods, the insects panic and expose themselves becoming easy prey for the swarm of hungry birds. While drongos chase them in the air, others like woodpeckers climb upwards along trunks and branches, feeling for disturbed grubs and insects in the tiny crevices with their long beaks. Yet others like the nuthatches traverse the trunks and branches downwards, thus picking up those creatures that the woodpecker had likely missed on the way up.

We soon witnessed one such party that was made up of Bronzed, White-bellied and Ashy Drongos, Dark-fronted Babblers, Velvet-fronted Nuthatches, Black-rumped Flamebacks, Yellow-crowned Woodpeckers, a Streak-throated Woodpecker and Black-lored Tits. The nuthatches, especially, were amazing to watch as they skillfully navigated branches. It was as though they were displaying their superiority to the woodpeckers who always use their tails as support, unlike the nuthatches. Meanwhile, sitting camouflaged on a nearby tree was a flying lizard, commonly known as the ‘Draco’. This guy has the ability to fan out his throat and use it to glide around the woods. And this particular one was constantly extending his collapsed yellow-coloured gliding equipment, so that when looking from its back, it seemed as if he was drawing out a bright yellow tongue!

Later, we also got an excellent sighting of a Jungle Owlet sitting on an exposed branch in the dense woods. Its heavily barred chest and deep brown colour was superbly visible in the Pentax 80mm ED scope with a 2” eyepiece which Adesh and Mandar had brought along. The scope was used often for the numerous birds that we were seeing all along the way, with people queuing up like kids as soon as a bird was located in the scope.

That evening, we headed to ‘Syntheri Rocks’, which is a cave-like structure, many kilometers away from the Camp. While we were just about to commence on our journey, a majestic Black Eagle glided slowly over us! This was one of those sights which I will remember for a long long time. The clear blue sky, the huge black bird itself with its bulging wings and tail, its big and striking yellow beak, its yellow legs that stood out against its black body, the subtle shading on the underwing pattern, oh it was fantastic!

Birding at Syntheri Rocks wasn’t exactly great. While we saw an Indian Schimitar Babbler and a got a glimpse of a Common Flameback on the way, the place itself was devoid of bird activity. It was late and all we could see were Rock Pigeons, which were seen for a change in their natural habitat. But on the way back, we got some respite. While travelling back along the tar road in the darkness, we spotted a large owl which had apparently caught something on the road and flew away as soon as our vehicle got close. Thankfully, it perched on a tree on the road-side giving us a chance to see it. While Adesh identified it as a Brown Fish Owl, possibly from a much better view than mine, I remember registering a pale face and collar with huge round black eyes. It was very dark, and we didn’t have the best torch, but it looked like a Brown Wood Owl to me. Whatever it was, it was rewarding to see this large owl in the night.

After dinner, we ventured into the jungle close to the Camp in search of the elusive Sri Lanka Frogmouth, which is a nocturnal bird and is almost impossible to see in the daytime owing to its excellent camouflage. Like Potoos in South America, these Indian counterparts stay well hidden during the day and remain absolutely still, usually blending with tree stumps or hiding in bamboo thickets. They are so confident of their camouflage that they are unlikely to fly away even when you get close to them. Only when you get too close will they fly away, exposing themselves to predators. This behavior is best seen in the documentary by Sir David Attenborough, a clip of which can be seen here.

At night, frogmouths feed in a way similar to flycatchers, which means they usually perch on a strategic point that enables them to feed on insects. But they do this silently, and moreover, unlike Nightjars whose eyes glow in the torch-light, those of these frogmouths don’t making it very difficult to spot them at night even when using a powerful torch. While spotting a Sri Lanka Frogmouth can be safely considered as uncommon, the bird itself is usually present in good numbers in its habitat.

We searched a lot that night, torches in hand, scanning the dark trees for any sign of this elusive bird. Adesh mimicked the frogmouths calls, hoping that it would lure them out of the woods. A few frogmouths certainly answered, with both males and females calling from different directions. But unfortunately, we didn’t see a single frogmouth that night…

We woke up next morning to the calls of a Brown Wood Owl which had perched very close to our tents in the Kulgi Nature Camp. We were supposed to leave for the Shirval village, but a late breakfast somewhat created a dent in our plans. However, it did enable us to get good sightings of Yellow-browed Bulbuls in the tree behind the dining shed before we left. These were kept company by a few Asian Fairy Bluebirds and Crimson-fronted Barbets.

