This year we missed our annual pilgrimage to
Bhigwan, a dusty little town, about a 100 kms from Pune, with a large fresh
water lake, which at first sight will evoke “oh! that’s a big one!” (Rajeev
thinks the locals would have started calling the lake, Bhigwan (big one)
because of that.) As I was saying we go to Bhigwan to pay homage to the flocks
of flamingos that land there, December onwards, but this year Rajeev managed to
break his leg just when we were to go. So I am doing the next best thing –
writing about them. The Flamingos start arriving to the Western coast of India,
specifically the Rann of Kutch, around August each year from the freezing
Siberian plains, to breed. Then they start moving to other parts of the country
as the pressure of numbers increase. With the advent of summer in April they
will make the trip back to Siberia - and we call ourselves
globe-trotters!
Come December and the excitement at home starts building up -reminiscing the earlier trips to Bhigwan, friends and family tying up with us to join in this year’s trip, calling up the boatmen to check if the birds have arrived. The drive to Bhigwan from Pune is quite pleasant via the Solapur highway. En-route you see some small water bodies where you may see some grebes and coots and cormorants. My excitement starts building up in anticipation of what lies ahead (I never said bird-watchers aren’t a little… –you know!). In our excitement or perhaps because every little town in India is now changing so fast we always miss our turn from the highway,(ie road to Bhilarwadi Sugar Factory via Diksal). Anyway, after a few enquiries, (the lake being so big one can approach it from at least three sides) we manage to make our way to the lake, which in itself is quite adventurous because a narrow road has been made in the middle of the lake. To see thousands of birds on both sides, as you drive slowly down this narrow road, is an experience in itself. Mallards and Shovellers, Pintails and Spotbills, Coots and Grebes all clamouring for space.
A drive of about 4 kms takes you to a fishermen’s
village where boats are available for hire. The rates are flexi, depending upon
the inflow of bird-watchers and availability of boats. Of course this being the
only season when they will get some passengers to ferry I don’t mind paying a
little extra.
As one crosses the Lake you will see all these
birds and more- the Little Cormorants are practically a given – you will see
them parked on this water pipe in a row drying their wings, which incidentally,
is such a waste of time because you will see one promptly jump right in to the
water and vanish for such a long time you start worrying, till its long neck
suddenly pops up quite a distance away.
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Little Cormorants
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You can confuse these birds with the Great
Cormorant which is almost double in size or the Indian Shag which has a
brownish shade or a Darter which has a long snakelike neck.
Like the cormorants the egrets are also a given
near any water body. Here is a picture of a Cattle Egret, with yellow legs and
beak. Look closely at a large one for you may be seeing a Great Egret which has
a black line from the corner of its mouth (gape) extending beyond its eyes or
an Intermediate Egret whose gape line stops at the eye. The more common Little
Egrets have black bill, black legs with black toes.
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| Cattle Egret |
The herons are another common species you will see
in Bhigwan or near any large water body. Here is a picture of a Western Reef
Heron, I don’t know about you but I really find them very beautiful when I see
them standing upright and still with the long crest blowing in the breeze.
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| Western Reef Heron |
The Grey Heron is also a pretty sight. The very
common Indian Pond Heron will of course be there and if you watch closely near the
lake edge you may see an occasional Night Heron or even a Purple Heron.
Night Heron
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| Purple Heron |
Here is a picture of the Little cormorants drying
their wings in the company of a Reef Heron, a Grey Heron, an Intermediate Egret
and a couple of Mallards.
These are some other big birds you will see easily-
Asian Openbill
Asian Open Bill
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Painted Stork
White-necked Stork
Black Winged Stilt
Purple Moor Hen
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| Black Headed Ibis |
You will see two species of the Ibis, the Black-headed Ibis and the Glossy Ibis. The Ibis has been revered both in ancient India and ancient Egypt. It was sacred to the ancient Egyptian God of Wisdom, Thoth. The long curved beak is quite distinctive and you can recognise it even in flight.
Of course you will see the flamingos! if lucky, in
large numbers. With their thick curved beaks, long legs and pink plumage, they
are an amazing sight!
Lesser Flamingos
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There are some smaller waders which tend to
camouflage themselves quite well and you will have to make an effort to
identify them. Here are a couple to give you an idea-
Common Sandpiper is the tiny brownish bird in front
of the Black Winged Stilts.
Western Black-tailed Godwit. If you can take your eyes off the bright and majestic egret you will see the brown bird with the long beak, in front of the Black Winged Stilts.
Some other beauties you are bound to see in
abundance are the Shelducks
Spotbills
Gulls
Terns
These are just some of the birds one sees there.
Not just water birds, a number of bush birds too can be seen, if you can take
your eyes off the birds in the lake, that is. I will reserve those for another
post.
February 2014
We went to Bhigwan after a gap of two years. It has changed! The road through the lake has been widened but covered with boulders so driving was a major problem. They have dredged the lake as a result maybe there is more water but I think they have somehow destroyed the flora because there were hardly any birds there this time. There was a small group of flamingos, open bills and very few mallards, shovellers and other ducks which normally come in large numbers.
I saw only one bird which I have not seen earlier - a Pallas's Gull. On the way I sighted a Rosy Pastor sitting in the company of its local cousins the Brahminy starlings.
February 2014
We went to Bhigwan after a gap of two years. It has changed! The road through the lake has been widened but covered with boulders so driving was a major problem. They have dredged the lake as a result maybe there is more water but I think they have somehow destroyed the flora because there were hardly any birds there this time. There was a small group of flamingos, open bills and very few mallards, shovellers and other ducks which normally come in large numbers.
I saw only one bird which I have not seen earlier - a Pallas's Gull. On the way I sighted a Rosy Pastor sitting in the company of its local cousins the Brahminy starlings.
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| Rosy Pastor |
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| Brahminy Starlings sitting nearby |
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| Pallas's Gull |
- The Bhigwan lake is created out of the water released from the Ujni Dam.
- The Flamingos come via what is called the Central Asian Flyway. It covers a large continental area of Eurasia between the Arctic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It has several migration routes of water birds.
- The flamingo’s pink colour comes from its diet of red algae and shrimp, rich in alpha and beta carotenoid pigments, which form the bulk of its diet. NEXT Page
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