Goa in June? (1 Viewer)

Didn't get a response in the information wanted section so trying here.

Any advice on visiting Goa in June. How detrimental to available species and ease of birding is the monsoon season?

Thanks,

The month you mention is not deemed to be the most rewarding for birding and certainly not the most comfortable for any visitors not used to high temperatures and high humidity. This is why most Europeans go ( from memory ) in the months Nov - Jan. If you're there for other reasons such as business then I guess the well reported and documented sites would be a good starting point. Why not try some of the Indian based wildlife tour companies and see what their itineraries say for June. My starting companies would be Backwoods, Wild About India though many others are available.
I remember a birder out there who was on a budget, paying on a room only basis in a house and basic food rations after getting budget flights via Mumbai and or a train down to Goa.....how this would compare to a package deal I've no idea. It was 20 years ago

Pat

PS. I lived in Bombay as a child and have visited several times during the monsoon period.

PYRTLE said:

The month you mention is not deemed to be the most rewarding for birding and certainly not the most comfortable for any visitors not used to high temperatures and high humidity. This is why most Europeans go ( from memory ) in the months Nov - Jan. If you're there for other reasons such as business then I guess the well reported and documented sites would be a good starting point. Why not try some of the Indian based wildlife tour companies and see what their itineraries say for June. My starting companies would be Backwoods, Wild About India though many others are available.
I remember a birder out there who was on a budget, paying on a room only basis in a house and basic food rations after getting budget flights via Mumbai and or a train down to Goa.....how this would compare to a package deal I've no idea. It was 20 years ago

Pat

PS. I lived in Bombay as a child and have visited several times during the monsoon period.

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Thanks for the response, I've sent off an e-mail to see if I can get some information. I have the opportunity to travel in June but will need to keep to a budget so time of year aside, Goa would be a good option for me, however, if I have to put up with hours of rain every day and birds being elusive due to abundance of water, then I may have to come up with something else.

I actually prefer high humidity when the temperature is high so not worried about that.

It will be monsoon with awful humidity.

I've been in Goa in to March and even then, it was unbearable, zero tourists for this reason.


A

I would be more worried about the monsoon not having started. I have no experience of what it's like in Goa, but have been elsewhere in India in both the monsoon and pre-monsoon, and the latter can be oppresively hot. The actual monsoon season wasn't too hot or wet, and there is a small but very interesting set of monsoon specialties in western India (Lesser Florican, Rain Quail, Painted Francolin etc) that are much easier at this time of year. I think June might be too early for these.

Personally, the only part of India I would consider in June would be the western Himalayas or Ladakh.

I've visited Goa at the end of August/early September (primarily for landbased seawatching) and the temerature was fine. Hot and occasional heavy showers but not unbearable. June would be a little more humid as it could be at the peak of the monsoon downpours, but rain is generally intense and short-lived.
Some species are much commoner (eg Indian Pitta, Cinammon Bittern, several Cuckoo species, Rain Quail), whereas you obviously lose all the Palearctic migrants. June would be a little early for return wader passage and seabird dispersal, so you'd be lacking in this area too.
Travel too is affected; foothill roads do get damaged with flooding and areas which you think of as easy to bird are overgrown jungles. The bare paddyfields at the coast are transformed into head-high green crop fields and are not accessible. So birding itinerarys need to be rethought.

Mark

I was in Taman Negara, Malaysia in June a couple of years ago and it was great. Rain confined to the odd hour here and there every other afternoon/early evening and many species actively vocalising. I'd recommend it as an option at that time of year. Can still be done very cheaply by today's modern standards. A monthly permit to the park (available on site at HQ) costs a quid!

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Have managed to arrange a family holiday with some birding in Mexico instead and will hopefully do a birding destination later in the year.