Birds in Goa

In October made a visit to Goa for Vacation and spent some time in and around the resort ( Club Mahindra, Varca) and visited the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary.

This was definitely not the ideal time for visiting the sanctuary, but the Forest officer Mr. Narendar made the trip memorable with all arrangements.

On a Dinghy boat and with family we went around the mangrove islands and saw plenty of Egrets, Herons, cormorants. The best view was the green heron and the black capped kingfisher.The forest observatory was also a good experience. Preferred time for visit is Dec-Jan to see the migratory birds.



















Around the beach there were lot of sandpipers and plovers, egrets, Oriental honey buzzards and Brahminy kites.











Little inland around the water bodies, you really get to see why Goa is a Kingfiser country :)










Goa is definitely a hot spot for bird watchers, given the variety you can see in a relatively small area. Though I did not make trips to the sanctuaries inside like Mollem, Bondla, etc, there were plenty available in the nearby fields and lakes.

The most visible were bee-eaters,













followed by other birds like the Eurasian golden oriole, Whistling ducks, Drongo, Munias, the magpie robin, Maynas, sunbirds, etc.

















I spotted the Ashy pirnia, barbets and the beautiful pompadour green pigeon.







No trip is complete without distractions of some other kinds... well I am talking of butterflies: