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Birding in Goa, India (1 Viewer)

Mark Newsome

Born to seawatch...
I thought it would be a good idea to create a new thread for this popular winter birding destination. A summary of November records will follow very shortly, with photos etc.
Please post details of any sightings/trip reports/photos to try keep this up to date as an information reference point.
Thanks, and good Goa birding everyone!
 
Interesting records from November 2005 (common wintering birds not included):
Ruddy Shelduck - 8 in Parshem/Siolim area on 21/11, and maybe same in Carambolim area at end of month
Feruginous Duck - 1 at Batim lake mid-month
White-naped Woodpecker - a pair between Bondla and Tamdi Surla on 22/11
Great Hornbill - up to 3 at Maem Lake throughout and 3 between Bondla and Tamdi Surla on 22/11
Blue-eared Kingfisher - 2-3 in Tamdi Surla area mid-month
Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher - 1 in Tamdi Surla area mid-month and 1 on Cumbarjua canal 'Crocodile trip' on 24/11
Blue-bearded Bee-eater - a few around, with birds at Maem, Bondla and near Backwoods
Grey-bellied Cuckoo - 1 at Maem Lake on 27/11
Drongo Cuckoo - still quite a few around - eg Arpora, Maem, Beira Mar
Yellow-footed Green Pigeon - 1 at Assagao at start of month
Pacific Swift - small numbers on coast in final week
Slaty-breasted Rail - up to 2 in Baga area and 4 at Tikanem
Ruddy-breasted Crake - 2 at Beira Mar regularly all month
Watercock - 2 at Beira Mar up to mid-month
Great Thick-knee - 1 at Chorao fish ponds mid-month
Grey-headed Lapwing - 1 in paddies near Siolim on 22/11
Oriental Pratincole - 1-2 on Divar Island in first fortnight
Pallid Harrier - up to 16 roosting on Divar Island
Montagu's Harrier - up to 4 in Chorao/Divar area
Amur Falcon - small numbers in second week, including 20 together over Arpora on 14/11
Shaheen Flacon - 1 near Siolim on 23/11
Yellow Bittern - 1 at Santa Cruz in third week
Greater Flamingo - 1 at Morjim on 11/11
Spot-billed Pelican - 1 at Carambolim on 28/11 (prob first record for Goa)
Asian Openbill - up to 70 in paddies near Siolim
Indian Pitta - at quite a few localities eg up to 8 at Backwoods, up to 3 at Saligao, 2+ at Calangute, Arpora etc
Indian Blue Robin - 1 at Tamdi Surla on 17/11
Desert Wheatear -1 at Dona Paula from 23/11 onwards
Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler - up to 5 at Tikanem (prob wintering), and 1 in Baga fields (possibly a migrant)
Thick-billed Warbler - 1 in Baga fields on 25/11
Red-throated pipit - 1 in Baga fields on 15/11
Black-headed Bunting - up to 4 in Baga fields
Red-headed Bunting - up to 3 in Baga fields and 4 near Backwoods
(Thanks to Paul Willoughby (Bird Holidays), Paul Holt (Sunbird) and Hannu Jannes (Birdquest) and Stuart Ling for some of these records)
 
Habitat loss is a bit of a problem in a small area in the coastal part of north Goa. It's maybe more noticable to birders are there are a few established birding sites (eg Baga Hill) which have been been popular with birders and are now being developed for housing. However overall, Goa still has vast areas of forest and scrub which are very unlikely to be changed. Even when you look at the sites which have been developed and now have housing, if you look at the surrounding few miles, there are large areas of identical habitat which will hold the same selection of birds.
I think your friends may be a bit hasty in saying they'll never return. It's a wonderful place and there's many many squares miles of habitat never even checked by birders, so there'll be plenty more to new sites to find. It's a bit like saying you'll never go to the Norfolk Broads again, as the clump of reeds which held 'your' Reed Warblers is no longer there. Just look a bit further round the corner and there's plenty more birds.
 
A few photos to give a flavour of this November's birding. More to come soon.
 

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Nice photo of the Indian Pitta Mark, doesn't appear to be in typical pitta habitat, not too skulking either! It's just about 6 years to the day when I returned from a 3 week trip to Goa, a great birding destination, and a good introductory destination to Asian birding.

