Birds of India: 2014

This blog has been one year overdue but as they say, it's better late than never. A friend of mine had visited Bhigwan - a birding hot spot about 100 KM from Pune. My birder son and I were interested in spotting Flamingos in the wild. So on an early January wintry morning I and my family set out for our tryst with the Flamingos. Once we crossed Hadapasar, the 4 lane Solapur highway was treat to cruise on.

Getting there: Once you cross Bhigwan town on Pune-Solapur highway, you will cross a bridge with this view to your left. Watch out for a narrow left road after crossing the bridge where you get off the highway and head to a village called Khumbargaon - the birding spot.You will see a lot of migratory and local birds from this point so drive slowly and make sure you keep the camera ready.

The lake and it's surrounding area are very scenic and as soon as you get there your eyes are treated to a nature's spectacle. You can spot hundreds of birds right on the shore.

You have to take a boat ride on the lake and head to the opposite bank to see flamingos. We had pre-booked a canoe from a local person named Sandip Nagare (phone 9960610615). The boat was ready when we arrived at the spot at about 9 AM. So we hit the Ujani backwaters right away. Sandip and his boatmen are extremely knowledgeable of the birds. So we had an oarsman and birding guide rolled into one. Sandip told us that the dam water levels were higher this year (Jan 2014) so the flamingos were yet to arrive in large number. However a group that had ventured out during the wee hours had spotted few flamingo birds. As we glided in our canoe, we spotted a several types of birds at close range which was a real treat. The boatmen carry fresh fish that they throw in the lake to feed the birds (is it legal?). That's when the birds fly down in droves and present a real spectacle to cherish. We saw these birds during the first visit:

Brown headed Gull, River Tern, Whiskered Tern, Common Coot, Northern Shoveler, Garganey, Little Egret, Great Cormorant, White Billed Stork, Godwith, Grey Heron, Eurasian Spoolbill, Black headed Ibis, Woolly Neck Stork, Asian Open Bill, Painted Stork, Bar Headed Goose, Spotbill Duck, Cattle Egret, Intermediate Egret (Pictures at the end of the blog)

But the Greater Flamingo was nowhere in sight. So, after a couple of hours on the lake we had to turn back without spotting a single flamingo bird.

We gave it another shot around mid Feb. This time, we left very early in the morning and arrived at the spot by 8 AM. And boy, were we glad we gave it another attempt! We finally got to see this graceful, magnificent, glamorous, flamboyant but extremely shy bird in the wild. Here are a few snapshots along with interesting Flamingo tidbits

Flamingos get their pink color from their food source, in this case the wetland worms they eat. The younger ones have black wings as they haven't accumulated enough pink in their body, it probably takes them years to acquire the beautiful pink color.

Their legs are long so that they can easily wade in the marshy areas, see how they stand on one leg for extended period of time to conserve body heat.

They mostly stay in large groups, so this was a rare couple picture

It was interesting to see them bury their heads completed in the soil to catch prey - worms

If you can spot the painted stork at the extreme left, this picture gives you a sense of how tall Flamingos are. Bear in mind that painted storks are fairly large birds

It was quite a task to crouch on the front end of the boat that sways continuously for a steady hand to take accurately focused pictures. I was wondering how the enthusiasts on other boats with camera lenses the size of a cricket bat were faring.

I was hoping for a video and picture of the flamingos in flight. It was unfortunate that some local farmers decided to walk past the flock, but I was happy I got my moment without feeling guilty.