Goa, India ~ 5th/13th Nov '24

Goa, India ~ 5th/13th November '24

After searching for flights & hotel separately it turns out the best way was to book a package deal with Tui, the flights were direct and I choose the cheapest hotel as I would only be staying in it a few nights, it was Silver Sands Sunshine in Candolim.

I booked 3 nights/4 days at Backwoods Camp, Surla for some Western Ghats species, contacted Loven via his website & Whatsapp, transferred the deposit and paid the balance once at the camp.

The flight out from Gatwick was scheduled for 20:55 but a 3 hour delay now has wiped out my first afternoons birding, so by the time I actually arrived at my hotel on the 6th it meant 30 minutes of daylight. A walk to the beach which had more people than grains of sand and I quickly returned back up the road to the bar.

7th November

Pick up was 05:30, Loven had arranged a taxi and the 90 minute journey was for the most part in the dark. I met up with Loven who had a group of 7 birders he was guiding and I joined them at Dharbandora walking a road through jungle for an hour, 14 species with notables like Malabar Barbet, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Flameback, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Flame-throated Bulbul & Golden-fronted Leafbird.

A short drive to Tambdi Surla Temple for another hour mainly at a small farm near the temple which had Asian Green Bee-eater, Blyth's Reed Warbler & Eurasian Hoopoe. Nearby on a jungle track Loven took us to his known site and after a few minutes of wondering what for, a look in his scope revealed a Sri Lanka Frogmouth ..

Back to the camp for breakfast, then a walk on the approach track to the camp surrounded by jungle with a few open areas with notables like Vernal Hanging Parrot, Greenish Warbler, Grey-fronted Green Pigeon & Western Crowned Warbler before returning back to the camp as the middle of the day was to hot and bird activity was low !! ... So while the others did whatever like played cards or slept, I went out birding as the jungle canopy gave a bit of shade and obviously there were birds about like Orange-headed Thrush, Jungle Babbler, Grey-breasted Prinia, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Little Swift & Nilgiri Flowerpecker.

Reuben arrived whilst eating my lunch at the camp, he was Loven's brother and would be my guide so we went off leaving the group with Loven and tried an area out to the river known to be good and it was 27 species in 90 minutes with Malabar Pied Hornbill, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Brown-headed Barbet, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Ashy Woodswallow, White-rumped Shama, Tickell's Blue flycatcher, Loten's Sunbird and the star bird Blue-eared Kingfisher ....

Reuben emphasised that we didn't want to be in the jungle in the dark as the light was fading we made our way back to the car and back to camp for dinner & beers. Then it was time to head to my shack all the main rooms were taken by the group and it was me that had definitely drew the short straw. The shower, toilet and basin all leaked quite badly which was easy to deal with just shut the mains off but the moisture in the shack was running down the walls and even the bed was damp to get in and sleep. There was also plenty of friends sharing my damp shack, a frog on the cistern, a gecko in the shower, a big millipede, a slug & to many winged blood suckers that fed on me all night ..

8th November

Didn't sleep well, really cold in the night with just a sheet and that buzzing of mosquitoes drives you crazy, I got up early and went to the dining room waiting for coffee & biscuits at 6:00am.

We all did 3 hours out on the approach track to the camp, some good birding with 43 species in total and the notables were Pied Cuckoo, Indian Swiftlet, Crested Treeswift, Booted Eagle, Crested Goshawk, Black-rumped Flameback, Malabar Parakeet, Indian White-eye, Malabar Starling, Verditer Flycatcher & Little Spiderhunter before returning back to camp for breakfast.

A fish farm was our next location for an hour viewing from quite a distance on the limits of 8x bin's for the fish ponds but with two scopes available if needed and some species circled over head the notables here were Asian Woolly-necked Stork, Lesser Adjutant, Crested Honey-buzzard, Greater Spotted Eagle & Wire-tailed Swallow. We made our way back to the camp for lunch, at the entrance to the camp were Malabar Grey Hornbill, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Black-naped Monarch, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch & Malabar Whistling-Thrush.

Once lunch was over the group played cards or slept, again I went out birding just exploring tracks etc off the main entrance track and totalled 17 species in an hour with notables of Malabar Flameback, Jungle Owlet, Green Warbler, Dark-fronted Babbler & White-bellied Blue Flycatcher ..

I was back at camp for 15:30, Reuben & I went and walked a road out passed Murge to Aglote and back again, one side of the road was jungle the other farmland, it was a good 2 hours of great birds with 29 species in total with the likes of Changeable Hawk-eagle, Great Hornbill, Rufous Treepie, Scaly-breasted Munia, Bluethroat, Black-hooded Oriole & Blue-bearded Bee-eater ..

