Goa & Karwar - October 11th to 16th 2005

Though Goa is famous for its Beach Resorts and Holiday atmosphere, which is precisely the motive of our (family) visit, I did manage to sneak in some time for photography.

On the 12th early morning, I left for the “ Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary & Zoological Park” in search of the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher as mentioned in Krys’s book. Though, I neither saw the Kingfisher or the Vultures near the meat factory, I was able to photograph the “Brown-cheeked Fulvetta" at the stream.

The Resort we stayed in at South Goa had a few Resident birds like wagtails, babblers, sunbirds & prinias . I was quite surprised at the abundance of White-rumped Munias there.

A 90 kms pleasant “hilly costal” drive from Goa took us to Karwar in Karnataka on the 14th Morning. Devbagh is a beach at Karwar, where Jungle Lodges & Resorts runs a Resort. We spent three nights here. The most famous bird you always see here is the White-bellied Sea Eagle. In the evenings as the tide goes down and exposes the beach you can see a million small red crabs on the beach. Several waders land here to feed on them. I was able to photograph the Lesser Sand Plover feeding on these crabs. Also, I found four Kingfishers almost at the same place. Common, White-breasted, Stork-billed & Black-capped. Plenty of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters call all day long as hundreds of Black Kites wait for food that comes in the form of a truck load of chicken waste dumped into the sea from the bridge!

I managed to photograph a small raptor which experts felt was a Juvenile Shikra. You can see its image on "India Nature Watch" . Though, I am not convinced with this ID, I had to let the case rest as I am no expert...

A major attraction is to sight Dolphins close to the beach. We were lucky to sight three of them in the morning while we went on a boat ride into the sea.

I hope you enjoy the images below as much as I enjoyed shooting them.

Regards,

Vijay Cavale

October, 2005