Bharatpur, Rajasthan

Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary, formerly known as Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, located in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, along the Jaipur-Agra NH 11, is known for its avian winter visitors.

I decided to stop over here for a couple of days while on my way to Delhi for a winter break (Dec '15).

The break was planned with a mix of a long drive in the Thar, birding and photography at the Bird Sanctuary and loads of north Indian food both homemade and dabha.

Day one was a long 800 km drive from Mumbai to Udaipur via Surat, Golden Gate Bridge at Ankaleshwar (the NH8 bridge over Narmada tends to be jammed), Vadodara, Halol, Godhra and Modasa. Started early at 6 in the morning and reached Udaipur by about 8 in the evening. The tarmac on the Halol - Modasa section was amazing. The Udaipur bye pass was pretty patchy and jammed with heavy trucks.

The Thar with its peppy 2.5 ltr CRDe engine cruised effortlessly on the super tarmac in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Winter caught up at Udaipur requiring a jacket late in the evening.

The next day started early at 6 am after a hot cup of tea. Super enjoyed the drive in the cold winter morning, long straight highway, scattered trucks trudging along, the sun just about starting to break the horizon and a lone Thar cutting through all of this at 100 kmph.

The 600 km drive through Rajasthan to Bharatpur via Chittorgarh (NH 76), Bhilwara (NH 79), Shahpura, Jahazpur, Deoli, Tonk, Lalsot and Dausa. Road conditions were generally good. Some sections around Shahpura and Lalsot were patchy. Reached Baratpur(NH 11) at about 6 in the evening and checked into Hotel Sunbird.

MM550, Fully loaded!

The best way to explore the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary is to hire a rickshaw (at Rs. 100/hour) as the rickshaw pullers themselves are pretty well versed with the avian fauna in the park and the rickshaw allows you to leave your camera bag and other equipment in the rickshaw while you walk down different tracks.

Nilgai, agri fields around Shahpura

I realized that a basket is pretty handy to carry along for all your nick-knacks like water, packed lunch tripod, spare camera batteries, winter wear, etc, as it tucks in neatly under the rickshaw seat. The camera bag isn’t exactly handy as you’ll only be using your longest lens.

I paired the Nikon D5300 with a Tamron 150-600 mm telephoto lens for maximum reach. Settings were generally at Shutter Speed Priority, Spot Metering, Auto ISO, continuous focus and continuous shooting.

Spotted Owlet, Snooze  mode on a cold winter morning!

Some of the Birds spotted during the two days at the sanctuary:

1. Grey Francolin
2. Indian Peafowl
3. Lesser Whistling Duck
4. Knob Billed Duck
5. Rudy Shelduck
6. Indian Spot Billed Duck
7. Northern Shoveler
8. Painted Stork
9. Black Headed Ibis
10. Glossy Ibis
11. Eurasian Spoonbill
12. Indian Pond Heron
13. Grey Heron
14. Purple Heron
15. Darter
16. Great Cormorant
17. Sarus Crane
18. Egyptian Vulture
19. White Breasted Waterhen
20. Purple Swamphen
21. Eurasian Coot
22. Common Moorhen
23. Yellow Footed Green Pigeon
24. Rose Ringed Parakeet
25. Spotted Owlet
26. Common Hoopoe
27. White Throated Kingfisher
28. Pied Kingfisher
29. Indian Grey Hornbill
30. Lesser Golden Back Woodpecker (M)
31. Shrike
32. Black Drongo
33. White Browed Fantail
34. Rufus Treepie
35. Wire Tailed Swallow
36. Jungle Babbler
37. Orange Headed Thrush
38. Bluethroat
39. Siberian Rubythroat
40. Oriental Magpie Robin
41. Indian Robin
42. Black Restart
43. Red-breasted Flycatcher
44. Red Avadavat
45. Marsh Harrier

Bluethroat

Bharatpur was cold and as birding starts early at about 630 in the morning you need to be pretty well covered.

Siberian Rubythroat

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Day two at the sanctuary was fogged out so had to wait till about 11 to pull out the camera. Spotted a pair of Sarus cranes just as the fog started to lift.

Egyptian Vulture

Darter

Painted Stork - Nesting

The Bharatpur – Delhi run took me through Mathura and the slick Yamuna Expressway.

Be sure to take the Mathura bye pass via Gokul Barage else you’ll be stuck in messy city traffic as you try to reach the Expressway from the Mathura – Agra Highway (NH 2).

Also take the Bharatpur bye pass to circumvent Bharatpur city.

