Hi All,
I had done extensive birding for many years in and around Dombivli from 1994 to 2001….However because of the Job commitments could not bird in these areas for some time now. However Bnhs was kind enough to organize an outing at Nilje today i.e. 13th Feb’05 (A village situated about 8 Kms from Dombivli station along the Dombivli – Sheel Phata- Mumbai Highway) but was little disappointed to see almost 80 people registered for the outing, including 36 college students. However had an opportunity to revive the old birding memories.
Nilje is an average sized “Agri”village that has this very beautiful pond just at the entrance. The surrounding area is a mixture of cultivated land / dry fallow land and Scrub country. We have recorded almost 150+ species from here over the period that we had birded including a number of uncommon sightings. A regular bus service from Dombivli station east takes you to this place in 20 mins. Nilje is also connected by rail on the Diva – Virar Route.
The Nilje pond is a size of two football fields that is covered with water lilies and other aquatic vegetation that attracts plenty on water birds including migratory ducks. We had good sightings of Gargeny teals (approx. c50) and Cotton pigmy goose / Cotton teals in Br+ plumage…..
Apparently I thought the numbers of these small but beautiful ducks has fallen considerably around Mumbai region with very few sightings as compared to past ( I used to see C.P.Goose in Bombay University Kalina Campus, Juhu-near D.N.Nagar,some ponds in Thane, Araey Pond etc., now they seem to be gone from these places)…
There were also good sightings of Lesser Pied Kingfisher couple, hovering & diving for fish in its usual spectacular display and there were Egrets and Pond Herons taking there favorite perches at regular intervals.Both the species of Jacanas found in India i.e. Pheasant Tailed (In Non Breeding plumage) and Bronze winged Jacanas were numerous and the most vocal of the lot.
What surprised me was, one Jacana had 3 nestlings about 4-5 days old. Usually the breeding season of Jacanas is from June to September at the onset of the monsoon with slight variations but I had never seen this during winter and February is too early for this bird to nest. The male was keeping a sharp vigil as the 3 babies feed nearby pecking at some vegetation or water insect (very clearly seen from the Scope) ……I say male bird as the Female of Jacanas are known to be “Polyandrous” i.e. It has many husbands and is known to kill even its own babies so that the male is induced to mate again. In Nilje Jacanas had been seen breeding and with babies only during the monsoon………..
The water vegetation was not thick and hence, probably the Purple swamp hens were missing from the gang that are otherwise present in huge numbers ( The pond was desilted this year, so the vegetation probably had taken time to grow). There were other birds in and around the pond / Lake that included Green Sandpiper, Little cormorant, White breasted water Hen, White throated kingfisher, Yellow wagtail, Paddy field pipit, Long tailed shrike, Blyth’s reed warbler, Tailor bird, Ashy prinia, Barn swallows, Palm swifts………A pair of Rufous tailed sparrow lark visited the pond to quench there thirst….. If you just decide to sit by the pond you will see many such birds visiting the pond as the day becomes hot.
The trees surrounding the pond were also very productive as the pipal and Banyan trees were fruiting and the Coral tree & Indian Silk cotton starting to blossom……..and on these were spotted plenty of Common Rosefinches (One of my sure places to sight these fellows), Coppersmith Barbets, Tree pipits, Golden Oriole, Black Drongos, Chestnut shouldered petronias, Common Ioras that was responding to the calls…
There is a Mango tree nearby and is the favorite place of a pair of spotted owlets that were very noisy at our approach.Further down in the cultivated fields were Indian Robins, Crow Pheasants, Crimson breasted barbets, Ashy crowned Sparrow Larks, Small green bee eaters, Red vented Bulbuls, Pariah Kites and an Immature Brahminy kite soaring…
I thought few birds were seen this time. A shikra was seen scanning the pond area latter in the day.
Though these are just few birds sighted within a span of 2 ½ hrs around the Nilje pond with 80 people around, the place has much much more to offer. And would like to share my past birding experiences around this area…….But sometime later.
