Bhigwan Birding

Bhigwan Bird watching trip

For a long time I wished to visit some bird sanctuary and fortunately couple of days before I got message from Bhavesh Rathod about Bhigwan Trip and without any hesitation I said yes  to Bhigwan trip . So Myself, Bhavesh Rathod, Kuldeep Chaudhri, Prashant patil, sunil & Dr Rupali kadam decided to bird watch around Bhigwan on 22th Feb’2014 (Thank you very much guys). This was my first major birding trip and that too with knowledgeable and avid birders.

About Bhigwan Bird sanctuary:

Bhigwan is a small town around 100 kms away from Pune and is also referred to as the “Bharatpur of Maharashtra”, as it becomes a hotbed of migratory birds during the winter. Bhigwan is at one end of the huge Yashwant Sagar reservoir, forming the backwaters of the Ujain dam. One of the main attractions during the migratory season is the arrival of the pink greater flamingos. During the months of early jan – late feb, this place is paradise for bird lovers from all over Maharashtra.

As we had to cover 4-5 hours of total journey so we decided to leave Mumbai by Friday 10-10.30 PM and reach Bhigwan by 4 am Saturday so that we could start bird watching at early morning and we managed to leave on time :). In that 5 hours journey we were continuously taking about the birds ,birds and bird . It was 

very useful warm-up session for me . After 5 hours of long journey we reached to Bhigwan at 4 am . At the entrance of village Kumbhargaon we saw address of the place where we are going to stay for next 2 days . Sandeep Nagare is the house owner, local Bird Watcher/ Guide who gives nice local food, shelter and boats on very reasonable cost. After 2 hours of power nap we got up at6 am morning , refreshed up and started first session of bird watching .

Frist day Kumbhargaon :- Our frist boat ride stated around 7.00 am . The morning was misty and chilly with good light. 

                                                           
 Yellow-wattled Lapwing

With the hope of seeing lots of birds our boat sailed, we started spotting many wetland birds like  Gulls, Glossy Ibis, Black headed Ibis, Asian Open bill Stork, purple herons, River Tern, Painted Stork etc.

                            Grey Heron

 Black headed Ibis ,Open Billed Stork, Black winged Stilt and glossy ibis

        Three Idiots - Black Headed Ibis

                                       
                           Little Egret

 It is always a treat to watch these beauties at eye level swimming/feeding/relaxing/floating. After 30 mints sailing and clicking some shots we moved ahead as greater surprises were waiting for us and fortunately we saw the majestic bird The Greater Flemigoes.  About 80-100 greater flamingoes having their breakfast in the water. Their pink color looks stunning in bright sunlight. 

                   More flamingoes pics :)

Our boatman told us presence of Bar headed goose behind Flamingoes’ flock which were hardly visible through binoculars. We were waited for few mints so that bar headed goose to come closer but no luck , so we decided to come back in next boat ride . While returning back to guest house there was birding activity at bank  White wagtails , Paddyfield pipits , white wagtail , Yellow-wattled Lapwing, ashy crown sparrow lark, purple sun-bird I tried to capture as many as possible.

                         Yellow Wagtail

                           White Wagtail

                                         
                                                        Paddyfield Pipit

                                           
                                                      Pied Bushchat

 

                                 

BrahminyStarling

                                          Ashy-crowned Sparrow lark

                                       
                                          Green Bee Eater

                                           
                                                Ashy-crowned Sparrow lark male and female

 After having nice breakfast and tea, we continued our search for better spots to see the water birds near Kumbargaon . Our boatman suggested us to visit the place 10 mint away from main highway where painted stock bird colony could be seen . So immediately after breakfast we headed towards that place .While we were on the way towards another water body we came across a couple of Indian gazelle commonly known as Chinkara.

 After travelling 5-10 mints we reached to another part of water body where large colony of painted stock had arrived . It was so quite except the sound of all these birds quacking around. Just beside painted stork colony, there was water body full of ducks . It was treat for eyes . Garment , northern showler , rudy shelduck , pintail all variety ducks were swimming in  the water. We did not realize how much time we spend watching the birds .The whole view was worth to watch .

 It was almost 2 Pm that we started to go back to the guest house.

After returning from morning session we were totally tired exhausted. We were probably the last to have lunch that day. The lunch was delicious jawar bhakari and traditionally cooked pithala with spicy thecha. After quick power nap it was time for our evening boating session. I was praying to see bar headed goose in that session. I don’t know why but I have special respect for bar headed goose when I learned that this migratory bird is one of the world's highest extreme altitudes flying birds and apparently seen over Mount Everest – 8,848 m (29,029 ft) really wonderful creature. 

                                             Bar-headed Goose

We were sailing towards the end of the water body to see bar headed goose and after about 30 mints of sailing we saw flock of bar headed goosse gazing in open green field . The dream came but since it was quite open area we decided to lay down on land and started Crawling on stomach, painful but best way to go closer to this amazing bird . After clicking some record pics suddenly bird realized our existence and flew away . husshhhh.

 But still I managed to get couple of good pics. Above all it was best moment, I had seen this enigmatic bird at my eye level and that would cherish for longer . Lifer for me. The evening was approaching. Our boatman brought some dead fish with him on the return journey and each time he throws it in water Gulls, terns, heron literally snatches the fish from each other .It was fun to see them pretty close this way . 

