2008-03-13
Goa, Western India -
Categories: Lemon Tree Hotel, Candolim Beach, Goa - February 2008
My family and I spent a relaxing and chilled week at the Lemon Tree Hotel on Candolim Beach in Goa, India. The weather was superb, the Kingfisher beer was cold and the atmosphere was laid back. My birding was generally done in and around the hotel, before I met Gill and Jaden for breakfast. But on one of the days, I arranged a morning out with Paresh, one of the local bird guides. Images by Mike Pope
The most common bird in Goa and probably the rest of India is the House Crow - they are everywhere and in big numbers.
A pair of Large billed Crows were seen infrequently and only during the mornings.
Green Bee-eaters hawk from the overhead wires and bare branches and were generally found in two's and three's around the hotel
Jungle Mynas were seen everyday on the way to the beach from the Hotel, normally in the company of Rosy Starlings
The Rosy Starlings were in various stages of plumage, with only a few in breeding plumage.
An adult Rosy Starling in full cry
This White throated Kingfisher had its territory on a small stretch of the coastal bush between the Hotel and beach
Spectacular colours of White throated Kingfisher in flight
A lone Black Drongo was seen on occassions, dark eye and jet black plumage are the distingusihing features
The striking White browed Wagtail was seen foraging in the exposed areas before the beach and in the hotel grounds
Asian Koels were one of the main contributers to the daily dawn chorus
Black Kites were seen daily
The smaller Brahminy Kites were generally in the company of Black Kites
On two of my early morning walks I had a small flock of Asian Palm Swifts hawking over the coastal scrub, as the day warmed up the rose higher and then disappeared
In amongst the flock of Palm Swifts was this slightly heavier bodied, shorter tailed Swift, that I have tentatively identified as Indian Swiftlet
I found the Long tailed Shrike just as elusive as the last wintering bird we have had in Kuwait in 2007/8. It really is a great looking Shrike
A Black lored Tit was seen only twice on my morning walks, feeding in the same tree as some of the sunbirds
Purple rumped Sunbirds was the common sunbird around the Hotel, this is a female
and a male from below
Swallows seen included this obliging pair of Red rumped Swallows
and the odd Barn Swallow
I was able to catch this Greater Coucal in flight and the next day found a Lesser Coucal walking on the footpath - but no camera ready (doesnt this always happen!)
The male Oriental Magpie Robins were pretty vocal during the day
Non breeding Kentish Plovers were seen on the beach
I only had one sighting of White rumped Munia during my stay
A pair of Spotted Doves were seen on occassions in the area between the beach and Hotel
Paddyfield Pipits were found foraging in the dry grass next to the coastal shrub
A few species of Bulbuls were seen, including Red whiskered Bulbuls during the last few days at the Hotel
The White browed Bulbuls reminded me of the forest Bulbuls back in South Africa
I really enjoyed the calls of the White cheeked Bulbuls all through the day, I photographed this bird in full cry
I managed to arrange a morning out with local bird guide Paresh, who picked me up at 6am so we could head for his Indian Pitta stakeout at Aguada Fort. It was with great anticipation and excitement when we arrived at the site, but after an hour sadly had to call it an unsuccessful twitch. I was rewarded with a White chested Waterhen and this was taken at ISO 3200 around 6:30 in the morning
From this site we headed to Carambolim Lake, which was very dry, as it had been drained for the new wall being built across it. We had a Marsh Harrier fly over
An Indian Roller was hawking around a herd of water buffalo
There were numerous Indian Pond Herons along this small watercourse
A Little Cormorant with an Indian Cormorant in the background
Intermediate Egrets were common along the lake fringes
A poor photograph of a suspected Geen Warbler
On route to the Owl site I asked Paresh if he had a stakeout for Indian Robin and within 5-minutes we saw this male displaying co-operatively
The highlight of the stop at Caramblim Lake was this pair of Brown Hawk Owls roosting in the depths of a tree
Paresh also had a stakeout for Jungle Owlet which we saw very well
There were no Jacana's at Carambolim, on the way back to the hotel Paresh stopped at a small pond outside of the capital and in amongst the floating vegetation I found both Jacana's - but only managed to photograph the Bronze winged Jacana against the light
In the same pond we found a small flock of Cotton Pygmy Geese
The next morning I was up early and walked to the 30-minutes to the Pitta site and sat patientlty for an hour without luck. Although I did find Shikra perched on the wire in the early dawn light
A female Asian Koel trying to get some sun
