Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Goa Update
Been busy with work over the past week so not done much birding did have a Spotted Eagle fly over me on the way to work yesterday just the same kites this morning Black Drongos on the wires by side of the road hope to be doing some more birding this week
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
22-03-2010
Had to go back to my lodgings as I had forgotten something on the way back had a Nice Black Shouldered Kite on the wires by the road about 8 ft away but no camera so will have to start taking that to work with me the normal Kites sen today Blue Tailed Bee Eater, Black Drongo, White Breasted Kingfisher,the two crows had another look for Indian Pitta but still no luck so will keep trying
Sunday, March 21, 2010
weekend in goa
Hi
another weekend in goa slipped into the Indian working week witch means I have to go in on Saturday spent Sunday getting to grips with the Scooter reminds me of some of my birding days in the UK but much more fun out here Have been given a spot for Indian Pitta no luck today but will be trying again only takes 25 minutes to get to work so will be doing some birding on the way in a lot of the sites are on route taken me a few days to get back into it it
another weekend in goa slipped into the Indian working week witch means I have to go in on Saturday spent Sunday getting to grips with the Scooter reminds me of some of my birding days in the UK but much more fun out here Have been given a spot for Indian Pitta no luck today but will be trying again only takes 25 minutes to get to work so will be doing some birding on the way in a lot of the sites are on route taken me a few days to get back into it it
Friday, March 19, 2010
Lunch Walk
I am back in Goa for another month
Took a stroll at lunch time today the normal kites plus I had 4 Vultures need to sort out what they where no book with me today hopping to do some more birding this weekend so will be posting what I get up to
Took a stroll at lunch time today the normal kites plus I had 4 Vultures need to sort out what they where no book with me today hopping to do some more birding this weekend so will be posting what I get up to
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday
Monday 08-03-2010
Went back to Baga today I was looking for a spot mentioned in one of the trip reports that I have still not sure if we went to the right spot ended up on the beach and headed for the headland to the north where I found a spot to sit down and then watched the sea for over a hour lots of Gulls and Terns going by Pallass Gull, Heuglines, Brown Headed gull and Yellow Legged Gull, Terns included Lesser Crested, Sandwich, Gull Billed on the edge of the beach there were Grey Heron Little Cormorant In the bushes behind me I had Red Throated Flycatcher then on the drive back I had a thermal of Black Kites & Brahminy Kite the total number was a count of 50 birds mainly Black Kites plus the mix of Egrets and Indian Pond Heron in the fields plenty of House Crows, Thick Billed Crows on the wires at the side of the road had Green Bee Eater, Blue Tailed Bee Eater, Black Drongo,
Tuesday 09-03-2010
Today headed for Santa Cruz took about ½ hour to get there the driver said this is one of the best spots for birding a quick scan and I was hooked from where we had parked I could see some waders so I walked down a path in the shade of the palm trees and was not disappointed about 20 minutes after arriving the sky was alive with kites c80 in with them was a Oriental Honey Buzzard I then continued on and found 6 Ringed Plovers, Watercock on the wires I found Long Tailed Shrike, Blue Tailed Bee Eater I also had 4 Wooly Necked Storks fly over so now was time to look for the waders Marsh Sandpiper followed by Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Temminck’s Stint Just about to move when a Snipe caught my attention it did not look right on closer inspection turned out to b e a Pintail Snipe there were lots of Indian Pond Herons, Intermediate Egrets, Cattle Egret, Thick Billed Crows and House Crows, Common Myra, Great Coroucal, Rock Pigeon
On the way to the bar tonight I had Indian Nightjar
Wednesday 10-03-2010
Well my final day in Goa so where to go well I think I left the best till last so it’s back to Santa Cruz on arriving a Asian Openbill flew over there where the usual selection of Egrets and Indian Pond Heron Wader wise much the same as yesterday plus Greenshank, Over head the kites showed very well on one of the thermals I found a Changeable Hawk Eagle
So ends my birding in Goa will be putting full lists of birds together over the next couple of days
Went back to Baga today I was looking for a spot mentioned in one of the trip reports that I have still not sure if we went to the right spot ended up on the beach and headed for the headland to the north where I found a spot to sit down and then watched the sea for over a hour lots of Gulls and Terns going by Pallass Gull, Heuglines, Brown Headed gull and Yellow Legged Gull, Terns included Lesser Crested, Sandwich, Gull Billed on the edge of the beach there were Grey Heron Little Cormorant In the bushes behind me I had Red Throated Flycatcher then on the drive back I had a thermal of Black Kites & Brahminy Kite the total number was a count of 50 birds mainly Black Kites plus the mix of Egrets and Indian Pond Heron in the fields plenty of House Crows, Thick Billed Crows on the wires at the side of the road had Green Bee Eater, Blue Tailed Bee Eater, Black Drongo,