Birds spotted at Surajpur, Gaziabad

1. Wooly Necked Stork
2. Black Headed Ibis
3. Glossy Ibis
4. Spot Billed Duck
5. Crested Lark (at NOIDA airfield)

After a couple of days in Delhi, drove up to Shimla for a joyride. The Chandigarh - Shimla section was fun, though had to be careful with the heavy traffic flow on the two laned NH 22. The early morning drive up to Theog via Kufri and Fagu was also fun. It had snowed at Kufri a day or two back and some part of the hills between Kufri and Fagu still had some snow.

As four majestic Himalayan Vultures glided past at Kufri,I could only watch and take in the sight, as I had the 18-55 mm lens on.

On the way back to Mumbai, I took the expressway back to Bharatpur and then headed to Jaipur (NH 11) – 400 km for the day. Day 2 was a long 780 km drive from Jaipur to Vadodara via Kishangarh (NH 8), Bhilwara (NH 79), Chittorgarh, Udaipur (NH 76), Ratanpur (NH 8), Modasa, Godhra and Halol (SH 5). Day 3 was a comfortable 400 Km drive on the NH8 to Mumbai from Vadodra.

Some stopovers along the way -

Udaipur
RTDC Hotel Kajri for its value for money stay. Food is lousy.

Bharatpur
Hotel Sunbird for its convenient location – 200 mtrs from the park, good rooms, service and food.
ITDC Hotel Ashok located inside the sanctuary is good for a quick lunch.

Shimla
Thethys Dahba, Kufri for aloo parathas and chai.

Chandigarh-Shimla
Giani Dahba, Dharampur for an assortment of Indian vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes and rotis.
Puran Singh Dahba, Ambala for an assortment of rich Indian non vegetarian dishes.
Pal Dahba, Chandigarhfor an assortment of rich Indian non vegetarian dishes.
Pehlwan Dahba, Murthal for tandoori parathas and chai.
Neelkanth, Karnal for kheer.

Gujarat
Legend Hotel, along the NH8 for its convenient location and value for money stay on the NH8 Vadodara bye pass.
Parsi Da Dahba at Talasari along NH8 for some great parsi food. Don’t miss the caramel custard.

Tarkarli, Malvan

As a three day holiday looms up, I start looking up maps for a longish drive. Weigh options and Tarkarli, Malvan starts looking good for –

1. A 500 km run down the legendary Mumbai-Goa NH17. 
2. Quaint seaside Malvani village known for its beach and cuisine.

Captains Log; 0210.2015

Start early and straightaway get on to the Mumbai-Goa NH17. The 20 ltr jerry can mounted on the Thar gives me the comfort to keep stoppages to the minimum.

NH17 up to Nagothane is a rattler with all kind of road works underway. After Kolad the road opens up and the tarmac improves considerably. The monsoon splendor of the Western Ghats too stands out. Stop at Mahad for breakfast. Ghats start right after Poladpur and the NH takes me through Chiplun, Sangameshwar, Hathkhamba, Lanja, Rajapur, Kankavli and Kasal in about 10 hours.

The drive between Poladpur to Kasal is super engaging with moderate to sparse traffic and amazing twisties. A light rain earlier in the morning seemed to have washed the tarmac.

You have to drive through this section, specially the 100 km section between Lanja and Kasal, to believe it. The section has super tarmac and it turns, climbs and falls in a span of seconds. The drive is so gripping that you just want to keep driving just to see what’s around the next curve. I really have to push myself to stop at Lanja for a quick lunch.

Mahad, Chiplun, Hathkhamba (turn off for Ratnagiri), Lanja and Kankavli are good stops for food and fuel.

The Thar was amazing with its high seating, super acceleration, sweet slotting long throw gears and short wheel base that helped me push the vehicle around bends and traffic. And the head turner that this vehicle is, helps cut through traffic.

Kasal to Malvan is another 30 km / 45 minute drive on a pretty decent road that has some good curvy sections and sparse traffic. The rain and mist only added to the fun I was having behind the wheel.

Malvan turned out to be a small town with shops and houses lining a maze of narrow roads. Noticed a decent hotel on the left as I entered the town.

A left, little ahead of the Bus Stand, heads to Tarkarli. This road (about 7 km) is again a narrow road lined with shops, houses, home stays and resorts. MTDC, which is well spread out on the beach is the best place to stay here. Being a long weekend, everything was booked. Some of the other resorts quoted about Rs. 2500/- for a non A/C room, which I thought was expensive. Drove around the Karli river and up to Devbag to check stay options. Anything that looked good was already booked!

The hotel in Malvan, now started to look good so turned around and headed back to Malvan. Malvani Homestay at Wairy-Bhutnath village had accommodation but I was too tired to explore.

Put up at Hotel Maharaj Executive for the night. Tried the Pomfret Thali at Only Fish next to the Malvan dock. While the pomfret was fine, I think the place can be given a miss.

