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 :):):):):)

Lance Armstrong

Hola , Just learned that Lance Armstrong to lose seven Tour de France titles. As per US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) , Lance Armstrong will be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life. This is not first time USADA is playing dirty politics, there are plenty of evidences. It’s really disgraceful and unrealistic act against person like Lance Armstrong . I mean if you see the early life of Armstrong everybody knows that he was diagnosed as testicular cancer and undergone extensive chemotherapy and how he conquered his illness and won Tour de France each year from 1999 to 2005. USADA may strip his seven titles but not his Willpower . Medals or no medals, he will always remain a hero, legend for what he has achieved, proved . He will remain a great sportsman in people's heart. LiveStrong Armstrong. Enough is Enough . No need for you to fight against USADA. Take care of yourself and your Lance Armstrong Foundation, which supports people affected by cancer . Regards , El Amol Here is Lance Armstrong newsletter on his site www.LanceArmstrong.com Lance Armstrong's Statement of August 23, 2012 AUSTIN, Texas - August 23rd, 2012 - There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, "Enough is enough." For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today – finished with this nonsense. I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA’s charade. Although the court was sympathetic to my concerns and recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies in USADA’s motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that it could not intervene. If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA’s process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and – once and for all – put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair. Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors. I made myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it? From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs. I am a retired cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation. As respected organizations such as UCI and USA Cycling have made clear, USADA lacks jurisdiction even to bring these charges. The international bodies governing cycling have ordered USADA to stop, have given notice that no one should participate in USADA’s improper proceedings, and have made it clear the pronouncements by USADA that it has banned people for life or stripped them of their accomplishments are made without authority. And as many others, including USADA’s own arbitrators, have found, there is nothing even remotely fair about its process. USADA has broken the law, turned its back on its own rules, and stiff-armed those who have tried to persuade USADA to honor its obligations. At every turn, USADA has played the role of a bully, threatening everyone in its way and challenging the good faith of anyone who questions its motives or its methods, all at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. For the last two months, USADA has endlessly repeated the mantra that there should be a single set of rules, applicable to all, but they have arrogantly refused to practice what they preach. On top of all that, USADA has allegedly made deals with other riders that circumvent their own rules as long as they said I cheated. Many of those riders continue to race today. The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced. The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive A and B samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with positive tests, perverts the system and creates a process where any begrudged ex-teammate can open a USADA case out of spite or for personal gain or a cheating cyclist can cut a sweetheart deal for themselves. It’s an unfair approach, applied selectively, in opposition to all the rules. It’s just not right. USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles. I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart. Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities. This October, my Foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work to do and I'm looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction. I have a responsibility to all those who have stepped forward to devote their time and energy to the cancer cause. I will not stop fighting for that mission. Going forward, I am going to devote myself to raising my five beautiful (and energetic) kids, fighting cancer, and attempting to be the fittest 40-year old on the planet.

This is my personal coin collection that I have collected till now ,I am not a dealer just a collector of coins,I collect Indian ,world coins and Notes. My Coin collection is purely for fun with no real expectation of profit.
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects.In this blog I will try to provide information of each coins and notes which I have collected . Starting with my beloved country Argentina :)

The peso (originally established as the peso convertible) is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using dollar currencies.

50 centavos Argentina Coin





Information :
Country Argentine Republic
Period Argentine Peso Convertible (1992 - 2010)
Coins type Circulation coins
Denomination 50 centavos
Year 1993
Composition Aluminum-Bronze
Edge type Milled
Shape Round
Alignment Coin (180°)
Weight (gr) 5.8
Diameter (mm) 25.2
Thickness (mm) 1.8





The House of Tucumán is a historical building and museum located in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, where an assembly of delegates from several provinces of the country (the Congress of Tucumán) declared independence from Spain on 9 July 1816.



The austral was the currency of Argentina between June 15, 1985 and December 31, 1991. It was subdivided into 100 centavos.






Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (February 15, 1811 – September 11, 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina. His writing spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history. He was a member of a group of intellectuals, known as the "Generation of 1837", who had a great influence on nineteenth-century Argentina. He was particularly concerned with educational issues and was also an important influence on the region's literature.

What is Power

This Memorable quotes from movie called Schindler's List .
Oskar Schindler: Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't.
Amon Goeth: You think that's power?
Oskar Schindler: That's what the Emperor said. A man steals something, he's brought in before the Emperor, he throws himself down on the ground. He begs for his life, he knows he's going to die. And the Emperor... pardons him. This worthless man, he lets him go.
Amon Goeth: I think you are drunk.
Oskar Schindler: That's power, Amon. That is power.

Living in Cardiff

Match against Equador

Please find below updates on yesterday match against Equator. Actually I was not in mood to put my comments but Argentina is my favorite team and as a true supporter I will support in bad time also. And I am damn Sure that Argentina will qualify for 2010 south Africa and surprise all by wining it .


A very lack luster performance by us tonight that gave us the loss 2-0 against Equator. … Argentina does not cope up with High attitude factor ..same as La plata Bolivia ..

My answer would be: I still support the Argentina and MARADONA till the end .

I have watched complete match.
In my opinion, Argentina played a very intelligent first half. Argentina were the better team and apart from that penalty-kick miss by TEVEZ, we also enjoyed a few other chances. I don't know what happened in the second half. Ecuador obviously made some adjustments and Argentina struggled to repeat what they did in the first half.

There are four matches to be played. Brazil at home and Paraguay away, will be very very difficult, but they are not impossible to beat. Brazil rarely win in Buenos Aires. We can beat Paraguay..


Following are South America world cup qualification standings. Top four will easily qualify and fifth rank team will need to go for playoff with other American group .

Brazil 27 points
Chile 26
Paraguay 24
Argentina 22

I know you might have think I'm being positive and optimistic, but I have great faith and hope on this team. And surely Argentina would not disappoint me .
Take my words ..

Vamos Argentina !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets Hope for the best ….

Blow for Argentina

As per the source from Argentina coach Alfio BASILE has resgined .All the major newspapers and sports websites in argentina are announcing it. major blow for Argentina . Now who will be the new coach.I think Sergio BATISTA who lead argentina in Bijing Olympics and won the gold will be the best option .
Lets see .. I will keep u updating ... Hold ur breath ...

Uninspired Argentina

Hola Amigos,

It was old saying that Good Feather doesn’t make good Bird . That saying was completely true in yesterdays match between Argentina and Chile. Despite having good player like Messi, Aguero, Mascherano, Zanetti we did not play great match. Only Riquelme and Carlos Tevez were absent due to suspension. We lost Chile by 1-0 . That was not great performance .

With so many talented and world class players that Argentina have, there is no excuse for this defeat…what a shame.
If you review last six matches , we won one match that was against Uruguay, drawn four and lost1 .

I personally felt Argentina is playing rubbish football at the moment even when we got the star players in our side. One more factor I would like to highlight that Argentina has too much dependency upon Riquelme. No doubt Riquelme is a world class player but he has got his own weaknesses. He is the player who can change the picture of game anytime. But at the same time we must think that he got older now 29 years old. If Riquelme is not playing the Argentina couch Alfio BASILE must have plan ‘B’. By observing recent matches we must admit that we lost that charm that we had seen during the Maradona era. We lost that skill, lost that tenure. In Riquelme absence there was no control in entire march. Messi was playing for Messi . Only one to One passing between messi and Aguero, It's OK that you are friends, but you are not playing alone and you are not the owners of the national team.. I have great expectations from Gabriel Heinze . But now I must say that he has no place in national team. He is useless day by day.

After all its our teeth and our lips .Whom to blame. But let me commit that Argentina’s future is uncertain now. If Argentina national team is looking forward for 2010 world cup then this is not good start. We need to improve and bring back that glory of 1986.