Happy Birding,
Addi The Birde
9820455713*
Sincere thanks to Mr.Vithoba Hegde ( From Bnhs) and Mr.Parthiv Sanghvi for helping in managing the large No. of people that turned for the outing.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Karnala - There are plenty of Birds out there.....(6.2.05)
Dear All,
Wanted to write the trip report of Karnala, but was late again……however, here comes a rather long mail this time…….
Once a friend of mine informed me that there are no birds in “Karnala Bird Sanctuary”…… I was taken aback by his Findings (???) ….but then could I blame him for that?.....well !! This is the perception of most of the people not in the business of birdwatching as for them there are birds in Karnala only when they see them in cages kept near the rest houses……and sure enough the cages were removed / broken with only two cages having Australian budgerigars & orange spotted cockatiels respectively that kept the visitors especially children’s amused and to believe that there are many birds in Karnala.
Karnala Bird Sanctuary however, does have plenty of wild birds owing to its rich deciduous habitat….and the Sunday outing of 6th Feb’04 organized by Bnhs gave good opportunity to explore.
Karnala is on the busy Bombay-Goa NH-17, just c12 Kms from Panvel. A beautiful Deciduous / mixed deciduous forest that spans roughly 12.11 Sq.Kms. While the forest is a paradise for birdwatchers, the fort trail is enjoyed by the Hikers that leads to the now depilated fort on the top having a prominent pinnacle, famous as the “Thump’s up” pinnacle (460 mts). However the picnickers that get attracted to this serene environment, by there “Hoopla” make a sorry picture.
There are 3 good trails for birding in Karnala (Offcourse this is my personal view, otherwise any path in the forest offers good birding)
1) Fort Trail : That leads you to the fort thro’ much climbing and muscle pumping for about 1 ½ - 2 Hrs with some treacherous climbing at the end (not recommended for the poor hearts). But is worth taking as you go thro’ different woodland types with Moist deciduous interspersed with semi-evergreen vegetation at the higher elevation and the view from the top is wonderful particularly after the monsoon with some birds like the Shahin Falcon, Common Kestrel & Crested Serpant Eagles waiting for you there.
2) Boremal Trail : This trail is on the other side of the road on the west and is also a very enjoyable trail, however I have not explored this trail much & hence do not have much to write on this.
3) Mortaka Trail : This undulating trail more or less travels parallel to the highway from inside the forest and at the base of the hill. Continuing further along this trail for about c2 ½ Kms , one reaches the NH-17 highway.
Owing to my illness I had requested Mr.Parthiv Sanghvi to come along with me just in case few members wanted to go along the fort trail that required some exertion and he was kind enough to accompany. Dr. Almieda was the resource person for the plants (A virtual encyclopaedia on the Plant kingdom) who made the trip very exciting & complete.
We took the Mortaka Trail that travels thro’ some excellent birding route and also which is less travelled by the “Rowdy Mobs” wanting to go to the fort (as there is a bifurcation from this trail that is a shortcut to go to the fort)…..
But for me the best birding patch in Karnala, as I experienced over the several visits is, from the Gate ( Road ) uptill the Rest house, a distance of merely a 100 Mts, but one should go in the early morning, before the “Time-pass public” start pouring in.And sure enough, as we reached there at 8.15 am (Still a bit late) our first bird of the day was, surprisingly a Malabar whistling Thrush that was revealed due to its metallic long drawn calls ( The whistle call that made it famous as the “idle schoolboy”, I believe is given rather when the bird is in a relax mood ??)……I have often observed several times, a strange behaviour of this bird of being very inquisitive, and would approach you very near or come out in open as if to investigate who is the intruder ….This was immediately followed by very good sightings of 4 species of sunbirds out of the possible 5 that could be found here namely the Purple Rumped , Purple, Crimson or Yellow backed and the Crimson backed or Small Sunbird ( I think Karnala would be the nearest place from Mumbai to have a sure sighting of the Small sunbird) …The bird that was left out from this clan being the Loten’s sunbird.
