Tuesday 24 January 2017

Bird watching @ Kumbhargaon and Diksal, Bhigwan 2017

I visit Bhigwan at least once a year for bird watching and this year was not an exception for my activity. I and Renuka decided to visit this place January 2017. To avoid crowd we decided to visit on weekdays. Every year, I visit Diksal village from Bhigwan. I heard a lot about Kumbhargaon village which is developed as a bird sanctuary and professional people to handle all type of tourists.
We decided to visit Kumbhargaon in the morning and sunset time at Diksal village. From last 9 years, Bharat Nagare from Diksal helping me for a boat ride. We developed good friendship bond hence Diksal visit was mandatory.

About Bhigwan Bird sanctuary:
Bhigwan, a catchment area of Ujani Dam, is about 105 km from Pune on the Pune-Solapur highway (NH 9). An area of about 18000 hectares has been proposed as a sanctuary for migratory birds. It is an amazing place to see wetland migratory birds like Bar-Headed Goose, Greater Flamingo, Ruddy Shelduck, many spices of ducks and many more birds.

To reach Diksal village (near Bhigwan), the easy way is Pune – Hadapsar – Join Solapur highway – Drive your vehicle 100km from Pune on Highway – Do not use Bhigwan flyover – Take a left at Bhigwan square on highway – Drive 3 to 3.5km – Take right for sanctuary. How to identify correct right turn is; you can spot water tank tower (yellow colored) on that T junction on the left-hand side of the road.

GPS Location for Kumbhargaon: 18.263426, 74.803876
GPS Location for Diksal: 18.295129, 74.806933

Greater Flamingo at Diksal
Greater Flamingo at Diksal

Jan 2017: Bhigwan Bird sanctuary:
               As we had to cover around 105-110km so we decided to leave Pune before 5 AM and we managed to leave on time. Soon we touched Solapur highway. Road condition of the highway was excellent. Due to the wide and smooth road, we were able to reach Bhigwan in less than 2 hours. We reached at Kumbhargaon first. We have informed Datta Nagare for a boat ride. Soon we took a boat ride. Electric pole-wire was occupied by Whiskered Tern.

Grey Heron after sunrise at Bhigwan
Grey Heron after sunrise at Bhigwan

Whiskered Terns

We traveled towards Diksal village as all Flamingos and other birds were landed there. While going there, I got few flight photos. Soon we approached towards Flamingo. Every year I visit Diksal and my expectation was to see birding activity near Kumbhargaon. Got to know that most of the time, boats from Kumbhargaon visit Diksal for Flamingos.

Northen Shoveler Duck

              We spend around 1.5 hours watching their activity without disturbing them. By any chance, if they noticed us, they were just moving their position. A couple of times they flew away but again settled down close to our boat.
              Greater flamingo is the largest species of flamingo. It is found in Africa, on the Indian subcontinent, in the Middle East and southern Europe. Average Life of Flamingo is 60 years. Greater Flamingos are pinkish white but Dark pink feathers with black feathers are covered under wings. You can see beautiful Display of pink color during their Flight. Using its feet, the bird stirs up the mud, then sucks water through its bill and filters out small shrimp, seeds and blue-green algae. Greater Flamingo can be seen in Bhigwan but Lesser Flamingo observed rarely here.

Greater Flamingo

Glossy ibis

Greater Flamingo in flight

Take off flight by Greater Flamingo

             We left that place to spot other birds. We went on another side of catchment area by boat. We saw a huge group of Painted stork. We spend around an hour and watched their morning activity, sun basking etc. Besides Flamingo, we spotted Woolly Necked Stork, Coot, ibis, bar-headed goose's, Ruddy Shelduck (aka Brahmini Duck), Northern Shoveler, Garganey Duck, northern pintail and much more.

Northern pintail duck at Bhigwan
Northern pintail duck at Bhigwan

It's a Wake-up Time

Northern shoveler Duck

Open billed stork at Bhigwan
Open-billed stork at Bhigwan

ibis gang - Glossy ibis and orientail ibis

We returned to Kumbhargaon after spending more than 2-3 hours. When we reach close to the village, we saw a small group of Comb Duck. We spend an hour to observe their activity.

