Savana of india -Nannaj

Nannaj Birding 

Its been more than a month since my last birding trip. The monsoon is on the peak in Mumbai and very few opportunity to spot a bird.Last couple of weeks just wanted to go out and try my luck with birds again . August long weekend would be ideal for short trip. So this time I decided to go to some other area in Maharashtra. Fortunately I  got a invitation  of Nannaj Bird trip from one of my friend.

                                      

 

Location: The Nannaj Wildlife Sanctuary is located 22 Kms away from the main city Solapur, Maharashtra.

Details of GIB Sanctuary:Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary (established in 1979, also known as the Jawaharlal Nehru Bustard Sanctuary of Maharashtra) is a wildlife sanctuary for the Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) at

Solapur, Maharashtra, India. The total area covered under sanctuary is 600 hectares.Nannaj is a great place to see a number of other grassland and scrubland species of birds like Larks, Pipits, Quails, francolins,Shrike, Lapwings, Raptors, Coursers, Munias, and Doves etc.

Nannaj Bird Sanctuary is only 6-7 km away from Solapur railway station and better place to find  the  Great Indian Bustard and some grassland birds. It is sad that very few GIB eft in the wild because of

loss of their habitat.

                                           
                                                     Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary

 

I booked  1 pm Sidheshwar express train and reached Solapur at next day 7 am . Our driver was waiting outside Solapur sation.  He took us to hotel, we checked-in, fleshed up and left for birding on the outskirts of Solapur. Our first birding destination in Solapur was Hipparga lake . Since there was very less rainfall current year , the lake was totally dried up and very few water left in it . However I could see lots of water birds near the bank of lake . In my  first sight I saw Pied Kingfisher making his trademark sound . First lifer for me , I was very happy , what a great day to start . Also there were lots of Purple Swamphen , Purple Heron, spot billed duck  and  surprisingly Flamingoes could be seen from long distance .

                                                        Pied Kingfisher

                                                    

                                                    Woolly-necked Stork

                                               

After spending good time in capturing and  observing waterbirds we decided to take a lunch break . The food was simple and delicious especially Solapur delicacy Sengapoli and that remained unique desert in all our lunches and dinners thereafter. After lunch session we  headed towards a location were we Could  spot Indian Eagle Owl. But fortune was not on our side as we could not spot the Indian Eagle Owl however we spotted Backbucks gazing in green carpet . It was damn close range.

                                                           Backbucks

                              

                                                  

                                                     

                                                                 

On the way  we saw Bay-backed Shrike, Scaly-breasted Munia, Indian Silverbill, Brahminy Starling and other common birds .                                                              

                                                      Indian Silverbill

                                               

                                    

Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark

                                                           
                                          Bay Backed Shrike

                                                                                                       

Southern Gery Shrike                 

                                                                    Blackbucks Again :)      

                         

                                                     Bramminy Starling

After a Tea break we had decided to go GIB bird sanctuary to try our luck to see GIB.  We reached our destination where we had nice birding session. Indian Bushlark, Southern Grey Shrike, Larks, Bay-backed Shrike and many more birds in good numbers. However we could not spot any The Great Indian bustard around , the forest officer had told us GIB was got disappeared since last two days .So we decided to come back the next day morning to check the place.                                                                 
                                                     Pied Bushchat

                                                     

                                            Paddyfield Pipit

Collared Dove

                                                            Indian courser

 

                         
                                             Indian Peafowl Male and Female

 

Grey Francolin

                                                            Grey Francolin Family

                                       

It was time to return back to hotel after a long graceful day.Without any other thought we had good dinner (Thali) followed by shangapoli  to end the day :).

Early to bed to early to rise was what we had in mind. By 0630hrs we were on the road again. We headed straight to a Dreamland, a vast green portion of grassland. While travelling, We stopped  a Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark, Rufous-tailed Lark, Indian Bushlark,  Barn Swallow (resting on the wire). 