Well !!! we had come at the right time, as the Famous “Trio” of trees that adds the red colour to our forest and announces the approaching summer, had started blooming i.e. Red Silk Cotton, Flame of the Forest (Palash) and Indian Coral tree. One could also add, “Bonnfire” tree to these (Sorry…I only know the common names)………
With the bloom also came other species that get attracted to these, such as the Drongos, Golden & Black hooded Orioles, Golden Fronted Chloropsis, Chestnut shouldered petronias, leaf warblers, Mynas Etc…..infact we were lucky once again to observe 4 species of drongos as well out of the possible 6, namely…Ashy drongo that was looking very “Rowdy”, Greater racket tailed (only calls), common Black & the White bellied.
There are various species of trees around the 2 beautiful rest houses--Mayur & Bhardwaj. Some of them (As we learned from Dr.Almeida) are rare and on these are the equally varied and uncommon birds that can be seen….infact I would go to the extent of saying that atleast once, do not take any trail, just sit amongst these trees and you will find almost 75% of the bird species, that otherwise could be seen normally on a trail …….well !!! we spotted birds close to this number e.g. Large cuckoo shrike (Calls), Brown headed / Large Green Barbet, Racket tailed drongo, Lesser Golden Backed woodpecker, Golfronted leafbird / Chloropsis, Sunbirds, Pale billed Flower peckers, Golden Orioles, Tailor bird (Calls), Quaker babbler, Slaty headed Scimitar babbler (Calls), Greenish leaf warblers, Booted leaf warblers, Scarlet Minivet (Female – good sighting by all) & Orange headed ground thrush rummaging on the ground.
Further down the trail, we got to see a very rare plant. As Dr.Almeida informed that this climber “ Nitum ola” is the living fossil & only species in its family to be found in India and is the only flowering Gymnosperm.We were lucky to see it in flowering……..
The heat had started building up now and with the undulating terrain every body seemed to be tired…when somebody caught site of something looking like a pair of birds on a bare branch of a tree, which on close observation was identified as Green Pigeon and I was just explaining to the group that the state bird of Maharashtra is the Yellow footed Green pigeon…when suddenly it turned a bit and its brown / maroon mantle came into view….Oh !! Oh!! So they were not the Yellow legged after all, but the “Pompadour Green pigeons”. These Green birds have such a wonderful camouflage of colour that it takes some time for any birder to realise that there are so many of them on the same tree ( They are usually found in groups)..but this gave an opportunity for some revision on the state- bird, animal, tree, flower & fruit…later on we spotted them 3 more times, Plus a Black napped blue monarch & the Rose ringed parakeets.
A short break at a beautiful spot overlooking a small valley gave us some time to revise and appreciate the forest wealth…. On the return trail a Crested Serpant Eagle rose with the thermals and its typical scolding calls were heard at the background even as Dr. Almeida Sir revealed the charms of the plant kingdom with his usual ease & expertise………..
We also had a brief visit to a nearby, well maintained nursery called “Go Green” on our way back.Though there are plenty of birds out there ….
I think it is going to be tough for me to convince my friend about it unless I take him there personally for birding………………………….Till then….
Happy Birding,
Addi The Birde
9820455713
Wanted to write the trip report of Karnala, but was late again……however, here comes a rather long mail this time…….
Once a friend of mine informed me that there are no birds in “Karnala Bird Sanctuary”…… I was taken aback by his Findings (???) ….but then could I blame him for that?.....well !! This is the perception of most of the people not in the business of birdwatching as for them there are birds in Karnala only when they see them in cages kept near the rest houses……and sure enough the cages were removed / broken with only two cages having Australian budgerigars & orange spotted cockatiels respectively that kept the visitors especially children’s amused and to believe that there are many birds in Karnala.
Karnala Bird Sanctuary however, does have plenty of wild birds owing to its rich deciduous habitat….and the Sunday outing of 6th Feb’04 organized by Bnhs gave good opportunity to explore.