Tuesday 09-03-2010
Today headed for Santa Cruz took about ½ hour to get there the driver said this is one of the best spots for birding a quick scan and I was hooked from where we had parked I could see some waders so I walked down a path in the shade of the palm trees and was not disappointed about 20 minutes after arriving the sky was alive with kites c80 in with them was a Oriental Honey Buzzard I then continued on and found 6 Ringed Plovers, Watercock on the wires I found Long Tailed Shrike, Blue Tailed Bee Eater I also had 4 Wooly Necked Storks fly over so now was time to look for the waders Marsh Sandpiper followed by Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Temminck’s Stint Just about to move when a Snipe caught my attention it did not look right on closer inspection turned out to b e a Pintail Snipe there were lots of Indian Pond Herons, Intermediate Egrets, Cattle Egret, Thick Billed Crows and House Crows, Common Myra, Great Coroucal, Rock Pigeon
On the way to the bar tonight I had Indian Nightjar
Wednesday 10-03-2010
Well my final day in Goa so where to go well I think I left the best till last so it’s back to Santa Cruz on arriving a Asian Openbill flew over there where the usual selection of Egrets and Indian Pond Heron Wader wise much the same as yesterday plus Greenshank, Over head the kites showed very well on one of the thermals I found a Changeable Hawk Eagle
So ends my birding in Goa will be putting full lists of birds together over the next couple of days
Monday, March 8, 2010
Friday / Saturday / Sunday In Goa
Friday 05-03-2010
Last night on the way back we went to see if we could find the easy way to watch Pilerne Lake after asking someone for directions we found it you get out the car and have a walk of 20 feet so will be going back again
This morning did a retune trip to Morjim Beach but this time I spent it looking at the scrub and bushes behind the beach cafes and bars birds seen included Red wattled P)lover, House Crow, Large Billed Crow, Oriental Skylark, Pied Kingfisher, Paddyfield Pipit I had a scan of the see where I found Lesser Crested Tern plus the usual gulls the two kites where seen also seen and White Breasted Kingfisher, Red- Rumped , Swallow, Common Myna, Barn Swallow, Dusky Craig Martin then just before I returned to the car I found a Indian Robin so another good mornings birding
on the way back to Anjuna tonight I had Blue Tailed Bee Eater,House Swift,Common Kestrel and Red Necked Falcon so ending another day in Goa.
On the way back from the bar to my loggings I had Spotted Owlet
Saturday 06-03-2010
I mentioned to my driver last week that I would like to go on one of the river trips one of his friends run these trips so today we set of for old Goa where I boarded a boat for what turned out to be a great 3 hours on the Zuari River and creeks the main thing you are looking for is Mugger Crocodile bird wise this is a trip for Kingfishers there are 6 to see if you are lucky as we set of I had the Black & Brahminy Kites it was bit quiet for the first half hour then as we got into some of the creeks it livened up White Breasted Kingfisher followed by Common Kingfisher then after about a hour we found a crocodile in the water you could just see its head we carried on and had Pied Kingfisher and then I found a Whimbrel, Redshank, Greenshank, we also had Little Egret, Great White Egret, Cormorant, The captain was very good at pointing things out then he says Collared Kingfisher (target bird for me) had good views but no picture as it then flew off as we continued on I had Western Reef Heron and sitting on a low branch a Black Crowned Night Heron and then what was to be the final Kingfisher of the day Stork Billed Kingfisher so giving me 5 of the 6 not bad over head we had a small thermal of Black Kites, Then the captain said crocodile on the bank as the boat pulled up alongside there it was all 6 meters of it I have some video of this I will put it up when I’m back in the UK so as everyone was happy it was back to shore and what a very pleasant way to spend three hours
Sunday 07-03-2010
Today I went to Lake Mayem and really got to grips with a lot of the birds I have been listening to and some I got better sights of as the driver wanted to take me to the lake’s edge we finally found our way in we ended up driving along a track then had to stop and do the rest on foot of about ¾ of a mile and find our way to the edge where I had Red Wattled Plover, White Browed Wagtail, White Breasted Kingfisher, Little Cormorant, Rock Pigeon, now ¾ mile would normally take me about 15 minutes to walk this took me over 2 hours as the birds came thick and fast the track had a lot of paths leading of it you only had to go a short way up each one you then came to a clearing where you could look down the hillside so getting views of the birds in the top canopy of the trees well let’s start the following list includes birds seen today and those from the past week that I have finally identified Red Whiskered Bulbul, Red Vented Bulbul,White Browed Bulbul, White Eared Bulbul, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Purple Sunbird, Great Coucal, Puff Throated Babbler, Yellow Eared Babbler, Lolen’s Sunbird, Oriental White Eye, White Bellied Drongo, Small Minivet, Asian Koel, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Green Bee-Eater, Coppersmith Barbet, Jungle Myna, Palm Swift, Common Iora, Common Woodshrike, Orange Headed Thrush, Earasian Blackbird, Brown Shrike, Rufus Treepie, Black Hooded Oriole, Black Headed Cuckooshrike, Malabar Whistling Thrush, Baya Weaver, Plum Headed Parakeet, Rose Ringed Parakeet, Yellow Fronted Green Pigeon, then on the way back we stopped at Chilli Anroma as I had noticed a few pools on the way here I found a small reed bed where I found Clamorous Reed Warbler, Blyth’s Reed Warbler, we then continued to Anduna after short while we came across some birders watching a area at the side of the road they were watching Yellow Wattled Plover nice to see another only my second so far other birds seen on the way back House Crow, Intermediate Egret, Black Drongo, Common Myna, Both Kites,
This evening I went for a stroll on the edge of Anduna where I had more White Breasted Kingfishers, Cattle Egret, Black Kite, Tawny Eagle, Common Kestrel, Rock Pigeon,
Last night on the way back we went to see if we could find the easy way to watch Pilerne Lake after asking someone for directions we found it you get out the car and have a walk of 20 feet so will be going back again
This morning did a retune trip to Morjim Beach but this time I spent it looking at the scrub and bushes behind the beach cafes and bars birds seen included Red wattled P)lover, House Crow, Large Billed Crow, Oriental Skylark, Pied Kingfisher, Paddyfield Pipit I had a scan of the see where I found Lesser Crested Tern plus the usual gulls the two kites where seen also seen and White Breasted Kingfisher, Red- Rumped , Swallow, Common Myna, Barn Swallow, Dusky Craig Martin then just before I returned to the car I found a Indian Robin so another good mornings birding
on the way back to Anjuna tonight I had Blue Tailed Bee Eater,House Swift,Common Kestrel and Red Necked Falcon so ending another day in Goa.
On the way back from the bar to my loggings I had Spotted Owlet
Saturday 06-03-2010
I mentioned to my driver last week that I would like to go on one of the river trips one of his friends run these trips so today we set of for old Goa where I boarded a boat for what turned out to be a great 3 hours on the Zuari River and creeks the main thing you are looking for is Mugger Crocodile bird wise this is a trip for Kingfishers there are 6 to see if you are lucky as we set of I had the Black & Brahminy Kites it was bit quiet for the first half hour then as we got into some of the creeks it livened up White Breasted Kingfisher followed by Common Kingfisher then after about a hour we found a crocodile in the water you could just see its head we carried on and had Pied Kingfisher and then I found a Whimbrel, Redshank, Greenshank, we also had Little Egret, Great White Egret, Cormorant, The captain was very good at pointing things out then he says Collared Kingfisher (target bird for me) had good views but no picture as it then flew off as we continued on I had Western Reef Heron and sitting on a low branch a Black Crowned Night Heron and then what was to be the final Kingfisher of the day Stork Billed Kingfisher so giving me 5 of the 6 not bad over head we had a small thermal of Black Kites, Then the captain said crocodile on the bank as the boat pulled up alongside there it was all 6 meters of it I have some video of this I will put it up when I’m back in the UK so as everyone was happy it was back to shore and what a very pleasant way to spend three hours
Sunday 07-03-2010
Today I went to Lake Mayem and really got to grips with a lot of the birds I have been listening to and some I got better sights of as the driver wanted to take me to the lake’s edge we finally found our way in we ended up driving along a track then had to stop and do the rest on foot of about ¾ of a mile and find our way to the edge where I had Red Wattled Plover, White Browed Wagtail, White Breasted Kingfisher, Little Cormorant, Rock Pigeon, now ¾ mile would normally take me about 15 minutes to walk this took me over 2 hours as the birds came thick and fast the track had a lot of paths leading of it you only had to go a short way up each one you then came to a clearing where you could look down the hillside so getting views of the birds in the top canopy of the trees well let’s start the following list includes birds seen today and those from the past week that I have finally identified Red Whiskered Bulbul, Red Vented Bulbul,White Browed Bulbul, White Eared Bulbul, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Purple Sunbird, Great Coucal, Puff Throated Babbler, Yellow Eared Babbler, Lolen’s Sunbird, Oriental White Eye, White Bellied Drongo, Small Minivet, Asian Koel, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Green Bee-Eater, Coppersmith Barbet, Jungle Myna, Palm Swift, Common Iora, Common Woodshrike, Orange Headed Thrush, Earasian Blackbird, Brown Shrike, Rufus Treepie, Black Hooded Oriole, Black Headed Cuckooshrike, Malabar Whistling Thrush, Baya Weaver, Plum Headed Parakeet, Rose Ringed Parakeet, Yellow Fronted Green Pigeon, then on the way back we stopped at Chilli Anroma as I had noticed a few pools on the way here I found a small reed bed where I found Clamorous Reed Warbler, Blyth’s Reed Warbler, we then continued to Anduna after short while we came across some birders watching a area at the side of the road they were watching Yellow Wattled Plover nice to see another only my second so far other birds seen on the way back House Crow, Intermediate Egret, Black Drongo, Common Myna, Both Kites,
