Palkhi: A walk with the warkaris (Jun 08)

We walked on sunday with the warkaris from Pune to Saswad (around 25 kms) and it was a full fun experience! The sound of manjeere, dhol, tanpura, the sweet bhakti sangeet and the "josh" of the warkaris was a constant pleasure never to be forgotten.

Some photos put up at:

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/asmitaj/PalkhiAndTheWarkaris

Valley of Flowers: The closest to heaven that I've ever been...

Frank Smythe - an english mountaineer & botanist - while returning from his expedition to Mt Kamet in 1931, lost his way and found himself amongst thousands of beautiful flowers which is today known as the Valley of Flowers. Part of the Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve in the Garhwal region of Himalayas, the Valley of Flowers (altitude 12,181 ft) has 550+ varieties of flowers blooming every year from June to September.

Here are some pictures shot (mostly by Shash) during our visit to the Valley of Flowers..

Flowers, Birds & Butterflies at Valley of Flowers 

Along with being an excellent destination for flora & fauna, visit to the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund is a great Himalayan trek for beginners. The trek route starts from Govindghat (6,251 ft) to the base village of Ghangariya (10,427 ft). From Ghangariya, one treks to Valley of Flowers (12,181 ft) and back. Similarly, to Hemkund (14,842 ft) and back. Total distance covered is approx 50kms.

Here are some pictures shot (mostly by me) during our trek to the Valley of Flowers & Hemkund..

Valley of Flowers - Landscapes & People

Ladakh: The Himalayan Desert (Oct 07)

The drive to Leh, the capital of Ladakh, started from Manali. The transition from the lush green Himalayas, covered with dense coniferous forests to the drier Himalayas, with its breath-taking landscapes and painted mountains was striking. Ladakh, the largest district in India, shares a border with Tibet. Buddist culture dominates here and it is rightly known as the Land of Lama and Gompa. Indus and Zanskar are the main rivers of the plateau.

The world's highest motorable road, the Khardung La Pass (Altitude 18380 feet), is one of the many passes in Ladakh. The bird & animal life that dwells at this altitude and such harsh climatic conditions is simply awe-inspiring!

Catch the glimpse of our trip @ http://picasaweb.google.com/asmitaj/LadakhTheHimalayanDesert

Bhigwan: A heaven for birds (and birders)

Saturday, 3rd February, 6:30am, Pune - Bhigwan

Today our destination was Bhigwan, on Pune-Solapur road. The Ujjani dam backwaters, close to Bhigwan is a fantastic birding site, especially for water birds. After a brief stop for breakfast and tea, we reached the fork to the left on the highway, which is a short-cut for Diksal, our final destination near Bhigwan.

As soon as we left the highway, we could see birds around in the small water pockets, much before the actual backwaters started. A couple of Eurasian Spoonbills flew past us.

Eurasian Spoonbill

A Purple Heron sat still on a tree top. A little further on the way to Diksal, there was a small bridge with some more bird activity on both sides. A good number of Purple Swamphens were feeding out in the open and I saw them so close and nice for the first time.

Purple Swamphen

They were accompanied by Black Tailed Godwits, few Glossy Ibis and a couple of Grey Herons around. A Western Marsh Harrier flew over the waters continuously aiming at the flocks of ducks in the air or other smaller birds and fish in the water.

Finally, we reached Diksal. Just at the beginning on the main bridge, we saw our first lifer for the day, a Curlew Sandpiper and some more Common Sandpipers, Black Tailed Godwits and more waders.

River Tern

On the right, were a couple of heronry's with a lot of Asian Openbill Storks settled in along with some Grey Herons and Little Cormorants. A couple of Comb Duck females too were seen there. A little further down the bridge, we reached the fishermen houses from where we took a boat ride. As per our information, flamingos were yet to arrive at Bhigwan and we were delighted when the boatman told us that they had indeed arrived a couple of days ago and he knew where they were. We set off and enjoyed sights of plenty of birds on the way.
There were very good numbers of Common Coot, Northern Shoveler, Glossy Ibis, Pallas Gulls, Brahminy Ducks and the list goes on. A Marsh Harrier or two were constantly seen in the sky once in a while diving downwards and scaring off the birds.

Pallas Gulls resting

A little ahead we could see a lot of gulls near the bank, all facing away from the sun. Was a cute sight to watch.

Some Brahminy Ducks and two male Comb Ducks had also joined them in the same position.

Comb Duck

And then in the front we could see a flock of Greater Flamingos, sleeping! They all had their necks curled up with their beaks and heads tucked inside and were standing on one leg. After a little while, they probably realised our presence and one by one woke up.

Greater Flamingos alert

We were still near a tree and they turned back and started fishing. We decided to go a bit nearer and in better light for a few snaps and though we tried to overtake their flock from a distance, they minded it.