Shirval, which is an abandoned mine area was supposed to be a hotspot for bird activity. But by being late, we could only get sightings of a few Malabar Parakeets, some Black-hooded Orioles and a Crested Treeswift drinking water in its own unique way by diving towards the water surface at great speed only to pull out of the dive as its beak barely skimmed the water surface.

With not much bird-activity here, we moved on to Ganeshgudi where immediately a Eurasian Hobby was seen in all its glory showing its masked face and heavily barred underwings. We also saw a couple of Malabar Parakeets perched nicely in the open; the spotting scope revealing some fantastic views.

Post lunch was when the birding at Dandeli really came into its own. We visited a large but extremely scenic lake that reminded me of the idyllic illustrations in my very first Collins Field Guide. As we began birding here, it soon became evident that this was a special day. An extremely uncommon Rufous-bellied Hawk Eagle circled above, while the much much much more common Lesser Whistling Ducks and Cotton Pygmy Geese swam about in the water. A Grey-headed Fish Eagle flew across the lake and perched to everyone’s delight on a dead tree albeit on the other side of the lake. This was followed by excellent views of a Stork-billed and Common Kingfisher in the scope.

As we left the place, we could hear the Fish Eagle calling out in its harsh and somewhat unpleasant screech, and landed up at the Timber Depot to spend the rest of the evening. Male and female Pompadour Green Pigeons, an Oriental Honey-Buzzard and the usual Malabar Pied Hornbills were on display here. We counted 26 Malabar Pied Hornbills as they darted out of a single huge tree, like the luminous trails of fireworks at night...

We repeated the night trail again that night, hoping to see the elusive and much coverted Sri Lanka Frogmouths. They had been close last night, but not close enough. The trail got off to a promising start with the sighting of a Flying Squirrel that stirred in the tree tops near the main entrance of the camp. This was followed by plenty of searching for the frogmouths along the road-sides, much like the earlier day with Adesh mimicking their calls. We were almost at the end of our trail when we suddenly saw a pair of male and female Sri Lanka Frogmouths that had perched on a low branch right next to the road, located expertly by Adesh in the powerful torch beam! As excitement gripped the group, stifled exclamations and chatter filled the air. The birds weren’t as glamorous as Fairy Bluebirds or Malabar Trogons, but the sheer act of spotting them was delightful. While the birds appeared grey in the torch light, the white spots on their chests were clearly visible. With all the commotion, the male got spooked and flew away to another tree, but the female remained faithful (to us, that is) and stayed on the branch for another whole two minutes before she too disappeared into the darkness. For a day filled with great sightings, this was the icing on the cake!

Next morning, we reached the mine area at Shirval again, well in time to catch all the action; or rather to “witness the grand arena”, as Adesh put it. Black-throated Munias put up the opening act in conjunction with Plum-headed Parakeets. A Rufous Treepie gave a brief appearance before making way for Yellow-browed Bulbuls and a Golden-fronted Chloropsis. The lead role, however, was played by a Blue-bearded Bee-eater, who ironically broke all rules of acting on stage and plainly showed us his back for more than an hour, providing only brief glimpses of his brilliant blue beard. A few Orange Minivets and Brown-headed Barbets were more professional and gave us very pleasing views. A White-rumped Shama and Large Cuckooshrike played cameo roles and disappeared almost as soon as they arrived. The closing act was performed by Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters who made a lovely sight against the dark brown ground on which they occasionally sat.

The birding had picked up momentum and it continued at the Timber Depot, where we spent the rest of the morning. Huge and impressive White-bellied Woodpeckers darted among the tall trees along with others like Heart-spotted Woodpeckers, Black-rumped Flamebacks, Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers and a Yellow-crowned Woodpecker. Later we even saw a Common Flameback, which ironically is considered to be very uncommon, climbing up a sloping tree. The place was literally full of birds. A Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, Black-lored Tits, Black-naped Monarchs, Bronzed and Ashy Drongos kept the place busy. As though the morning birding session wasn’t enough, we even saw a Blue-faced Malkoha on our way back near the main gate of the Camp!