This evening I went for a stroll on the edge of Anduna where I had more White Breasted Kingfishers, Cattle Egret, Black Kite, Tawny Eagle, Common Kestrel, Rock Pigeon,
Thursday, March 4, 2010
More from Goa
Wednesday 03-03-2010
Fort Aquada a cliff top site (used to be a former prison) had a wander along the cliffs plenty to see and here starting to get to grips with some of the calls not always seeing the bird as some are very secretive but fun trying the usual kites had Peafowl when we arrived at our next spot the old helicopter landing area just wandered round the edge seeing and hearing more of the same did find a Red Whiskered Bulbul sitting out in the open another site I will be returning to
Thursday 04-03-2010
Today decided to take a look at Pilerne Lake this is tucked away in a small valley hidden by trees, but once we found the way in had a short but hazarded walk needed to go across a channel just two planks spanning this but once at the lake edge what a nice and pleasant surprise had to walk along the side to get better views of the birds also mind full of the cattle, the first bird I put my bins on was what In had come here for Yellow Wattted Plover, there where plenty of egrets present Cattle, Great White, Intermediate and on the lily pads Bronzed winged Jacanas plenty of Indian Pond Herons as I only had a limited time I concentrated on what was on the water and the edges rather than the bushes, while scanning for the Plovers some waders landed which included Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Ruff, and a Marsh Sandpiper then it was back to the car where the driver said he had spoken to someone and there might be a better way in which we will check out tonight and I will be coming back to this site again
Fort Aquada a cliff top site (used to be a former prison) had a wander along the cliffs plenty to see and here starting to get to grips with some of the calls not always seeing the bird as some are very secretive but fun trying the usual kites had Peafowl when we arrived at our next spot the old helicopter landing area just wandered round the edge seeing and hearing more of the same did find a Red Whiskered Bulbul sitting out in the open another site I will be returning to
Thursday 04-03-2010
Today decided to take a look at Pilerne Lake this is tucked away in a small valley hidden by trees, but once we found the way in had a short but hazarded walk needed to go across a channel just two planks spanning this but once at the lake edge what a nice and pleasant surprise had to walk along the side to get better views of the birds also mind full of the cattle, the first bird I put my bins on was what In had come here for Yellow Wattted Plover, there where plenty of egrets present Cattle, Great White, Intermediate and on the lily pads Bronzed winged Jacanas plenty of Indian Pond Herons as I only had a limited time I concentrated on what was on the water and the edges rather than the bushes, while scanning for the Plovers some waders landed which included Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Ruff, and a Marsh Sandpiper then it was back to the car where the driver said he had spoken to someone and there might be a better way in which we will check out tonight and I will be coming back to this site again
Tuesday 02-03-2010
Tuesday 02-03-2010
This morning the taxi picked me up at 7 o’clock and we headed of to Morjim beach target birds where Pallass Gull Heuglines Gull also had Brown Headed gull and a few Black Headed Gulls but no sign of any Terns but I will be going back here again after watching the gulls for awhile I moved further along the beach and had Lesser & Greater Sand plovers, After this I had a look at the scrubby area behind the beach where I had Oriental Skylark, House Crow, Black Drongo, Tawny Pipit, plus the usual Kites Black & Brahminy just as I was about to move off I had a Oriental Magpie Robin sitting on the wires showing very well but was gone before I got the camera set up, On the way back in the evening I had a Indian Roller sitting on a post by the side of the road because I am birding on my own I am still not identifying everything I see or hear which means I will have to go back to some of the places
