Birds of Varkala

As part of our trip to Kerala, we went to Varkala a relatively quaint place. Varkala has three beaches: Papanasam, Varkala and Kappil.

Also it has a huge back water called Varkala-Hariharapuram Lake. Most of the birding was around the beach and at the Lake.

The lake was large  and had lots of Darters, Indian  and little cormorants. We also saw a pair of Gull billed tern racing with the motorboat. There were stork billed, white breasted and small kingfishers

Brahminy Kites are abundant both at the lake and the beach. I heard a new term for them from the boat man "Kerala Eagle"

The area near the resort ( Taj gateway) was resonating with the calls of White Cheeked barbet.

Lesser Coucals, Asian Koels, Rufous Treepie and Black rumped flamebacks were common.

Among the relatively rare sightings were the Drongo Cuckoo and the Blue tailed bee-eater

It is a place not known for birding but as I always say you will see birds everywhere :)

Birds of Diu

We extended our trip to Gir with a quick trip to Diu. Definitely did not visit Diu with an objective of birding but was pleasantly surprised to see a bird sanctuary ....

...with a small signboard. Was excited to see Flamingoes , Spoonbills and Western Reef Egrets next to the roadside

and the best part was to see hundreds of Blue cheeked bee-eaters on wires. Blue cheeked bee eaters migrate to north-western parts of India usually during summer and early winter. It was rare to see so many of them.

The only guy at the sanctuary mentioned that the best season would be winters and they have a boat ride around the wetlands. This could be one of Diu's best kept secrets.