That was pretty much all the birding we managed over the course of 4 days at Dandeli. We saw 134 species in addition to 7 that we only heard. We did not manage to see the Malabar Trogon, which had been one of our prime targets throughout the trip. But this was compensated by the numerous other lovely birds that we saw here. And it was not just the birds either. The accomodation at the Kulgi Nature Camp was quite comfortable and it certainly helped in maintaining our focus on birding, as did the excellent arrangements for food. Equally important was Adesh's expertise in identifying the many different kinds of birds while also sharing his knowledge with the group. Both Adesh and Mandar were proactive in showing everyone different birds, with or without a scope, and also explained various trivia about the feathered creatures. Credit deservedly goes to them for organizing such a wonderful trip to this lovely place in the Western Ghats: Dandeli.

Six Lifers and a Life

I had always wanted to visit Phansad Wild Life Sanctuary (WLS) for a birding trip. This WLS is a moderate to heavily wooded forest close to Alibag; and after almost a year of waiting, the opportunity had finally arrived. Four of us Mumbaikars: Parag, Shirish, Sameer and I, made a trip to Phansad WLS on the Good Friday weekend. Over 2 nights and 2 days, we had a very productive outing in this lovely place.

After my two previous trips (to Gorai and Sinhagad), I was less than enthusiastic about this one. On both outings, I hadn't seen many birds after 9:00 in the morning, and it was just too hot to roam in the sun after that! But Parag had provided me a cogent reason to visit Phansad in this rather hot time of the year: the breeding of Nightjars.

I'd neven seen a Nightjar before, let alone a breeding one! So I was more than happy to join!

We reached Phansad at about 20:00 hours on Friday, and after a quick visit to Murud for dinner, we were prowling about in the jungle that night. A local forest official had provided some encouraging news: just a few days back, there had been a leopard kill (an unfortunate cow) close to the main entrance of the sanctuary. So a leopard sighting was on the cards tonight...

But we never saw the leopard. All we could hear were the calls of Jerdon's Nightjars and the occasional Grey Nightjar. I must say that it is a really peculiar call (Jerdon's). It's a single note that sounds something like a hurried "qwouwl", and it keeps repeating once every 4 seconds or so!

Back at the base camp (which was a spacious tent near the sanctuary entrance), I was happy to have atleast heard a Nightjar! But it was difficult to sleep in the tent, and there were 2 big reasons for it. The first was that I didn't have a pillow, the second was that Shirish was snoring so loudly that it must have kept the whole jungle awake...

After a sluggish start the next morning, we ventured into the nearby forest outside Phansad for a quick visit. We saw a breeding male Common Iora, a lovely Golden-Fronted Chloropsis, numerous doves, a pair of Grey Junglefowl, a few highly vocal Greater Racket-Tailed Drongos, plenty of Golden Orioles, etc. An Indian Schimitar Babbler was also quite vocal, but we never actually got to see it. The birding wasn't all that great...

So we headed to Revdanda. After an appetising breakfast and a long drive through the numerous coastal villages, we finally reached Revdanda beach.

The beach was deserted. And it was hot. Somewhere in the distance a Long Tailed Shrike sat idly on the top of a bush, kept company by a few Green Bee-eaters.

We saw a Common Greenshank scurrying along the shore, and a group of Sanderlings who were feeding slowly on the sand. But the highlight of the day was a Hook-Nosed Sea Snake that we saw in a pool near the shore! About 3 feet long, this is a venomous snake, and is one of the most common sea snakes found in India. This one was quite calm, and didn't take too much notice of us. I took many pics of it, even managed to touch its tail! Ofcourse, I didn't know that it was venomous then!


This was my first face-to-face encounter with a venomous snake in the wild, and I managed to come out of it unharmed...but I won't try it again ;)

After a rather prolonged and frustratingly slow lunch at Murud (thanks to 'Hajam' waiters to put it in Parag's words), we were back at Phansad. On the way back, we spotted a group of 6 White-Rumped Vultures soaring effortlessly over the hills. This was a pleasing sight, given the drastic fall in the vulture population in recent years.

We had managed to procure the forest guesthouse today, and it was equipped with a bed and pillows....good news :). A short nap in the afternoon and a couple of pics in the neighbourhood was all we did till evening. However, we did see a pair of Scarlet Minivets in the trees adjoining the courtyard right outside the guesthouse! These are truly beautiful birds, and they make quite a colourful pair....the male is bright orange-red while the female is a vivid yellow!

That night, we again ventured into the jungle. And this time we were lucky :)

The first bird we saw was a nesting Grey Nightjar. A much awaited lifer! We also saw another one on a tree nearby. I'd no idea how to spot Nightjars in the night, so I saw how it is done on this trip! I managed to click a pic of one of these 'camouflage masters' from quite close. All I had was a compact camera with a 140 mm equivalent lens, but the result was quite satisfactory (see below)!