This side of the town I thought was too touristy – the boat ride to Sindhudurg Fort, snorkeling and scuba diving happen from here. The Beach too was a mess. Not to impressed with the stay at Malvan, I was wondering if I should head to Panjim, which is a two hour run from here, in the morning instead.

Captains Log; 0310.2015

Next day 630 am I was back at Tarkarli. Parked at the MTDC parking and headed out on to the beach.

Bird calls got me to quickly change lens from the Nikkor 18-55 to the 55-300.

Got super lucky with a pair of Spotted Owlets!

On the way back I stopped at Malvani Homestay and was amazed with the huge property and clean room at a cost of Rs. 1,200/- per night. The room overlooks a small coconut and beetle nut grove! Cursed myself for not checking out the place the previous day. Immediately went back to Malvan, checked out of the hotel and came back to Malvani Homestay.

I was blown away by the home-made vegetarian food accompanied with my favorite – sol kadhi. The lunch and dinner at the homestay was simply fabulous.

Evening, I was back at the beach to catch the sunset with the Nikkor 18-55 mm lens.

Captains Log; 0410.2015

Started at 6 am for the home run. I was fascinated with the N17 so took the same route back rather than try the Kolhapur route. 530 pm I was home.

Time Lapse - Outside my Window

Captains Log 2208.2015

About 2000 pictures taken at 3 second interval and put together at 30 FPS!

Phansad Sanctuary, Murud

Captains Log; 0105.2015

Phansad Sanctuary is located on the Murud-Roha road. The road is decent with some curvy and patchy sections and sparse traffic. A night drive was fun with the high beam pointing out the narrow road through the darkness.

The Forest Dept. has set up basic infrastructure – tents and a canteen near Village Supegaon, about 8 km from the turnoff from the Kashid-Murud road. GPS co-ordinates N18.42444, E72.94849. They allow you to pitch your own tent within the compound (cost Rs. 500/person).

The sanctuary is pretty heavily vegetated and that means sightings are difficult. There were lots of calls but I just about got a glimpse of a White Rumped Shama.

Enjoyed the long walk in the forest and the poha and chai at the Forest Dept. canteen.

Kashid beach was super active with water sports.

On the way back from Kashid, turned for a look-see of Korlai on a whim. Came amazed with the fishing village with boats coming in, fish being dried and the Korlai lighthouse. The drive along the kucha road leading to the lighthouse was super.

Kayaking at Tapola

Captains Log; Star Date 1402.2015

Drove up to Mahabaleshwar to pit the Thar against the twisties between Poladpur - Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani - Wai on the other side. 

A look see to Tapola, about 30 km from Mahabaleshwar, took me through twisties over narrow and patchy roads.

Tapola is a quiet place as compared to Mahabaleshwar. Facilities too are basic here. The tourist attraction here is the boat club that offers motor boats and water scooters on the huge Sivajisagar lake. Frankly I wasn’t impressed.

Tapola - Boat Club

What caught my attention was a small village right on the bank of the lake that offered a stay in tents, local cuisine and kayaking.

Mahabaleshwar Agro Village (GPS 17.774547, 73.719608) has tents with attached washrooms and a common dining area. The tents are set up under asbestos sheets. The beading in the tents isn’t great. While the stay is rough, the location and food is super. Really enjoyed the rice bakhri and the chicken masala cooked using firewood.

What really got me going was the kayak’s. It was super fun paddling up and down the section around the site. Tried to kayak to the other side of the lake early in the morning the next day, but somewhere in the middle, the deep green waters got the better of me!

Stopped at Panchgani to pick up some fresh strawberries.

Farm Fresh Strawberries!

The Panchgani-Wai section is smooth as compared to the Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar section. The NH17 section too fares poorly as compared to the fast Mumbai Pune expressway. But then doing the complete circuit adds to the fun. The Thar was amazing through the drive.

Mancha Break, Uttam Break!

Birding at Bhigwan, Pune

Captains Log; Star Date 2401.2015

Painted Stork - Bhigwan, Pune

The picture above sums up the birding trip to Bhigwan, Pune!

A huge water body formed by the Ujjani Dam off Bhigwan on the NH 65 Pune-Solapur highway is home to numerous wetland birds.

Bhigwan

Bhigwan is about 230 km from Navi Mumbai, or about 100km from Pune, between Kurkumbh and Indapur, thus a night stay somewhere close is required.

There are small agri villages around that offer options for boating and stay. The stay though is rough and it’s better to put up at Pune (about 100 km) or Baramati (about 20 Km).

Hotel Khrishnasagar in Baramati on the Baramati-Bhigwan road turned out to be a good stay option – decent rooms and food. The road between Baramati and Bhigwan is decent and takes about half an hour to cover.

The planned itinerary of getting to Baramati by lunch, spending the evening at Bhigwan, coming back to Baramati for the night and then heading back to Bhigwan early next day worked well.