This morning the taxi picked me up at 7 o’clock and we headed of to Morjim beach target birds where Pallass Gull Heuglines Gull also had Brown Headed gull and a few Black Headed Gulls but no sign of any Terns but I will be going back here again after watching the gulls for awhile I moved further along the beach and had Lesser & Greater Sand plovers, After this I had a look at the scrubby area behind the beach where I had Oriental Skylark, House Crow, Black Drongo, Tawny Pipit, plus the usual Kites Black & Brahminy just as I was about to move off I had a Oriental Magpie Robin sitting on the wires showing very well but was gone before I got the camera set up, On the way back in the evening I had a Indian Roller sitting on a post by the side of the road because I am birding on my own I am still not identifying everything I see or hear which means I will have to go back to some of the places
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
My First bit of Birding In Goa
Been in Goa just over a week have been busy most of the time but have done some birding as It looks like I might be out here for a while after this three weeks I decided to go birding on my own rather than book a guide, I have arranged with a taxi driver to take be to some of the spots that I am aware of from reading trip reports found on the net (Let me just say here that if you come to Goa and only have limited time I would suggest that you use a local guide) this takes me back to the beginning of my birding days trying to work out calls (must see if I can find any on disc) and identification but I am slowly getting there spent two days over the weekend doing just that
Day One Carambolin Lake
This is a spot recommended by most people so we set of at 6-00 and it took 45 minutes to get there on arriving the driver spoke to a local who said that he would give me some information on watching the lake and fields which was very useful. So I set of and like everyone says the number of purple swamp hens is just amazing just scanning from where we had parked I saw bronzed winged jacanas, little egret, great white egret, intermediate egret, moorhen, Indian pond heron, I then walked down the east side of the lake where I added Purple Heron, White breasted Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, Pheasant tailed jacanas, Stork Billed Kingfisher, I then spent some time getting to grips with Swallows and martins, barbets and minvets then it was off to scan the fields for Small Pratincole which I found after a short time birds of prey included , Brahminy Kite, Black Kite, Shrika, then at 11-00 hrs it was time to go back as the heat of the day makes it impossible to continue birding
Day Two
Today decided to go to Baga where from the information I had sounded good and it was there is a marsh behind one of the hotels as we could not see how to get to it the driver asked and they let me in so I spent 2 hours birding from the patio area first bird seen was Indian Pond Heron have a picture of it then it was back to sorting out minvets and barbets also had Wooly Necked Stork, black Kite, Brahminy Kite, Purple Heron, and then a White Bellied Sea Eagle put in a appearance on the wires there where Black Drongos, green Bee-eater, then a couple of dogs run across the marsh and put up a bird I was hoping to see Great Painted Snipe and there where a few birds I still need to Identify, after leaving the hotel grounds I headed for the area by the football pitches where I had more barbets and a few of the bulbuls and again because of the heat it was back to my room and the comfort of the fan.
Day One Carambolin Lake
This is a spot recommended by most people so we set of at 6-00 and it took 45 minutes to get there on arriving the driver spoke to a local who said that he would give me some information on watching the lake and fields which was very useful. So I set of and like everyone says the number of purple swamp hens is just amazing just scanning from where we had parked I saw bronzed winged jacanas, little egret, great white egret, intermediate egret, moorhen, Indian pond heron, I then walked down the east side of the lake where I added Purple Heron, White breasted Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, Pheasant tailed jacanas, Stork Billed Kingfisher, I then spent some time getting to grips with Swallows and martins, barbets and minvets then it was off to scan the fields for Small Pratincole which I found after a short time birds of prey included , Brahminy Kite, Black Kite, Shrika, then at 11-00 hrs it was time to go back as the heat of the day makes it impossible to continue birding
Day Two
Today decided to go to Baga where from the information I had sounded good and it was there is a marsh behind one of the hotels as we could not see how to get to it the driver asked and they let me in so I spent 2 hours birding from the patio area first bird seen was Indian Pond Heron have a picture of it then it was back to sorting out minvets and barbets also had Wooly Necked Stork, black Kite, Brahminy Kite, Purple Heron, and then a White Bellied Sea Eagle put in a appearance on the wires there where Black Drongos, green Bee-eater, then a couple of dogs run across the marsh and put up a bird I was hoping to see Great Painted Snipe and there where a few birds I still need to Identify, after leaving the hotel grounds I headed for the area by the football pitches where I had more barbets and a few of the bulbuls and again because of the heat it was back to my room and the comfort of the fan.
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