Nightjars rely heavily on their superb camouflage for safety. Indeed, it is next to impossible to spot them in the day time! Once spotted, they will remain still and will let you approach quite close to them! I suppose they assume that they can fool you by their excellent camouflage. But if you venture too close, they will certainly fly away. Indeed, the reason why they are called 'nightjars' is also interesting. It seems they feed at night by flying with their mouths wide open. Whichever unfortunate insects land up in their open mouth (analogous to an open 'jar') are happily devoured!

Later, we also saw a nesting Jerdon's Nightjar! And this 'hero' had his "nest" (which is nothing but the ground on which it lays eggs), right next to the kaccha-road that meanders through the forest. Quite a risky location!

Thoroughly satisfied with both sightings, we headed back. As there were two rooms in the guesthouse, I was spared the snoring and got a nice long nap.

The next morning was the best of all.

We ventured into an area called 'Chikhal-gaal' inside Phansad. This place was literally brimming with bird activity! In a short period of time, we managed to see an Imperial Green Pigeon, a Yellow-Footed Green Pigeon (the State Bird of Maharashtra, shown above), a Pompadour Green Pigeon, an Emerald Dove, a Black-Rumped Flameback Woodpecker, Greater Racket-tailed Drongos, a Large Cuckooshrike, and many others. At one point of time, an Imperial Green Pigeon, a male and female Scarlet Minivet, a male Small Minivet, 2 Jungle Mynas, 2 Black-Hooded Orioles were all sitting on one leafless tree at the same time!!! If you're not familiar with these birds, click on their names to see how colourful they are! To see all of them on a tall, white, leafless tree is really something! A Malabar Whistling Thrush and a Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo enthusiastically provided background music for this spectacle!

Soon, we also saw a nesting Bronzed Drongo! And a little later we saw it chasing away a Shikra (a type of hawk) which came and perched on a tree near its nest with gusto! Drongos, though small in size, are very agressive birds. It is amazing to see how they shoo away even big predatory birds! Indeed, this was not the first time I saw this behaviour. I'd seen a couple of drongos attacking a majestic Eurasian Eagle Owl on my Nannaj trip in November 2008.

As though this was not enough, we even saw a Giant Squirrel nearby! This big mammal, measuring about a meter in length, is also known as 'Shekroo' (pronounced as Shake-roo) in Marathi and is the State Animal of Maharashtra. It is an endemic species to Peninsular India. So we had managed to the see the State Bird and Animal too at the same time!

The birding (+ Shekroo sighting) this morning was simply too good! The cherry on the cake was a Crested Serpent Eagle perched on a leafless tree on the way back....

On the way back to Mumbai, we stopped at Kankeshwar to seea few larks. Sure enough, we saw Ashy-Crowned and Malabar Crested Larks on the rocks at the base of a hill.

On the whole, this was a very nice trip. I managed to add 6 species to my bird count, which is not bad at all!