Karnala is on the busy Bombay-Goa NH-17, just c12 Kms from Panvel. A beautiful Deciduous / mixed deciduous forest that spans roughly 12.11 Sq.Kms. While the forest is a paradise for birdwatchers, the fort trail is enjoyed by the Hikers that leads to the now depilated fort on the top having a prominent pinnacle, famous as the “Thump’s up” pinnacle (460 mts). However the picnickers that get attracted to this serene environment, by there “Hoopla” make a sorry picture.
There are 3 good trails for birding in Karnala (Offcourse this is my personal view, otherwise any path in the forest offers good birding)
1) Fort Trail : That leads you to the fort thro’ much climbing and muscle pumping for about 1 ½ - 2 Hrs with some treacherous climbing at the end (not recommended for the poor hearts). But is worth taking as you go thro’ different woodland types with Moist deciduous interspersed with semi-evergreen vegetation at the higher elevation and the view from the top is wonderful particularly after the monsoon with some birds like the Shahin Falcon, Common Kestrel & Crested Serpant Eagles waiting for you there.
2) Boremal Trail : This trail is on the other side of the road on the west and is also a very enjoyable trail, however I have not explored this trail much & hence do not have much to write on this.
3) Mortaka Trail : This undulating trail more or less travels parallel to the highway from inside the forest and at the base of the hill. Continuing further along this trail for about c2 ½ Kms , one reaches the NH-17 highway.
Owing to my illness I had requested Mr.Parthiv Sanghvi to come along with me just in case few members wanted to go along the fort trail that required some exertion and he was kind enough to accompany. Dr. Almieda was the resource person for the plants (A virtual encyclopaedia on the Plant kingdom) who made the trip very exciting & complete.
We took the Mortaka Trail that travels thro’ some excellent birding route and also which is less travelled by the “Rowdy Mobs” wanting to go to the fort (as there is a bifurcation from this trail that is a shortcut to go to the fort)…..
But for me the best birding patch in Karnala, as I experienced over the several visits is, from the Gate ( Road ) uptill the Rest house, a distance of merely a 100 Mts, but one should go in the early morning, before the “Time-pass public” start pouring in.And sure enough, as we reached there at 8.15 am (Still a bit late) our first bird of the day was, surprisingly a Malabar whistling Thrush that was revealed due to its metallic long drawn calls ( The whistle call that made it famous as the “idle schoolboy”, I believe is given rather when the bird is in a relax mood ??)……I have often observed several times, a strange behaviour of this bird of being very inquisitive, and would approach you very near or come out in open as if to investigate who is the intruder ….This was immediately followed by very good sightings of 4 species of sunbirds out of the possible 5 that could be found here namely the Purple Rumped , Purple, Crimson or Yellow backed and the Crimson backed or Small Sunbird ( I think Karnala would be the nearest place from Mumbai to have a sure sighting of the Small sunbird) …The bird that was left out from this clan being the Loten’s sunbird.
Well !!! we had come at the right time, as the Famous “Trio” of trees that adds the red colour to our forest and announces the approaching summer, had started blooming i.e. Red Silk Cotton, Flame of the Forest (Palash) and Indian Coral tree. One could also add, “Bonnfire” tree to these (Sorry…I only know the common names)………
With the bloom also came other species that get attracted to these, such as the Drongos, Golden & Black hooded Orioles, Golden Fronted Chloropsis, Chestnut shouldered petronias, leaf warblers, Mynas Etc…..infact we were lucky once again to observe 4 species of drongos as well out of the possible 6, namely…Ashy drongo that was looking very “Rowdy”, Greater racket tailed (only calls), common Black & the White bellied.