                                                                 
                                                                  Indian Bushlark

                                          

                                                               Large grey babbler

                                      

                

                                                        Small Minivet                                         

                                   

Our driver had amazing eyesight, he suddenly stopped the vehicle at a point and shown us a rock bush quail which was completely camouflaged in rocks .

                                             

                                                        Rock Bush Quail                                            

 

                                                         

                                        Bush Quail                                                                                                           

                                              Rufoused tailed Lark

Suddenly driver had a mobile call from forest officer that they had spotted GIB. Immediately we rushed to the sanctuary and within 15 mints we reached to the hut without making any noise. Each of the team member were told strictly to maintain silence . The majestic Great Indian Bustard was roaming inside long grass.  It was far away to capture in camera however my canon hs 50x managed some nice snaps , I kept my camera aside and I was just observing beautiful GIB. We had spend 3 hours inside the sanctuary and captured some good pics of other birds too. Apart from GIB we had seen Indian courser, Sandgrouse, lizard monitor too.

     Tiger of Indian grassland -Great Indian Bustard

                                      

 
                                         

                                                              Monitor Lizard
                                                 


                                                

We decided to check our luck  if we could spot   and yes this time very are lucky we found Indian Eagle owl. Great big bird , we managed to reach bit closer  to owl by taking help stone hide and had captured good images too.
                                                           Indian Eagle Owl

                                      

                                               
Now its time to pack up the tour, wepacked our bag, had dinner and reached the Solapur station. The tripwas full of extements, some life time moments, saw many lifers. I was deep in sleep dreaming the majestic tiger of grassland, the Great Indian Bustard and suddenly somebody shouted '"Bhai ! Dadar aa gaya:)"

Places visited

1)Hipparga lake

2) Dreamland grassland

3) Nannaj bird sanctuary

Bird list
Babbler, Large Grey	Pipit, Paddyfield	Kingfisher, Common
Bee-eater, Green	Prinia, Ashy	Kingfisher, Pied
Bulbul, Red-vented	Prinia, Plain	Kingfisher, White-throated
Bushlark, Indian	Quail, Jungle Bush	Kite, Black-shouldered
Bushlark, Singing	Quail, Rock Bush	Kite, Brahminy
Bustard, Great Indian	Robin, Indian	Koel, Asian
Cisticola, Zitting	Roller, Indian	Lapwing, Red-wattled
Coot, Common	Sandgrouse, Chestnut-bellied	Lapwing, Yellow-wattled
Cormorant, Little	Sandpiper, Common	Lark, Ashy-crowned Sparrow
Coucal, Greater	Sandpiper, Green	Lark, Rufous-tailed
Courser, Indian	Sandpiper, Wood	Minivet, Small
Crow, House	Shikra	Munia, Scaly-breasted
Crow, Jungle	Shrike, Bay-backed	Myna, Brahminy
Cuckoo, Common Hawk	Shrike, Southern Grey	Myna, Common
Dove, Eurasian Collared	Silverbill, Indian	Owl, Indian Eagle
Dove, Laughing	Sparrow, House	Parakeet, Rose-ringed
Dove, Red Collared	Spoonbill, Eurasian	Peafowl, Indian
Drongo, Black	Stilt, Black-winged	Pigeon, Rock
Duck, Spot-billed	Stork, Painted	Tern, River
Egret, Little	Stork, Woolly-necked	Waterhen, White-breasted
Egret, Intermediate	Sunbird, Purple	Weaver,baya
Francolin, Grey	Sunbird, Purple-rumped	Spotted owlet
Grebe, Little	Swallow, Barn	Plover ring
Heron, Grey	Swallow, Red-rumped	Ibis, Glossy
Heron, Indian Pond	Swamphen, Purplehen	Jacana pleasAnt
Heron, Purple	Ibis, Black	Jacana bronze

Save Indian Bullfrog

Dear Friends, Hope you keeping well .