I bumped into a group of Brit birders with their guide Lloyd Fernandez who were also looking for Pitta without luck. I gave up on the bird and continued my walk down the road to the Fort, finding a Stork billed Kingfisher
Whilst walking Lloyd stopped in his bus and asked if I wanted to join his group at a 2nd Pitta site - of course I jumped at the chance. It wasnt much further down the road from the first site and in much more pristine habitat. Again with anticipation and trepidation we followed Lloyd and within 5-minutes came across a bird preening in the undergrowth - what a moment and one of the highlights of my birding adventures. We had saturated views of this lone bird and were amazed at how cryptic it actually is, despite its bright colours and that it can disappear in the flash of an eye
The Brit group had a tight schedule and had to depart, I thanked Lloyd for his kindness and stayed a little longer with the Pitta. I found some other good birds in the process, like this Orange headed Thrush
Ashy Drongo's were common in this area and are dull grey below with a red eye
A Rufous Woodpecker feeding off an ant nest, which is diagnostic for this bird
Plum headed Parakeets were nesting in a nearby tree, again the light is not perfect but in the forest you take what little light you can get
On our last day, I took my son Jaden to explore Aguada Fort and saw the only White bellied Sea Eagel of the holiday, flying away
2008-03-03
A weekend at Borokalalo National Park, North West Province, South Africa - December 2007
During our December break we were able to spend a weekend in a private tented camp with our good friends, the Hutton's, Bath's and Loubser's in Borakalao National Park in North West Province. Borakalalo is the sister reserve to Pilansberg National Park adjacent to Sun City. Images by Mike Pope
One of the main features of the park is Klipvoor Dam and one of the game drives takes you along the edge of the dam, where waterbirds are abundant. Reed and White breasted Cormorants, Little Egrets and Grey Herons are fairly common.
Grey Herons patrol the fringes in search of fish and small reptiles. I caught this bird in the fading afternoon sun
Black Kites (yellow billed variety) are present for the duration of the summer season and are found around the dam looking for scraps and leftovers from the many fisherman
Pied kingfishers are common along the Moratele River below the dam wall
One always has to keep your eyes open on an early morning walk - both on the ground and in the bush. This Snout nosed Adder suddenly came to life as I narrowly missed standing on it
You also have to be careful about giving way to Dung Beetles that use the jeep tracks to roll their food source to a safe place, to lay their eggs on the ball once it is buried
After skirting the adder and dung beetles, I found this pair of Red billed Hornbills relaxing on the overhead lines
A Golden breasted Bunting made a quick stop before heading back to the ground to feed
A female Red headed Weaver with some fine nesting material
The male Red headed Weaver is striking and one of my favourite birds, here he is awaiting her turn to feed the young in the nest
The nest of the Red headed Weaver is very distinctive
There were many butterflies on my walks - I used to know them all by name, but now only have the family name - this is one of the Acraes
African Monarch
I think this is a Foxy Charaxes, a powerful and fast flying butterfly
Spotted Joker
Skipper
A Brown veined White?
Zebra White
Yellows
Yellow Pansy
Cream coloured Owl is a moth that is attracted to perfume and alcohol - as you can imagine there were a lot of these around our camp
Christmas in South Africa - December 2007
My family and I had 2-weeks back home to South Africa during December 2007. We were fortunate to be able to look after our good friends Mike and Krista Loubser's house in Beaulieu, just north of Johannesburg whilst they were on holiday. They have a huge indigenous garden with a wonderful rockpool and a lot of natural habitat for birds. Images by Mike Pope
A Cape Wagtail was present most mornings looking for insects in the grass
Laughing Doves in SA appear more plumper and darker than their counterparts in the deserts of Kuwait
This male Southern masked Weaver was collecting softer material to line his nest
A juvenile Fiscal Shrike just coming into its adult plumage, as it should have an all black crown
I was surprised to find an eastern race of the Fiscal Shrike this far west, the eastern race is characterised by the white eyebrow
Green Woodhoopoes are normally quite comical when sitting in groups swaying backwards and forwards while they are cackling away
The call of the Red eyed Dove reminds me of sunsets and sundowners
Red faced Mousebirds love trees with hanging fruits
Pied Crows are opportunists and will also scavenge if necessary, like this one looks like it has
I managed to photograph this Amethyst Sunbird in the dying light, the males as always som much more brightly coloured than the females
I made a stop at Glen Austin Bird Sanctuary where this Black headed Heron was hunting in the tall grass