There are various species of trees around the 2 beautiful rest houses--Mayur & Bhardwaj. Some of them (As we learned from Dr.Almeida) are rare and on these are the equally varied and uncommon birds that can be seen….infact I would go to the extent of saying that atleast once, do not take any trail, just sit amongst these trees and you will find almost 75% of the bird species, that otherwise could be seen normally on a trail …….well !!! we spotted birds close to this number e.g. Large cuckoo shrike (Calls), Brown headed / Large Green Barbet, Racket tailed drongo, Lesser Golden Backed woodpecker, Golfronted leafbird / Chloropsis, Sunbirds, Pale billed Flower peckers, Golden Orioles, Tailor bird (Calls), Quaker babbler, Slaty headed Scimitar babbler (Calls), Greenish leaf warblers, Booted leaf warblers, Scarlet Minivet (Female – good sighting by all) & Orange headed ground thrush rummaging on the ground.
Further down the trail, we got to see a very rare plant. As Dr.Almeida informed that this climber “ Nitum ola” is the living fossil & only species in its family to be found in India and is the only flowering Gymnosperm.We were lucky to see it in flowering……..
The heat had started building up now and with the undulating terrain every body seemed to be tired…when somebody caught site of something looking like a pair of birds on a bare branch of a tree, which on close observation was identified as Green Pigeon and I was just explaining to the group that the state bird of Maharashtra is the Yellow footed Green pigeon…when suddenly it turned a bit and its brown / maroon mantle came into view….Oh !! Oh!! So they were not the Yellow legged after all, but the “Pompadour Green pigeons”. These Green birds have such a wonderful camouflage of colour that it takes some time for any birder to realise that there are so many of them on the same tree ( They are usually found in groups)..but this gave an opportunity for some revision on the state- bird, animal, tree, flower & fruit…later on we spotted them 3 more times, Plus a Black napped blue monarch & the Rose ringed parakeets.
A short break at a beautiful spot overlooking a small valley gave us some time to revise and appreciate the forest wealth…. On the return trail a Crested Serpant Eagle rose with the thermals and its typical scolding calls were heard at the background even as Dr. Almeida Sir revealed the charms of the plant kingdom with his usual ease & expertise………..
We also had a brief visit to a nearby, well maintained nursery called “Go Green” on our way back.Though there are plenty of birds out there ….
I think it is going to be tough for me to convince my friend about it unless I take him there personally for birding………………………….Till then….
Happy Birding,
Addi The Birde
9820455713
Karnala - There are plenty of Birds out there.....(6.2.05)
Dear All,
Wanted to write the trip report of Karnala, but was late again……however, here comes a rather long mail this time…….
Once a friend of mine informed me that there are no birds in “Karnala Bird Sanctuary”…… I was taken aback by his Findings (???) ….but then could I blame him for that?.....well !! This is the perception of most of the people not in the business of birdwatching as for them there are birds in Karnala only when they see them in cages kept near the rest houses……and sure enough the cages were removed / broken with only two cages having Australian budgerigars & orange spotted cockatiels respectively that kept the visitors especially children’s amused and to believe that there are many birds in Karnala.
Karnala Bird Sanctuary however, does have plenty of wild birds owing to its rich deciduous habitat….and the Sunday outing of 6th Feb’04 organized by Bnhs gave good opportunity to explore.
Karnala is on the busy Bombay-Goa NH-17, just c12 Kms from Panvel. A beautiful Deciduous / mixed deciduous forest that spans roughly 12.11 Sq.Kms. While the forest is a paradise for birdwatchers, the fort trail is enjoyed by the Hikers that leads to the now depilated fort on the top having a prominent pinnacle, famous as the “Thump’s up” pinnacle (460 mts). However the picnickers that get attracted to this serene environment, by there “Hoopla” make a sorry picture.
There are 3 good trails for birding in Karnala (Offcourse this is my personal view, otherwise any path in the forest offers good birding)
1) Fort Trail : That leads you to the fort thro’ much climbing and muscle pumping for about 1 ½ - 2 Hrs with some treacherous climbing at the end (not recommended for the poor hearts). But is worth taking as you go thro’ different woodland types with Moist deciduous interspersed with semi-evergreen vegetation at the higher elevation and the view from the top is wonderful particularly after the monsoon with some birds like the Shahin Falcon, Common Kestrel & Crested Serpant Eagles waiting for you there.