A few highlights from my trip in 1999 at the time included;

2 Crab Plovers to the north of Morjim Beach (photo attached)
Blue-eared Kingfisher at Tamdi Surla
Indian Pitta at both Backwoods and the infamous Pitta in the S^*&+!
Malabar Trogons at 3 sites
5 Collared Kingfishers along the river (name escapes me!), this was when they were hardly known in Goa, and we ventured along the mangroves not knowing whether they were present or not
Great Hornbill, a pair at Backwoods, hearing their wings 'whoosh' overhead before perching in front of us, fantastic!
Ceylon Frogmouth at night at Backwoods.
2 Long-toed Stints in paddies behind Carambolim Lake
3 Long-billed Vulture flying over near Backwoods, little did we know what would happen to the species just two years after!

At the time we thought our 310 species recorded was excellent, though it's amazing how many species have started appearing on a regular basis in reports from the area from what birders saw during the years when we visited.
It's a great shame if those birders mentioned do not return to Goa because of habitat lose in this way, this happens all over the world, even behind my back garden where Tawny Owls used to nest, and is little compared to the large-scale logging throughout the tropics and western North America!
 

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Latest news

Recent sightings in north Goa during the past week or so include
Great Knot - 1 Morji
Ruddy Shelduck - 8 still at Parsham on and off
Terek Sandpiper - 7 at Parsham
Black-headed Ibis - 7 at Parsham
Glossy Ibis - c.150 at Naroa (nr Maem Lake)
Bay-backed Shrike - 1 Divar Island near the large mango tree
Pallid Harrier - 3 during the day on Divar Island
Pacific Swift - regular sightings of up to a dozen birds in the Baga area, mostly in the evenings
Painted Snipe - 2 regularly at Beira Mar

more news as and when it happens

Stuart
 
A few more photos from November 05 - Drongo Cuckoo (juv), Paddyfield Warbler, Montagu's Harrier, Shaheen Falcon (dispatching a Blue-tailed Bee-eater!) and Brown Shrike.
 

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Latest checklist

Attached is the latest checklist of the birds of Goa (as of December 05). The naming, taxonomics and systematic order follows The Birds of South Asia (Rasmussen 2005). Hope it's of use to anyone planning a visit.
 

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For gull enthusiasts...

A few photos of barabensis and heuglini from November.
 

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A few more photos from November 05...

These were all taken on the Bird Holidays trip to Goa and Karnataka in November '05. (Jerdon's Nightjar, Indian Nightjar, Ceylon Frogmouth, Brown Hawk-owl and Malabar Barbet.)
Details of future trips at http://www.birdholidays.fsnet.co.uk/
 

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Cheers John. All of my own photos above are with a Canon 350D & 100-400 IS lens. The ones on the last posting were from customers on the trip - digiscoped, plus standard lens for the nightjars!
 
Goa observations 16-29 Dec 2005

Hello there,
came back from my first (not last!) birding trip to Goa some time ago. Thought some of the observations (by me and Pasi Laaksonen) listed below might be of interest to the readers of this thread.

Ruddy Shelduck - 5 on Chorao Island 26th Dec
Eurasian Wryneck - 1 at Baga fields 28th Dec
White-bellied Wpecker - 1 male at Backwoods Camp 24th Dec
Great Hornbill - 1 at Backwoods 24th Dec
Brown-backed Needletail - ca 10 at Tambdi Surla 22th Dec
Collared Scops Owl - 1 calling at Backwoods 22ns Dec
Indian Cuckoo - 1 juv at Beira Mar 28th Dec
Red-collared Dove - 1 at Carambolim Fields 20th Dec
Ruddy-breasted Crake - 1 at Beira Mar 29th Dec
Black-tailed Godwit - 50 at Carambolim Lake 20th Dec
Terek Sandpiper - 65 on Chorao Island 26th Dec
Grey-headed Lapwing - 1 near Siolim (found in Nov by Stuart Ling)
Collared Pratincole - 1 at Marinha Dourada 19th Dec (there were reports of an Oriental Pratincole at the same site, but we saw a Collared there... Saw it also in flight)
Pomarine Skua - 1 at Morjim 18th Dec
Pallas's Gull - 60 at Morjim 18th Dec
Great Crested Tern - 2ad at Morjim 18th Dec
Montagu's Harrier - 1 juv on Chorao Island 26th Dec
Steppe Eagle - Baga Fields 3 on 25th and 2 on 28th Dec
Great Cormorant - 2 at Carambolim 20th Dec
Yellow Bittern - 1 male at Baga marshes 25th Dec
Black-naped Oriole - 2 at Backwoods 21st and 2 at Bondla 23rd Dec
Desert Wheatear - female at Dona Paulo 29th Dec
Hume's Warbler - several at Backwoods 21st-24th Dec
Indian Silverbill - 3 at Morjim 18th Dec
Black-throated Munia - ca35 at Backwoods 21st Dec
Black-headed Bunting - 2 males at Carambolim Fields 20th Dec
Red-headed Bunting - 2 males at Baga Fields 28th Dec

Best wishes,
William Velmala
 
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Some cracking birds - there's not many records of Collared Pratincole in Goa, and Wrynecks aren't seen very often at all. Also very interesting to see that both the Desert Wheatear and Grey-headed Lapwing have hung on since November. Excellent!
 