Comb Duck
Comb Duck

Comb Duck

Photo finish race...Greater Flamingo
Photo finish race...Greater Flamingo

               We had a small break and then left the place. We drove the car towards Baramati for few km and took an afternoon break at newly open Food mall. We had lunch and then required power nap in a car. By 3 PM, we begin our journey towards Diksal village for evening bird sighting
               Our Friend, Bharat Nagare was waiting for us, Soon we board the boat and went for birding. My intention to capture Flamingo during sunset. I'm completely aware that capturing such a moments required luck. We decided to go for other birds until sunset time.

Oriental ibis

Open Billed stork

Northern shoveler Duck
Northern shoveler Duck

               We saw around 5-10 Bar Headed Goose along with few Brahmin Duck busy with their breakfast and some of them were resting. We kept a safe distance and I clicked a lot of Photos. We enjoyed for an hour observing their activity. An astonishing fact about these birds is that they are one of the world's highest flying birds; they migrate over Himalayas (flying higher than 21000 ft.) to spend the winter in parts of India.

Bar headed goose yoga
Bar-headed goose yoga

Bar-headed Goose

Let's Fly high...Bar-headed goose

               We spot a group of Flamingo and went close to them keeping a safe distance between us. Idea is to wait till sunset and capture sunset movements. Slowly large number of Flamingo groups started gathering in front of me. I was happy as everything was going into my favor. I clicked few photographs. Just before half an hour, all of sudden all decided to take a flight and went away. I missed an opportunity to capture the beautiful sunset. In wildlife photography, experience matters a lot than the opportunity.

Greater Flamingo at Diksal
Greater Flamingo at Diksal

Greater Flamingo at Diksal
Greater Flamingo at Diksal

Greater Flamingo with Sunset at Diksal
Greater Flamingo with Sunset at Diksal

               We left the Beautiful place after sunset and had dinner at my favorite restaurant hotel Kachan. we reached Pune by 8 PM safely.

Bye, Bye Diksal...Greater Flamingos

Expenses:
  • Car Petrol: INR 1000/- (Avg INR 68/Lit, Total distance cover by car was 230km)
  • Toll on NH-09: INR 30/- (Return toll)
  • Toll 2 on NH-09: INR 50/- (Return Toll)
  • Boat ride at Kumbhargaon: INR 1000/- for boat for 2-2.30 Hrs
  • Breakfast at Kumbhargaon: INR 50/- for 2 Poha
  • Coffee at Kumbhargaon: INR 30/- for 1 Glass
  • Lunch: INR 200-400/- for couple based on your order
  • Evening boat ride at Diksal: INR 800/- for boat
  • Dinner at hotel Kanchan: INR 440/- for couple
Contact number:

  • Bharat (Boatman from Diksal): 9766292989. 
  • Datta Nagare (Boatman from Kumbhargaon ): 8087767691.

I will try to upload more and more travel blogs. Thanks for reading this Travel Blog.

Pritesh Kulkarni 
Pune

Saturday 7 January 2017

Bird Watching @ Veer Dam

Veer Dam is few km's away from Shirwal (on Pune-Bangalore national highway) and the best place to spot migratory birds such as Bar Headed Goose, Brahmin Duck, and Demoiselle Crane. Being a bird watcher and nature lover, it was not possible for me to skip this place in winter. I and Renuka decided to start New Year 2016 with a visit to Veer Dam.

About veer Dam:
               Veer Dam is constructed on Nira River. It is situated on the south of Pune around 15 km from Shirwal city. Backwater area is popular for bird sighting in the winter season. I am not aware of Dam but surrounding area is an excellent spot for migratory birds.