Explored the following villages:

Dhiksal – Dhiksal is on the north-west corner of the reservoir (GPS 18.314236, 74.787648). Turn left at the end of Bhigwan for Dhiksal. You can get on to the service road towards the end of the town before the flyover to take the left to Dhiksal. From Dhiksal take a right to get on to the road that cuts through the reservoir. This is a kucha road so it’s bumpy and dusty and is pretty busy with two wheelers and tractors ferrying sugarcane. (This was the first time I saw tractors with blaring sound systems!) A small village few kms down this kucha road offers boat rides (row boats) in the reservoir which cost Rs. 100/person or Rs. 700 if you want the boat to yourself.

Openbill Stork

Kumbhargaon – This village is on the south bank of the reservoir. The approach is from the Pune-Solapur Highway ahead of Bhigwan (GPS 18.272359, 74.796240). Boats are available here.

Grey Heron

Dalaj – This village is again on the south bank of the reservoir next to Kumbhargaon and can be approached via Kumbhargaon – turn right near the temple at Kumbhargaon or via a more adventurous kucha road from the Pune-Solapur highway – the left is marked with a sign board for “Dalaj No. 2” (GPS 18.265063, 74.804406). Boats are available here. The set up here looked a little more organized and has some tie up with MTDC – there is a stay option with a kitchen providing meals.

Painted Stork

All of the above locations offer numerous birding options – just drive / walk across the fields to the bank of the reservoir for a look see. The boat rides are a good experience and it lets you get closer to the birds. On this particular day the flamingos were stationed closer to Dhiksal were the water is shallow. They really positioned themselves well as even the boats couldn't get close enough because of the shallow depth!

Flamingos

The locals here have caught onto to city slickers coming here for an outing, some birding and photography. As soon as you get close to any of these locations you’re sure to be approached by ‘guides’ offering their services. Honestly, I was happy on my own!

Bhramini Duck

Brown Headed Gull

Glossy Ibis

Black Headed Ibis

Stilts

Hotel Laxmi Dhabha at Bhigwan turned out to be great for bhakri, fried fish and fish curry – the local catch from the reservoir “Chilapi”.

Laxmi Dhaba, Bhigwan, on the left about 7-8 shops down the road to Dhiksal.

Local catch - Chilapi

Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary

Captains Log; Star Date 1101.2015

Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary, (GPS 20.007797, 74.103943) a habitat for wetland birds, comes alive in winters as migratory birds land.

The area around the wetland is completely agrarian. I could see a lot of sugarcane and onion and vegetables like cauliflower and cabbage and some grape wines.

The sanctuary is best approached from Nashik – about a 45 Km drive via SH 30 and Saikheda, in Niphad district. The tarmac on the SH 30 stretch is good. The road around Saikheda is patchy and bouncy.

The previous day, I had tried the Ghoti-Sinnar approach. Some sections were rough and patchy. GPS plotted me through Sinnar Gaon to the road heading to Niphad. I managed to get through the narrow maze in the middle of a Saturday bazaar just because people were super surprised to see a Thar! At one point a fellow popped his head in to say "sar gaadi mast ahe!".

Early in the morning the section right after the turn off the SH 30 was super fogged out. Couldn’t see beyond half a meter ahead of the bonnet. A few cars were waiting on the kerb for the fog to lift. I pushed on slowly and was delighted to see that it was foggy only up to the bank of the Godawari river.

I was surprised to see the crowd of people at the sanctuary, most of them from Nashik and unfortunately most of them with no connect with birding!

Don't miss this sign to get to the site at Chapadgaon!

Off road to the site at Chapadagaon

The Forest Dept. has set up watch towers around the wetland to view the birds. At Chapadagaon, two such towers can be accessed easily, another two-three depending on water level. They also have tents here for people who want to spend the night at the sanctuary. That’s about all the accommodation around here. A government rest house up ahead at Manjargaon was in a poor state.

Forest Dept. site at Chapadagaon

Reservations for the tents with the Forest Dept. can be done at Nashik - 0253-2505116/15/14. You could also speak with Gangadhar, a person from the Forest Dept. – 9326 992 411 / 9545 046 001 based at the site.

I think a good itinerary would be to reach Nashik before lunch, find a hotel on the A.B. Road, visit the sanctuary in the evening, come back to Nashik for the night and then go back to the sanctuary the next day early in the morning.

Super enjoyed the trip for a drive on a cold winter morning, agrarian surrounding, clear blue sky and of course birding.

Purple Swamphen

Another shot - Purple Swamphen

Eurasian Coot

Spot Billed Duck

Flight - Spot Billed Duck

Purple Heron

Bhraminy Duck

Painted Stork