Here is a list of birds seen on this trip:
Phansad WLS: Bird-List

1. Grey Junglefowl

2. Heart-Spotted Woodpecker [heard]

3. Black-Rumped Flameback

4. Brown-Headed Barbet

5. Coppersmith Barbet [heard]

6. Indian Grey Hornbill

7. Common Hoopoe

8. White-Breasted Kingfisher

9. Greater Coucal [heard]

10. Asian Koel

11. Plum-Headed Parakeet [female]

12. Grey Nightjar

13. Jerdon’s Nightjar

14. Rock Pigeon

15. Green Imperial Pigeon

16. Spotted Dove

17. Emerald Dove

18. Pompadour Green Pigeon

19. Yellow-Footed Green Pigeon

20. Red-Wattled Lapwing

21. Brahmini Kite

22. White-Rumped Vulture

23. Crested Serpent Eagle [soaring and perched]

24. Shikra

25. Golden-Fronted Chloropsis

26. Golden Oriole

27. Black-Hooded Oriole

28. Large Cuckooshrike

29. Small Minivet [pair]

30. Scarlet Minivet [pair]

31. Ashy Drongo

32. Bronzed Drongo [nesting]

33. Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo

34. Asian-paradise Flycatcher [female]

35. Common Iora [breeding male]

36. Malabar Whistling Thrush

37. White-Rumped Shama [heard]

38. Rosy Starling

39. Jungle Myna

40. Red-Whiskered Bulbul

41. Red-Vented Bulbul

42. Blyth’s Reed Warbler

43. Indian Scimitar Babbler [heard]

44. Jungle Babblers

45. Brown-Cheeked Fulvetta [heard]

46. Green Bee-eater

47. Large-Billed Crow

48. Paddy field warbler

49. Oriental Honey Buzzard

50. Chestnut Tailed Starling

Revdanda Beach: Bird-List

1. Sanderling

2. Gull-Billed Tern

3. Whiskered Tern

4. Great Egret

5. Little Egret

6. Cattle Egret

7. Long-Tailed Shrike

8. Common Green Shank

Kankeshwar: Bird-List

1. Pied Bushchat [male]

2. Ashy-Crowned Sparrow Lark [male, female nesting]

3. Malabar Crested Lark

4. Rufous-Tailed Lark [glimpse…it was probably this one]

On the way: Bird-List

1. Black Kite

2. Black-Winged Kite

3. Montagu’s Harrier [female]

4. Little Cormorant

5. House Sparrow

6. Magpie Robin

7. Common Myna

8. Barn Swallow

9. Purple Sunbird [mating]

10. Purple Rumped Sunbird

11. Laughing dove

12. Rose ringed Parakeet

13. Asian Palm Swift

14. House Crow

Other Highlights

1. Giant Squirrel

2. Hook-nosed Sea Snake

A little about Phansad WLS:
Phansad lies about 150 km from Mumbai, and is close to the West Coast. It is a moderate to heavily wooded area and spans an area of nearly 50 sq. km. You can reach it by vehicle by travelling along the Mumbai-Goa highway and then taking the road that goes to Alibag. Phansad is about 40 km. south of Alibag. Another way is by a S.T. bus heading towards Roha. I have heard that this bus goes via Phansad.

Phansad was earlier the private hunting ground of the Nawab of the Janjira State. It is now home to close to 150 species of birds, 27 species of snakes, and numerous interesting mammals and insects, not to mention butterflies and plants. It is truly a fantastic place.

Tents are available for free at the entrance of the sanctuary. But there are no places to eat nearby, so you have to travel to one of the nearby coastal villages like Murud.

Malshej Ghat

I visited Malshej Ghat on 16^th June for a 2 day overnight trip with my mom and dad. It's a beautiful forested area about 160km from Mumbai, and even more so during the monsoons. We stayed at the MTDC resort, which provides decent accommodation for trekkers/birdwatchers. We roamed around in this lush green area a lot, and we saw many birds. Here's a brief account of that trip:

As soon as you step out of your vehicle at Malshej, the first sound you'll probably hear is the Malabar Whistling Thrush singing in the background. The other sound you'll hear is that of the non-stop strong winds that blow in almost all directions at this place!

Our first bird was a Laughing Dove sitting right outside the MTDC canteen….I saw it while sipping tea! I went outside for a better look, and this fellow wasn't disturbed at all. He was looking at me no doubt, occasionally shutting his eyes tight in a rather cute way. The dove seemed to be totally at ease, strutting along on the small path it was on. I'm used to seeing Spotted Doves fly away at the slightest disturbance in Mumbai, so this was a welcome change! I silently acknowledged a good start to this trip…

After checking in to my room, I asked the locals if they knew any nature trails that birdwatchers normally take in this region, but they had no clue. All they could tell me was that the flamingoes hadn't arrived yet at the "dam", which we could see from the resort. The dam actually starts at a place called Khubi Phata, which is a 40 min walk along the highway (NH 222) from the MTDC resort. The dam goes all the way upto the village Khireshwar, which is the base village for a trek to Harishchandragad. Dad and I decided to take a walk along the highway, and try to do some bird-watching, for there's good forest cover on either side of the highway. We set off.

Soon enough we saw a Brown-Headed Barbet on a tree somewhere off the highway. It kept visiting a neighbouring tree quite often, and was quite well camouflaged against the green leaves. Since this bird is relatively rarer than the Coppersmith Barbet which we see so often in Mumbai, I was quite happy. I've seen it in Mumbai also only on 2 occasions, once at Tulsi Lake, and once at Tungareshwar.

