Birds of Goa

Extending my winter vacation in early Jan this year, I was with Sudhir Shivaram's bird photography tour in Goa. The arrangement was at Nature's nest and while the accommodation was basic the birding was fabulous. Pankaj is a very passionate nature enthusiast and his guidance was invaluable.

Day 1 we spent shooting the Blue-eared kingfisher near the Tambdi Surla temple. Needless to say it was a lifer for me.



While shooting the kingfisher there were some distractions nearby...



... and we had a quick glance of the historic temple





Next day we were birding near the Bondla forest and this chestnut -tailed starling was having it's breakfast.



The Malabar region is known for the Malabar Grey hornbill. Here is an extreme closeup and I never knew Hornbills had eyelashes !!


this one  trying to hold on to a dropping fruit.



The purple sunbird was common


and so was the Black-Hooded Oriole.



A Brown Headed barbet


a Pompadour green pigeon which looked well fed and barely moved




We then moved on to another area and did spot a Trogon from far. There was a white bellied blue flycatcher



White-rumped Shama


and a Brown-breasted flycatcher


In the second half we saw the Srilankan Frogmouth


Day 3 we started shooting in the campus of Nature's nest. It is usually a feast time in the morning with a Purple sunbird immersed in nectar and pollen !!


a little spider hunter


and a vernal hanging parrot


Later we went towards the Tambdi Surla temple and got this rare Dark-Fronted Babbler


In the second half we went for a boat ride in Zuari river





and saw the Osprey


a distant ( and not clean) shot of the collared kingfisher


Lots of Brahminy kites


and an Eurasian curlew




On the final day ( Day 4) we were scheduled to catch flights in the afternoon.We started with a few shots of the Thick billed flowerpecker


and the Nilgiri flowerpecker



But we were desperate to catch a glimpse of Malabar Trogon. We could hear their calls but it continued to be elusive. In the meanwhile I got to the see the Brown-breasted Flycatcher



and the Yellow-browed Bulbul

and as luck would have it I heard some frantic summons saying that the trogon has been spotted. The Trogon is a bird that hardly makes a sound and also is very steady. It is difficult to spot because of lack of movement and sound. The Malabar Trogon (female) was right in front of me.




After a few mins we spotted the male..


and ended with spotting a juvenile as well.


What a day to end spotting an entire family of Malabar trogons. With hearftul of content and gratitude we left for our flights from Goa :)



More photos here

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