On the way back to camp we stopped off to a known area and walked out to a clearing in the jungle, Reuben said keep the torch aimed at the ground for snakes like Pit Viper & Cobra until we get there, unfortunately there wasn't any snakes but in the torch beam were Jungle Nightjar and Indian Scops Owl, then dinner back at the camp before another night in my shack ..

9th November

Up extra early today coffee & biscuits at 05:30 then an hours drive to Bondla, first stopping at Ganjem Junction and Ganjeshwari Temple at 06:50 with just over 2 hours of birding walking the road from the small village to the temple and back, some good birds here with a total of 50 species with many notables like Asian Emerald Dove, Grey-fronted Green Pigeon, Malabar Imperial Pigeon, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo, Brown-headed Barbet, Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker, Black-headed Cuckooshrike, Common Woodshrike, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Indian Yellow Tit, Dusky Crag Martin & White-browed Wagtail ..

We went in to the small village for breakfast, the local food which really is so good, samosa, potato bhaji & chickpea curry with a coffee, some opted out and had a cheese sandwich !!

Next it was up into Bondla now that the gates are open, walking in parts of the forest and along some parts of the road for another 2 hours 23 species with notables of Speckled Piculet, Forest Wagtail, Large-billed Leaf Warbler & Brown-breasted Flycatcher ..

Then it was the drive back to camp for lunch.

I birded again upto 15:30 just on the approach road tracks for just over an hour racking up 15 species with some good notables of Rufous Treepie, Asian Palm swift & Red Spurfowl.

Reuben suggested we try Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary which is a dead-end road so you drive out for a few kilometers and back, we did part way before turning around which still took 80 minutes and the notables were Crested Serpent-Eagle, Malabar Barbet, Forest Wagtail & White-Bellied Woodpecker ..

Stopped at a road-side football pitch near Tambdi and in the torch beam was Jerdon's Nightjar on the crossbar with one in flight.

Back to camp for dinner and my last night in the shack..

10th November

Reuben had the job of taking me back to my hotel in Candolim, via some stops on route, I asked him if he fancied some more birding for the next few days and the deal was done ..

First stop was Tambdi Surla Temple for just over 2 hours trying without success to get into the forest with all paths blocked, so went to the open area of farmland, heard Asian Fairy Bluebird & Indian Scimitar Babbler yet again but just couldn't see either.

A few good notables were in the 20 species like Puff-throated Babbler, White-cheeked Barbet, Yellow-throated Sparrow & Orange-headed Thrush ..

Back to camp for breakfast before finally heading off from Backwoods Camp, really liked it here great habitat which produced some brilliant birds, camp food & local food was fantastic and it was wonderful being away from westerners for a few days ..

Raitollem Lake was the next stop 14 species in 30 minutes like Lesser Whistling-Duck, Cotton Pygmy-Goose, Grey-headed Swamphen, Bronze-winged Jacana & Oriental Darter.

Next was Church Lake, Curtorim 20 species in 30 minutes like Asian Openbill, Lesser Adjutant, Paddyfield Pipit & Siberian Stonechat ..

After some lunch we went to Carambolim Lake & surroundings such a massive area that you cannot possibly cover it in a few days let alone an afternoon, it was probably one of my favourite sites as it had a bit of everything, Lakes, wetlands, farmland & forest and in just under 3 hours racked up 59 species with notables like Black-crowned Night Heron, Cinnamon Bittern, Osprey, Brown Boobook & Amur Falcon ..

Dropped off back at my original hotel Silver Sands Sunshine in Candolim, although probably 2 star if you squinted after a few beers it may get 3 stars but a nice big bed & hot shower that I was so happy about it was more like 5 stars compared to my shack ..

11th November

Reuben picked me up at 06:00 for a 45 minute drive up to Morjim Beach, a short walk out and I could already see waders & gulls flying around .. Why ? .. Well the usual dog walkers ..

But the sunrising was rather nice ..

An hour & 20 minutes produced 31 species with notables like Tibetan & Greater Sand Plover, Kentish Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Brown-headed Gull, Heuglin's Gull, Lesser & Greater Crested Tern, Gull-billed Tern, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Amur Falcon, Alexandrine Parakeet & Spot-breasted Fantail.

The plan had been to get a boat out to the sand bar to get closer but the bar had very little on it..

Next was Pernem, parked on the bridge and viewed both sides, either side was part cultivated and partly flooded with a river running through both, an hour here racked up 37 species like Small Pratincole, Cinnamon Bittern, Pied Kingfisher, White-naped Woodpecker, Long-tailed Shrike, Indian Blackbird, Baya Weaver & Tricoloured Munia ..