                                               Whiskered  Tern

                                        

                                                      Brown Headed Gulls

Sun was setting for the day and more and more birds were flying in flocks over and making some good formations.

                                              Glossy Ibis flocks forming great formation.

 It was almost 8.00 pm ,we refreshed up and settled down. The dinner Manu was as tasty and fulfilling as afternoon one. After taking dinner we were decided to take a walk in the nearby area to search Nightjars and Owls. After careful walk and curious watch we returned back with empty handed no luck :(. Its around 11.00 pm and its time to sleep . Thinking of the birds I saw throughout the day and dreaming of Bar headed goose, my delightful first day in Bhigwan lasted . The first day of birding trip was quite peaceful with lots of moments of bird captured.

Second day Patas:- We got up at 6.00 am and made a plan for whole day . We had decided to cover Patas lake, Kevadi and sinhagad valley till 5 PM so that we could start return journey to home. We reached Patas lake around 7.45 am , near to Patas lake there was one hotel with Puneri Misal  displayed on it. Without any other thought we decided to have this puneri delicacy . After 30 mints of break we entered in lake site , the lake is just opposite to main highway with lots of people walking around it . I never thought we could see any other bird nearby and suddenly grey Francolin ran fast and disappeared in bushes. ohh just a glimpse !! and once we reached to main water body I was completely stunned to quality of birds inside and outside the lake . Purple Moorhen walking on the bank and simply quacking around. I just loved their majestic blue color with shades of purple. Just little ahead we saw knob billed duck, cotton pigmy duck, purple heron, common coots, common teal and my favorite Ruddy shelduck. It was pretty closely encounter with Ruddy Sheduck . I was observing each and every moment and very glad to see all these water beauties. I had clicked somerecord pics of ducks especially Cotton pigmy and knob billed duck .

                                                      

                                               River Tern

                                                      Pigmy Headed Goose

                                                     Pied Wagtail

                                                   
                                                      Ruddy Shelduck

                                                   
                                                Purple Swamphen

                                                  Long Tailed Shrike

                                                                   
                                                   Common Coot

                                             
                                               White Jakana

                                                    Snipe

 After spending 2 hours of graceful birding we started our journey towards Kavadi pat which is famous for Ducks and other water birds .

Kavadi Pat:- Kavadi is about 40 km from Patas . On the way we had seen many sugarcane juice stalls so decided to refreshed up with sugarcane juice . The juice was Awesome, sweeter than sugar . After having quick refreshment we left for Kavadi Pat . We were able to reach at Kavadi within 1 hour .

                                                   Beautiful view at Kavadi Path

 Our first bird spotting at Kavadi was glossy Ibis . 

Their feathers were shining in bright sunlight . The water body was again covered by variety of ducks but ducks were far away from camera reach. So we had decided to hide at some area so that bird could come close . Our decision worked and we got some beautiful images of passage ducks floating fearlessly. 

                                                          Pintail

                                                 
                                                  Gargeney

                                                 
                                                         Common Sandpiper

                                                       Northern Shoveller male and Female

                                                  Red Napped Glossy Ibis

                                                   
                                                  Wood Sandpiper

                                               
                                               Gargeney Female

After spending more than one hour watching and mostly identifying male and female duck we had decided to go to our last destination that is Sinhagad valley which is very famous  for flycather .

  

Sinhagad valley- It was pretty late time for birding but we had heard lot about Sinhagad valley so made our mind to explore the place for a while . After having a very short break we headed toward sinhagad valley. As soon as We entered the valley we saw tree pipit , it was completely new for me. 

                                                                           
                                                                 Tree Pipit

 The main stream line is main attraction of sinhagad valley where one could see many  rare flycatcher . We were dreaming to see ultramarine flycatcher . As soon as we entered main stream reason we saw Asian paradise flycatcher sitting at very close distance. what a beauty . 

                                                     Asian paradise flycatcher 

Before entering my wish list to see plum headed parakeet and oriental white eye and I saw both of the birds at the end of trail . Thanks to Bhavesh for showing me plum headed parakeet and oriental white eye.                

                                                      Plum Headed Parakeet

                                               
                                                   Oriental White Eye

Already some birder were already there , hidden behind the puddle . They had put some different artificial perches here and there inside the water stream so that they could get nice bird photograph and publish it on Facebook and get a heap of likes and comments. What a unethical birding !!  They are just photographers rather than good birders . In this way they are just losing birds natural habitat . We were totally disappointed by their acts.

                                                       Yellow Crowned Woodpecker

                                               
                                                    White Throated Kingfisher

 

                                             Chestnut Shouldered Petronia Salim Ali Bird

                                             
                                                    Brown FlyCatcher

                                                 
                                                  Fantail

                                             
                                                     Indian Robin

                                           
                                                Red Breasted FlyCather

The light had already started to fade , we would like to stay one more day but our next day work commitment redistricted us to do so . We started our back home journey with heavy hearted with the promise of visiting this beautiful place once again. For me it was wonderful experience so many birds with wonderful people.

  

PS: Thanks for the wonderful company .It was amazing experience for me . Thank you Bhavesh, Prashant, Kuldeep , Sunil and Rupali for your passion. Sandeep Nagre ,we were overwhelmed by his hospitality , very nice person .

Number of the birds seen 104 :):):):):)