It would be nice to know exactly where the heuglini type birds come from - how far east or west across their range. The barabensis fit nicely into a known range and plumage type, but with heuglini.....?!
 
MARK

Site lookin' good but you are upsetting me with even more photos! anyway hope to be able to get some myself over Easter now i've got my camera and adaptor for the scope.
nice work on the check list which is well timed for my holiday, thanks

graeme
 
Hi Mark,

The heuglini seems dark in the image, fuscus/intermedius like, was that a fact in the field as well?
By the look of it, seems to be a 3rd winter, or an advanced 2nd winter bird, bill looks dark for a 3rd w, but huge variation! It´s moult stage (primaries and coverts) being late, corresponds well with heuglini, or a fuscus for that matter, which can, and has occured in Goa.
Although difficult to se properly in the image (!), it looks like it has two different generation primaries, the inner visible p6, 7, 8 second gen the outer older 1st gen, as the outermost p looks very worn, brownish, and spiky.
However, the broad tertial tips, and the jizz looks good for heuglini, also the extensive
head streaking is possible for heuglini.
The so called 'taimyrensis' (regarded as an invalid taxon, and perhaps more close to vegae, or a hybrid between heuglini and vegae, Yésou. 2002), is paler than nom. heuglini and it´s breeding ground are east of heuglini. It winters in East Asia, but some (uncertain, if- numbers?) said to winter in Indian Ocean and reaching East Africa.
So by the look of your gull, way to dark for 'taimyrensis', and is probably a heuglini.
The two 1st winters could be either barabensis or heuglini, even though heuglini is favoured.
Nice images!

JanJ
 
Latest News

Great Thick-knee - one this morning by Siolem Bridge over the River Chapora.
The bird is on the raised embankment surrounding the salt pan immediately west of the bridge on the Morji side. It can be reached by taking a track on the right hand side of the bridge which then carries on underneath the bridge.

Grey-headed Lapwing - still present today in rice paddies at Marna-Siolem. The taxi drivers are keeping news of this bird to themselves which seems unnecessary, so the following details should enable birders to see it independently. At the crossroads in Siolem, by the large church, take the road to Mapusa for 1.8km. On the right hand side you will see a cream coloured house with a white wall, both trimmed with red. The house is just before a white chapel. On the opposite side of the road is an obvious pull in with a mango tree in it, surrounded by old coconuts and rubbish. View the paddies from here and the bird is usually close by. It has been present since Nov. 21 so is presumably settled!

Also this morning 60 Pallas's and 300 Slender-billed Gulls at Morji Beach as well as 3 Barred Buttonquail. Between Siolem Bridge and Parsham, 20 Terek Sands and 9 Black-headed Ibis.

Regards

Stuart












JANJ said:
Hi Mark,

The heuglini seems dark in the image, fuscus/intermedius like, was that a fact in the field as well?
By the look of it, seems to be a 3rd winter, or an advanced 2nd winter bird, bill looks dark for a 3rd w, but huge variation! It´s moult stage (primaries and coverts) being late, corresponds well with heuglini, or a fuscus for that matter, which can, and has occured in Goa.
Although difficult to se properly in the image (!), it looks like it has two different generation primaries, the inner visible p6, 7, 8 second gen the outer older 1st gen, as the outermost p looks very worn, brownish, and spiky.
However, the broad tertial tips, and the jizz looks good for heuglini, also the extensive
head streaking is possible for heuglini.
The so called 'taimyrensis' (regarded as an invalid taxon, and perhaps more close to vegae, or a hybrid between heuglini and vegae, Yésou. 2002), is paler than nom. heuglini and it´s breeding ground are east of heuglini. It winters in East Asia, but some (uncertain, if- numbers?) said to winter in Indian Ocean and reaching East Africa.
So by the look of your gull, way to dark for 'taimyrensis', and is probably a heuglini.
The two 1st winters could be either barabensis or heuglini, even though heuglini is favoured.
Nice images!

JanJ
 
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