            To reach Veer Dam, Join National highway 4 – Drive towards Kolhapur/Bangalore side – Cross Nira River Bridge – Cross Shirwal city – After Crossing Shirwal, Drive for around 2-3 km – Take a Left Turn (a.k.a. Pandharpur phata OR Turn opposite to Sripatrad Kadam college) – You will be on Khandala-Loni Rd. – cross one village and look for second village name Tondal – Take left for the village and drive till you reach close to the water body. Due to dry land from backwater area, you can reach quite close to back water. But make sure that driving land is not muddy.
             Also, there are other places where you can go to spot birds. Once you are on Khandala-Loni Rd. – bypass Tondal village from the main road – Drive for around 1 / 2 km and look for a small dirt road – take left there and park your vehicle in a safe position.

Please do not drive your vehicle close to birds. The best way to explore this area is on your own foot along the water body without disturbing them.

Bar headed goose at veer Dam
Bar-headed goose

7 January 2017: Pune to Veer Dam backwater:
              We woke up in the early morning and left home around 5.30 AM. After a smooth Drive, we reached Khandala-Loni Rd. The road is in excellent condition except for few small patches. There was hardly any traffic which gave us a nice driving experience. Soon we reached Tondal Village. When dam backwater level decreases then many farmers use that land for farming. You can drive easily on that land.

Bar-Headed goose
Bar-Headed goose

             When we reached that area, our bird spotting activity started. We saw around 50-100 Bar Headed Goose along with few Brahmin Duck busy with their breakfast and some of them were resting. We kept a safe distance and I clicked a lot of Photos. We enjoyed for an hour observing their activity. An astonishing fact about these birds is that they are one of the world's highest flying birds; they migrate over Himalayas (flying higher than 21000 ft.) to spend the winter in parts of India. Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any Demoiselle Crane. On asking villagers, we got to know that it was not spotted this year as well.

Bar-headed goose
Bar-headed goose

Bar-headed goose
Bar-headed goose

               I wanted to check some others birds hence we drove till Veer dam’s wall. Due to water channel and nearby farms, you can see some raptors, Kingfishers, Red Avadavat, Wagtails etc. There were many birds (Not wetland birds) and I tried some clicks there as well. By 11:30 AM, We left this beautiful area.

Ruddy Shelduck at Veer Dam
Ruddy Shelduck at Veer Dam

Ruddy Shelduck at Veer Dam
Ruddy Shelduck at Veer Dam

Ruddy Shelduck at Veer Dam
Ruddy Shelduck at Veer Dam

List of birds which you can see in Veer Dam 
Bar-Headed Goose 
Brahminy Myna 
Laughing Dove 
Ruddy Shelduck 
Jungle Babbler 
Purple Sunbird 
White-Breasted Kingfisher 
Large Grey Babbler 
Indian Robin 
Rose-Ringed Parakeet 
Little Cormorant 
Pied Bushchat 
Blossom-Headed Parakeet 
Little Egret 
River Tern 
Lesser Whistling Duck 
Common Tailorbird 
Pied Kingfisher 
Spot-Billed Duck 
Black Ibis 
Common Hoopoe 
Common Pochard 
Oriental Ibis
Indian Roller 
Tufted Duck 
Spoonbill 
Ashy Prinia 
Eurasian Collared Dove 
Spotted Munia 
Plains Prinia 
Yellow-Crowned Woodpecker 
Black Drongo 
Red Turtle Dove 
Little Ringed Plover 
Red Avadavat 
Barn Swallow 
Common Sandpiper 
Green Bee-eater 
Grey Wagtail 
Marsh Sandpiper 
House Crow 
Citrine Wagtail 
Wood Sandpiper 
Jungle Crow 
White Wagtail 
Red-Wattled Lapwing 
Little Grebe 
Yellow-Wattled Lapwing 
House Sparrow 
Red-Rumped Swallow 
Rock Dove 
Common Pochard 
Grey Heron 
Common Myna 
Jungle Babbler 

Below are snaps were taken during my visits to Veer Dam:-

Spot billed Duck
Spot-billed Duck

Open Billed Stork

Red Avadavat

Red Avadavat

Ruddy Shelduck

Bar-Headed Goose

I will try to upload more and more travel blogs. Thanks for reading this Travel Blog.

Pritesh Kulkarni 
Pune