2011 Tour Narrative
The tropical climate, weave of waterways, creeks, and estuaries, patchwork of paddies and lush, forested hills means thatGoais a magnet for birds and birding. With the group all arriving safely at the airport we set off back to Baga for a leisurely afternoon of settling-in and ticking off the first few birds from the hotel grounds. That evening, with a beer in hand we watched a couple of Cinnamon Bitterns appear and a female Painted Snipe and her three well grown chicks probe their way through a paddy until finally the light failed on us.
With many species spending the winter inGoa, sites were ever changing with birds arriving and some continuing on south. Over the following two weeks we explored the coastal sites such as Morjim where a plethora of gulls, terns and sand-plovers kept us amused and challenged. Our second visit here also saw a visible passage of pipits, larks, wagtails and hirundines heading south out across the estuary, as well as a stunning Bay-backed Shrike and a myriad butterflies festooning a small patch of flowers.
Our boat trip along the Zuari estuary and backwaters produced the hoped for Collared Kingfishers supported by Black-capped, White-throated, Stork-billed, Lesser Pied and Common Kingfishers – quite electric in colour! A Lesser Adjutant glared down on us from its tree top perch with its black beady eye and a morbid fascination. Waders and herons peppered the shoreline including the quirky Terek Sandpiper, a couple of sleek Western Reef Egrets, and from the shadows dinky Striated Herons emerged. As dusk approached we were treated to flock after flock of Gull-billed Terns whifling in from high up.
The lowland forests held plenty of migrants as well as some new splashes of colour. Tickell’s Blue Flycatchers, denizens of the bamboo thickets occasionally emerged in all their blue and orange glory, whilst Rose-ringed, Alexandrine and gaudy Plum-headed Parakeets tore around above our heads. Three Brown Wood Owls gave good views and a quartet of day-roosting Nightjars provided some interesting ID debate, finally resolved as four Indian Grey Nightjars. Down at ground level frequent Orange-headed Ground Thrushes provided a striking flash of patterning yet were still remarkably camouflaged.
Into the cooler, leafy Western Ghats we explored. Two dawn forays and a dusk trip provided us with most of our hoped for species. Malabar Trogon and Blue-capped Rock-thrush, a highly obliging Crested Serpent Eagle, a Red Spurfowl and best of all a flawless jewel of a bird emerged from the shadows in the form of an Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher. Not only did this elusive little species show, but it stayed faithful to its perch in full scope view for the duration of our observation. As darkness fell at Bondla we kept half an eye on the large croc in the lake whilst also scanning for night birds. First to appear was a cracking Brown Hawk Owl above our heads. Then disaster, we had to leave the park prematurely due to new restrictions in access hours. But hope was not lost and shortly after we located the most obliging, bizarre and ultimately, bird of the trip, a male Sri Lankan Frogmouth.Missionaccomplished and time for bed! Out at Tambdi Surla new birds continued to appear. A tree adorned in Malabar Pied Hornbills, stunning Malabar Parakeets and Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters in the clearings, an elusive Verditer Flycatcher and an immaculate pair of Malabar Barbets excavating a nest cavity. The tranquillity of the forest was shattered by 6000 Iron ore trucks nose-to-tail along the main road, luckily a stop for lunch at a spice plantation provided some rest-bite and an interesting insight in to spice production.
Back in the lowlands the paddies were starting to be ploughed and birds inundated these new feeding hotspots. At Siolim the plough left a wake of Egrets and Pond Herons and occasionally the flock of 3600 Small Pratincoles would flush into the air in a spectacular cloud. Openbill’s tore at huge pond snails, a Spoonbill sifted the muddy puddles, Temminck’s and Little Stints picked their way between Wood Sandpipers, Stilts, and the occasional Common and Pin-tail Snipe. Out atSanta Cruza surprise Red-necked Falcon put on a blistering display of speed as it terrorised the grasslands for prey.
An evening on the mangrove-fringed DivarIslandwas a pure pleasure. The rich grasslands are a magnet for predatory species from the static-feeders such as Pied Bushchats, Little Green Bee-eaters and Indian Rollers that line the wires, to the harriers that quarter the open land. Here Montague’s and Pallid Harriers were compared side-by side, and only out-done by a trio of Amur Falcons, one of which did the most perfect fly-by imaginable. – Dan Brown
Updated: March 2012