Red-Whiskered and Red-Vented Bulbuls are pretty common in the area and are also quite vocal. Their typical "qui-qwayou" was heard I think as often as the whistling thrush. And soon enough, I saw the myna sized black bird land next to the highway and disappear in the next-door bush. We heard a loud continuous whistling, louder and clearer than ever before. A quick flight revealed its shiny Prussian blue plumage, and I knew it was the Malabar Whistling Thrush. There were two of them, and they settled on a nearby tree and kept hopping about on branches that were about 30 feet above the ground. It really is a splendid bird. And when it flies, the dark-bluish wings make it even more beautiful. Lifer #1.

Walking on, we reached the Khubi village, indicated by a sign-board off the highway. There's a small parallel road to the highway that goes past some houses and fields though this village. Since there'd be less traffic on this road, we took it. Looking at the village life here was rather touching. A woman was sifting through a huge heap of bajri seeds that she claimed had got spoilt due to the rain. We also met an old farmer who wasn't too happy about the dam forcing some of the fields to be drowned. How, I don't know. But the simple style of talking, walking, living, was a welcome change from the life in Mumbai. A few more paces down the road, we saw a group of Brahmini Mynas on a tree next to a house.

We reached the dam. Surprise! A couple of Wooly Necked Storks were standing gracefully on the water's edge, about 200 feet away. And quite close to them, say 50 feet or so, a couple of village women were sitting on the ground and doing something like washing clothes, I'm not sure exactly what….Emboldened, we tried to approach the storks. We deliberately walked at an angle, so as not to scare them off. But when we were only 100 feet away, they flew off without warning! They settled in the distance, and there wasn't any point in following them there…it was getting late for lunch. Lifer #2.

Before they took off, I tried to take some pictures through my 4x optical zoom Canon PowerShot A520. I even tried to stick the camera behind my 8x Stokes Talon binoculars, and the result wasn't too bad! Talk about digi-binoc-ing! OK, sad joke…

On the way back, we saw a Pied Bushchat. Sure enough, it was on a "bush" next to the small parallel road I mentioned. It was flying around quite close to the ground, visiting this bush then the next. We got a particularly good view of this bird when it was about to land on a dried bush: a small black bird with three white patches, 2 on the shoulders and one on the rump. Too good. This too was a lifer.

3 lifers in one day isn't too bad!

In the evening too, we set off along the area right behind the MTDC resort. It’s a vast expanse with trees, bushes and moderate forest. Here too we saw the Whistling Thrush, and this time I noticed an almost indigo patch on its shoulder. Perhaps it was my imagination!

And just before we left the resort to start on this trail, I saw a quail!!! There's this small platform between the canteen and the main building, and the quail was standing silently at the end of the small "wall" of the platform, probably to shield itself from the wind. The winds at Malshej are simply incessant. And strong. Anyway, having never seen a quail before, I couldn't identify it at once. I registered a grey head and a brown body. I went towards it. And I couldn’t find it at al!!! I took one more step and this fellow flew away from a distance of less than 10 feet! The flight was quick and direct. It flew only 4-5 feet off the ground and landed about 30 feet away, at the base of the small 1-storeyed building. The flight reminded me of the flight of a sandpiper. I followed. I noticed some barring or lines on the chest. But again, it flew before I could see more of its features. This time it landed farther off, but not too far. And then I lost it in the bushes! I tried to identify the quail using the book by Grimmett…but couldn’t find a match. I was a little disappointed.

Back to the trail. We were walking along, when suddenly, a large bird came from nowhere and settled on a cactus/bush, about 70 feet away. To my delight, it was a male Common Kestrel. In these overcast conditions, the bird looked simply awesome. And it was nearing sunset too, although there wasn’t the typical sunset lighting. Looks like these winter visitors come in June itself! A sighting to remember!

The next day too, we tried to do some birding. But this time luck wasn’t on our side. We saw the thrushes, barbets, and also a Crow Pheasant. But no new species.

So! An excellent trip to an excellent place. Do visit Malshej. I'm not sure if birding in the heavy rains is a good idea, but when I went, there wasn’t any rain. It had rained a week back, and had made the place quite green. I'm sure you'll take back fantastic memories….the way I did.

I compiled a 360 degree view of the area just behind the MTDC resort. You can see the dam which looks like a flat wall to the left of the buildings. Here it is:

Here are some random pictures taken on this trip:

Farmers ploughing the field

A dead snake. If you know which species it is, please let me know.

This bright green bug is known as the Jewel Bug. What a fitting name!

Pretty flowers on a tree

Common Garden Lizard

The winding road offers good birding opportunities, but mind the traffic!