2) Boremal Trail : This trail is on the other side of the road on the west and is also a very enjoyable trail, however I have not explored this trail much & hence do not have much to write on this.
3) Mortaka Trail : This undulating trail more or less travels parallel to the highway from inside the forest and at the base of the hill. Continuing further along this trail for about c2 ½ Kms , one reaches the NH-17 highway.
Owing to my illness I had requested Mr.Parthiv Sanghvi to come along with me just in case few members wanted to go along the fort trail that required some exertion and he was kind enough to accompany. Dr. Almieda was the resource person for the plants (A virtual encyclopaedia on the Plant kingdom) who made the trip very exciting & complete.
We took the Mortaka Trail that travels thro’ some excellent birding route and also which is less travelled by the “Rowdy Mobs” wanting to go to the fort (as there is a bifurcation from this trail that is a shortcut to go to the fort)…..
But for me the best birding patch in Karnala, as I experienced over the several visits is, from the Gate ( Road ) uptill the Rest house, a distance of merely a 100 Mts, but one should go in the early morning, before the “Time-pass public” start pouring in.And sure enough, as we reached there at 8.15 am (Still a bit late) our first bird of the day was, surprisingly a Malabar whistling Thrush that was revealed due to its metallic long drawn calls ( The whistle call that made it famous as the “idle schoolboy”, I believe is given rather when the bird is in a relax mood ??)……I have often observed several times, a strange behaviour of this bird of being very inquisitive, and would approach you very near or come out in open as if to investigate who is the intruder ….This was immediately followed by very good sightings of 4 species of sunbirds out of the possible 5 that could be found here namely the Purple Rumped , Purple, Crimson or Yellow backed and the Crimson backed or Small Sunbird ( I think Karnala would be the nearest place from Mumbai to have a sure sighting of the Small sunbird) …The bird that was left out from this clan being the Loten’s sunbird.
Well !!! we had come at the right time, as the Famous “Trio” of trees that adds the red colour to our forest and announces the approaching summer, had started blooming i.e. Red Silk Cotton, Flame of the Forest (Palash) and Indian Coral tree. One could also add, “Bonnfire” tree to these (Sorry…I only know the common names)………
With the bloom also came other species that get attracted to these, such as the Drongos, Golden & Black hooded Orioles, Golden Fronted Chloropsis, Chestnut shouldered petronias, leaf warblers, Mynas Etc…..infact we were lucky once again to observe 4 species of drongos as well out of the possible 6, namely…Ashy drongo that was looking very “Rowdy”, Greater racket tailed (only calls), common Black & the White bellied.
There are various species of trees around the 2 beautiful rest houses--Mayur & Bhardwaj. Some of them (As we learned from Dr.Almeida) are rare and on these are the equally varied and uncommon birds that can be seen….infact I would go to the extent of saying that atleast once, do not take any trail, just sit amongst these trees and you will find almost 75% of the bird species, that otherwise could be seen normally on a trail …….well !!! we spotted birds close to this number e.g. Large cuckoo shrike (Calls), Brown headed / Large Green Barbet, Racket tailed drongo, Lesser Golden Backed woodpecker, Golfronted leafbird / Chloropsis, Sunbirds, Pale billed Flower peckers, Golden Orioles, Tailor bird (Calls), Quaker babbler, Slaty headed Scimitar babbler (Calls), Greenish leaf warblers, Booted leaf warblers, Scarlet Minivet (Female – good sighting by all) & Orange headed ground thrush rummaging on the ground.
Further down the trail, we got to see a very rare plant. As Dr.Almeida informed that this climber “ Nitum ola” is the living fossil & only species in its family to be found in India and is the only flowering Gymnosperm.We were lucky to see it in flowering……..