Stopped for some breakfast and this is what Me & Reuben had 2 Samosas, 2 Bhaji, 2 Chickpea Curry, 1 Sausage Roll, 2 Bread, Pepsi & Coffee and 2 large bottles of water ...

All this lot for £2.40 !!

Now thats value for money ..

Next stop was Salvador do Mundo Fields and in 40 minutes had a total of 14 species like Asian Koel, Black-winged Stilt, Grey Plover, Asian Whoolly-necked Stork, Black-headed Ibis, Indian Roller & Jungle Myna ..

Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary was the next location to try, it was mid-afternoon, very hot, and even the guides in the office said don't bother it's to hot you won't see anything, it was a kilometer walk out through the mangroves and it was much cooler under the canopy.

In just over an hour a total of 16 species which is 16 more than the guides suggested I would see, like Striated Heron, Spot-breasted Fantail, Indian Paradise-Flycatcher & Clamorous Reed Warbler.

The plan was that from Salim Ali to catch the ferry across to the next location Divar Island for Larks & Buntings etc but the ferry was closed so it meant a longer drive to a different location stopping on route at Tikhazan-Narve Marshes (West) it was a short 15 minute recce which racked up 12 species, best of were Paddyfield Pipit & Blue-faced Malkoha.

The end of the day was finished off back at Carambolim Lake due to the non-running ferry, 15 species in 30 minutes.

The evening meal was just down from my hotel at Inferno Restaurant and was definitely my best meal of the trip.

It was Kaju Khumb Curry & Kashmiri Naan which was cashew and mushroom curry, the naan was fruit filled with coconut sprinkled over with a few beers.

12th November

Early pick up to arrive at Agacaim Tidal Mudflats for first light, parked on the bypass and walked a short distance between some cultivated flooded fields out onto the beach, 28 species seen in an hour between the two areas, beach & Floods with notables like Garganey, Little Ringed Plover, Tibetan Sand Plover, Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Greenshank, Temminck's Stint, Slender-billed Gull, Brown-headed Gull, Asian Openbill and Dusky Crag Martin ..

On-route was a quick look in to Batim Lake for 10 minutes, 100's of birds but only 4 species and Pheasant-tailed Jacana was best of them ..

Just after 09:00am and its another try at Carambolim Lake, parking in Karmali village and walking between the floods at Mandur, in 2 hours it produced 41 species and the notables are Greater Coucal, White Stork, Osprey, Plain Prinia, Purple Heron, Shikra, Jungle Owlet, White-cheeked Barbet, Black-rumped Flameback and Jerdon's Leafbird ..

My plan was to bird one of the Plateau's for Larks etc but Reuben asked for the afternoon off so I said drop me at Fort Aguada it was midday and really very hot, I did have a walk around the Fort but found one of the street vendors had a tent with seating so I had some food & a coffee, and ventured out again, not really finding much and I was beginning to think my choice of location was a bad one but I retreated to the tent for more liquid refreshment.

Once it had slightly cooled down a bit I walked basically the way out for cars to where the boats and Trailers are in the trees, this area was where I had most of the 31 species and some quality notables like Amur Falcon, Asian Koel, Grey-bellied Cuckoo, Lesser Cuckoo, Coppersmith Barbet, Indian Cuckooshrike, Black-hooded Oriole, Common Woodshrike, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo & Black-naped Monarch and most annoyingly I heard White-Browed Bulbul but couldn't actually see it ..

I was going to stay here until dusk as their was plenty of birds & taxis but they were all waiting for people they had dropped off earlier, The vendor rang his uncle, 10 minutes later I was in a taxi heading for my hotel, showered and back in the Inferno Restaurant for the same again Cashew & Mushroom Curry and a couple of beers as this was my last night ..

13th November

Extra early start as it was a 45 minute drive to get to Cortalim Jetty for 06:20, this was for Kamat Birding Boat trip in the mangroves on the Zuari River, boats are generally good for photography as the birds aren't to bothered by the boat.

I made sure to board quickly and grabbed the front seat, the boat only takes about a dozen people and as payback for getting the prime seat I had the annoying women behind me, oh what joy !!

Machine gun shutter, distance no issue, it seemed the further the bird was away more shots were needed, every shot was a beautiful shot and how many times can the boat reverse for a Common Kingfisher none were even remotely close to the boat but she still insisted it was a beautiful shot ..

Nearly 3 hours racked up 36 species with some good notables like Painted Stork, Western Reef-Heron, B-CN Heron, Striated Heron, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Collared Kingfisher and the star bird that most people come on the boat for Black-capped Kingfisher ..!!