Greater Flamingos taking off

Poor things, they all got alert and soon took off.

Greater Flamingos in flight

Good thing was they didn't leave their fishing spot. They simply rounded our boat and landed behind us.

Greater Flamingos landing

It was as beautiful a sight as it always is to see these huge still beautiful birds walk, take off, fly and land, all with an unmatched elegance.

Photos:



Birdlist:

Pueple Swamphen
Common Moorhen
White-breasted Waterhen
Glossy Ibis
Black Ibis
Oriental White Ibis
Asian Openbill Stork
Painted Stork
Woolly Necked Stork
Common Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Black Tailed Godwit
Black Winged Stilts
Northern Shoveler (m + f)
Ruddy Shelduck (aka Brahminy Duck) (m + f)
Spot-billed Duck (m + f)
Common Coot
Comb Duck (m + f)
Garganey Duck (m + f)
Pallas Gull
River Tern
Gull billed Tern
Grey Heron
Purple Heron
Pond Heron
Cattle Egret
Median Egret
Large Egret
Eurasian Spoonbill
Little Cormorant
Common Kingfisher
White Throated Kingfisher
Pied Kingfisher
Wire-tailed Swallow
Common Swallow
Red Rumped Swallow
Purple Rumped Sunbird (m + f)
Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Greater Flamingo (25 nos)
Osprey
Western Marsh Harrier

Travel Information:
Bhigwan is a small town, two hours from Pune. It is best to have your own means of transport. There isn't any decent place for overnight stay and no good restaurants for breakfast/lunch and it is recommended to carry your own food, water, etc.

Distances:
Pune - Bhigwan: 100kms (2 hours)

Boat ride:
Available at Diksal via local fishermen. They charged around Rs 300 for 4 persons.

A morning at Nalsarovar

Monday 25th December, Gir - Ahemdabad - Nalsarovar - Ahemdabad - Pune

Our train, late by an hour, reached Ahemdabad at around 6:15am. Jayanth too was with us and we all had a late afternoon flight back home from Ahemdabad. So we decided to spend the morning at Nalsarovar lake, near Ahemdabad.

We reached Nalsarovar by 7:45am or so and were surprised to see the place was full of tourists! There was no way to do any birdwathing along the banks and we took a boat ride. Here we met Qasim Mohammad, a sweet chap in his forties, who had immense bird knowledge and had been observing bird behavior at Nalsarovar right from chidlhood.

Glossy Ibis

The lake was full of Martins and Wire Tailed Swallows flying at low heights above the water. As we went inside, we saw a lot of Glossy Ibis, Black Tailed Godwits, Black Winged Stilts. A Marsh Harrier hid in the tall grass looking for a prey. As we cut through the grass and went further, a Purple Swamphen took off and soon we discovered the place was full of Purple Swamphens.

Black Tailed Godwit in flight

At some distance Qasim spotted a Pheasant Tailed Jacana, then 5-6 Greylag Geese landing nearby. Then there was a lone Comb Duck swimming which took off.

Comb Duck (aka Nakta) taking off

We could see many flocks of birds in the sky which included Glossy Ibis, Asian OpenBill Storks, Garganey ducks, Greylag Geese and Common Cranes.

Grey Lag Goose taking off, Garganey Ducks in the background

The water level was shallow throughout and in summers it goes a couple of feet low, making it a perfect habitat for Pelicans and Flamingos. Qasim told us that even Wild Ass migrated to Nalsarovar during summer.

Purple Heron in flight

After spending around 3 hours in the boat, we got back to rush to Ahemdabad to catch our flights. We reached Pune and home early evening and were already talking about the next trip to more places in Gujrat!

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nature-pics/tags/nalsarovar/

BirdList:
Asian Open Bill stork,
Painted Stork,
Purple Swamphen,
Large Egret,
Intermediate Egret,
Little Egret,
Pheasant-tailed Jacana,
Wire Tailed Swallow,
Martins (unidentified),
Brahminy Ducks,
Garganey Ducks,
Comb Duck,
Black Ibis,
Glossy Ibis,
Wood Sandpiper,
Black-tailed Godwit,
Common Snipe,
Black-winged stilt,
Purple Heron,
Grey Heron,
Pond Heron,
Marsh Harrier,
Lesser-spotted eagle,
Common Crane,
Sarus Crane (in nearby field on our way back)
Yellow wagtail,
Grey Wagtail,
White-tailed lapwing,
Red-wattled lapwing,
Greylag goose

Boat ride:
No fixed timings. There was a base cost for the first one hour and the remaining hours are to be decided mutually with the boatmen.

Distances:
Ahemdabad to Nalsarovar - 80kms