Finally much awaited monsoon is on full swing . The first monsoon  comes with  agricultural related work in our Vasai area. Monsoon brings fun, hope, relief,joy,cold,happiness in our life.However  for fun side, some people from our area would count the days as the monsoon season approached. When it rains and the water level rises in the bavkhals and ponds, the Indian Bull frogs follow the water down to the ponds and lots of people wait for this time to catch frogs.With monsoon in full swing, some people have got into their act - catching frogs and turtles for eating purpose.

Before that I would like to tell you that I am hardcore Non-Vegetarian , I eat chicken ,fish and mutton because they are grown in masses or made for eating purposes only, also I had too caught frogs in my younger days.

 But now time has changed . Please try to understand these amphibians ( Frog , turtle ) are part of our ecosystem and lesser in their population would cause drastically effect our lifestyle .Frogs mainly feed on mosquitoes and other insects thereby controlling human diseases such as Maleria, filaria and encephalitis.
 Many environmentalists urge the restriction of frog consumption especially those harvested from the wild because amphibian populations are declining and frogs are essential element of ecosystem.

You may say that its our culture but please understand Cultures must be changed once they are no longer beneficial. Today the Indian Bullfrog is fighting a losing battle in almost all its past habitats. Our religion thought us Eating an animal to extinction is a Sin . And most important eating non conventional animals are not good for our health . Frogs are known carriers of the amphibian chytrid fungus which may cause serious health problems . Moreover ,the consumption of frog meat over a period could cause paralytic strokes, cancer, kidney failure and other toxic related problems.

 Frog legs may be exotic food for us however this massive killing may silence their call forever . Hence for GOD sake, for environment , our health and for our next generation please stop massive killings of frogs and also please prevent others to do this sinful act . Please note that I am not blaming you and don’t take it personally . I am just worried about Environment and highly under threaten species Indian Bullfrog
Thanks n Regards
Amol Lopes

PS -The Government of India declared a blanket ban on the catching and the killing of frogs and turtles under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
The poaching of frogs attracts stringent punishment with a fine of Rs 25,000 and/or imprisonment up to three years

Karnala Bird Sanctuary Via Nerul Mangroves

I along with my office colleagues had visited Karnala bird sanctuary last weekend (ie on 18/5/2014) despite little ill health. I had fever and cold last night but still could not able to resist my excitement to visit this bird sanctuary first time. First time I had visited assuming that I will get chance to click photos of many birds. But I was bit disappointed as May is not good time to visit this bird paradise.I had a mind set that I won't find any birds when I stated the Trail but after talking some halts , I had managed to click some few record shorts .


Karnala is 61 kms South of Mumbai, on the Mumbai-Goa highway. It is about 10 km from Panvel. At a height of 445 mts above sea level, Karnala is known for the thumb shaped pinnacle on top and the bird sanctuary around.

The sanctuary is home to 147 species of resident and 37 species of migratory birds who visit the sanctuary during winters. Among the birds seen here are paradise fly catcher, magpie robin, malabar whistling trush, racket-tailed drongo, golden backed woodpecker, crested serpent eagle etc. Two rare birds i.e. Ashy Minimet and Spotted heart woodpeckers have been sighted here.

Oriental Garden Lizard






               

                     Golden fronted Leafbird
   



The Bronzed Drongo 
The Bronzed Drongo (Dicrurus aeneus) is a small Indomalayan bird belonging to the drongo group.




White Rumped Shama





After 4 hours of walking and searching birds we had finished the complete trail . I was totally exhausted and had no energy to walk . After taking some rest we had started return Journey. When we reached at Nerul palm beach road , I saw something pinkish colour in side the pond . Initially I thought it must be Lotus flowers but after that I had realized not flowers its Flamingossss . I was fully refreshed when I saw the classic , fabulous scene . Thousands of Flamingos and other waders . It was treat for eyes , heavenly beautiful.


Lesser Flamingos

Slender Billed Gull















Red Wattled lapwing

It was wonderful journey throughout.

Thanks!!!