The heat had started building up now and with the undulating terrain every body seemed to be tired…when somebody caught site of something looking like a pair of birds on a bare branch of a tree, which on close observation was identified as Green Pigeon and I was just explaining to the group that the state bird of Maharashtra is the Yellow footed Green pigeon…when suddenly it turned a bit and its brown / maroon mantle came into view….Oh !! Oh!! So they were not the Yellow legged after all, but the “Pompadour Green pigeons”. These Green birds have such a wonderful camouflage of colour that it takes some time for any birder to realise that there are so many of them on the same tree ( They are usually found in groups)..but this gave an opportunity for some revision on the state- bird, animal, tree, flower & fruit…later on we spotted them 3 more times, Plus a Black napped blue monarch & the Rose ringed parakeets.
A short break at a beautiful spot overlooking a small valley gave us some time to revise and appreciate the forest wealth…. On the return trail a Crested Serpant Eagle rose with the thermals and its typical scolding calls were heard at the background even as Dr. Almeida Sir revealed the charms of the plant kingdom with his usual ease & expertise………..
We also had a brief visit to a nearby, well maintained nursery called “Go Green” on our way back.Though there are plenty of birds out there ….
I think it is going to be tough for me to convince my friend about it unless I take him there personally for birding………………………….Till then….
Happy Birding,
Addi The Birde
9820455713
Wanted to write the trip report of Karnala, but was late again……however, here comes a rather long mail this time…….
Once a friend of mine informed me that there are no birds in “Karnala Bird Sanctuary”…… I was taken aback by his Findings (???) ….but then could I blame him for that?.....well !! This is the perception of most of the people not in the business of birdwatching as for them there are birds in Karnala only when they see them in cages kept near the rest houses……and sure enough the cages were removed / broken with only two cages having Australian budgerigars & orange spotted cockatiels respectively that kept the visitors especially children’s amused and to believe that there are many birds in Karnala.
Karnala Bird Sanctuary however, does have plenty of wild birds owing to its rich deciduous habitat….and the Sunday outing of 6th Feb’04 organized by Bnhs gave good opportunity to explore.
Karnala is on the busy Bombay-Goa NH-17, just c12 Kms from Panvel. A beautiful Deciduous / mixed deciduous forest that spans roughly 12.11 Sq.Kms. While the forest is a paradise for birdwatchers, the fort trail is enjoyed by the Hikers that leads to the now depilated fort on the top having a prominent pinnacle, famous as the “Thump’s up” pinnacle (460 mts). However the picnickers that get attracted to this serene environment, by there “Hoopla” make a sorry picture.
There are 3 good trails for birding in Karnala (Offcourse this is my personal view, otherwise any path in the forest offers good birding)
1) Fort Trail : That leads you to the fort thro’ much climbing and muscle pumping for about 1 ½ - 2 Hrs with some treacherous climbing at the end (not recommended for the poor hearts). But is worth taking as you go thro’ different woodland types with Moist deciduous interspersed with semi-evergreen vegetation at the higher elevation and the view from the top is wonderful particularly after the monsoon with some birds like the Shahin Falcon, Common Kestrel & Crested Serpant Eagles waiting for you there.
2) Boremal Trail : This trail is on the other side of the road on the west and is also a very enjoyable trail, however I have not explored this trail much & hence do not have much to write on this.
3) Mortaka Trail : This undulating trail more or less travels parallel to the highway from inside the forest and at the base of the hill. Continuing further along this trail for about c2 ½ Kms , one reaches the NH-17 highway.
Owing to my illness I had requested Mr.Parthiv Sanghvi to come along with me just in case few members wanted to go along the fort trail that required some exertion and he was kind enough to accompany. Dr. Almieda was the resource person for the plants (A virtual encyclopaedia on the Plant kingdom) who made the trip very exciting & complete.
We took the Mortaka Trail that travels thro’ some excellent birding route and also which is less travelled by the “Rowdy Mobs” wanting to go to the fort (as there is a bifurcation from this trail that is a shortcut to go to the fort)…..
But for me the best birding patch in Karnala, as I experienced over the several visits is, from the Gate ( Road ) uptill the Rest house, a distance of merely a 100 Mts, but one should go in the early morning, before the “Time-pass public” start pouring in.And sure enough, as we reached there at 8.15 am (Still a bit late) our first bird of the day was, surprisingly a Malabar whistling Thrush that was revealed due to its metallic long drawn calls ( The whistle call that made it famous as the “idle schoolboy”, I believe is given rather when the bird is in a relax mood ??)……I have often observed several times, a strange behaviour of this bird of being very inquisitive, and would approach you very near or come out in open as if to investigate who is the intruder ….This was immediately followed by very good sightings of 4 species of sunbirds out of the possible 5 that could be found here namely the Purple Rumped , Purple, Crimson or Yellow backed and the Crimson backed or Small Sunbird ( I think Karnala would be the nearest place from Mumbai to have a sure sighting of the Small sunbird) …The bird that was left out from this clan being the Loten’s sunbird.
Well !!! we had come at the right time, as the Famous “Trio” of trees that adds the red colour to our forest and announces the approaching summer, had started blooming i.e. Red Silk Cotton, Flame of the Forest (Palash) and Indian Coral tree. One could also add, “Bonnfire” tree to these (Sorry…I only know the common names)………
With the bloom also came other species that get attracted to these, such as the Drongos, Golden & Black hooded Orioles, Golden Fronted Chloropsis, Chestnut shouldered petronias, leaf warblers, Mynas Etc…..infact we were lucky once again to observe 4 species of drongos as well out of the possible 6, namely…Ashy drongo that was looking very “Rowdy”, Greater racket tailed (only calls), common Black & the White bellied.
There are various species of trees around the 2 beautiful rest houses--Mayur & Bhardwaj. Some of them (As we learned from Dr.Almeida) are rare and on these are the equally varied and uncommon birds that can be seen….infact I would go to the extent of saying that atleast once, do not take any trail, just sit amongst these trees and you will find almost 75% of the bird species, that otherwise could be seen normally on a trail …….well !!! we spotted birds close to this number e.g. Large cuckoo shrike (Calls), Brown headed / Large Green Barbet, Racket tailed drongo, Lesser Golden Backed woodpecker, Golfronted leafbird / Chloropsis, Sunbirds, Pale billed Flower peckers, Golden Orioles, Tailor bird (Calls), Quaker babbler, Slaty headed Scimitar babbler (Calls), Greenish leaf warblers, Booted leaf warblers, Scarlet Minivet (Female – good sighting by all) & Orange headed ground thrush rummaging on the ground.
Further down the trail, we got to see a very rare plant. As Dr.Almeida informed that this climber “ Nitum ola” is the living fossil & only species in its family to be found in India and is the only flowering Gymnosperm.We were lucky to see it in flowering……..
The heat had started building up now and with the undulating terrain every body seemed to be tired…when somebody caught site of something looking like a pair of birds on a bare branch of a tree, which on close observation was identified as Green Pigeon and I was just explaining to the group that the state bird of Maharashtra is the Yellow footed Green pigeon…when suddenly it turned a bit and its brown / maroon mantle came into view….Oh !! Oh!! So they were not the Yellow legged after all, but the “Pompadour Green pigeons”. These Green birds have such a wonderful camouflage of colour that it takes some time for any birder to realise that there are so many of them on the same tree ( They are usually found in groups)..but this gave an opportunity for some revision on the state- bird, animal, tree, flower & fruit…later on we spotted them 3 more times, Plus a Black napped blue monarch & the Rose ringed parakeets.
A short break at a beautiful spot overlooking a small valley gave us some time to revise and appreciate the forest wealth…. On the return trail a Crested Serpant Eagle rose with the thermals and its typical scolding calls were heard at the background even as Dr. Almeida Sir revealed the charms of the plant kingdom with his usual ease & expertise………..
We also had a brief visit to a nearby, well maintained nursery called “Go Green” on our way back.Though there are plenty of birds out there ….
I think it is going to be tough for me to convince my friend about it unless I take him there personally for birding………………………….Till then….
Happy Birding,
Addi The Birde
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