Jeanie
Jeanie with one n.
BIRDING TRIP REPORT FROM FAR SOUTH GOA.
By Jeanie Atkins, January 2011.
Much has been written about bird watching in Northern Goa.
However, if you have birded in Northern Goa several times then I highly recommend that you give the far south of Goa a try. A two or three night stay will be very rewarding and will probably make you return again for longer.
There are three main areas that are good for bird watching.
Cabo de Rama is an old Portuguese fort in which there is a wooded area by the church that is full of birdlife. When we were there we saw a Brown-headed Barbet and several White Bellied Sea Eagles amongst many others.
Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary is the largest sanctuary in Goa and another very good birding area.
And finally the area between Palolem and Patnam.
We had previously visited South Goa several times whilst staying in the North, including an overnight at Cotigao Reserve, tel. No (0832) 2965601. They have good clean rooms at Rs. 400. These are described as ‘cottages’ and consist of a room with 2 beds and bathroom and a larger more expensive room which is not worth the extra money.
This year my husband and I decided that we would spend 2 weeks of our 10 week India holiday at Rajbag which is the beach below Patnam which is below Palolem.
We found our accommodation via www.holidayrentals.com and stayed at The Pink Villa’s studio apartment.
This was a rather small room with a nice garden. They also have larger apartments which cater for 4 to 6 people.
We birded around our apartment which was quite scrubby and saw many Blyth Reed and Greenish Warblers, White Browed Bulbuls and Common Tailor birds.
Magpie Robins were very vocal. There were also plenty of Red Whiskered and Red Vented Bulbuls and various Sunbirds. There were many Green Beeaters, Golden Orioles and Black Rumped Flameback Woodpeckers. We had a good view of the white morph of the Asian Paradise Flycatcher. There were also many Ashy Prinias.
Whilst walking out of Rajbag towards the Palolem road junction, approximately a mile of nearly traffic free birding, we found many birds. Notably several Woolly Necked Storks, a Marsh Harrier in it’s silver wing and red body morph, Ashy Wood Swallows and Rosy and Chestnut Tailed Starlings. There were also some unidentified sandpipers in a small stream and a Greenshank.
There were plenty of Swallows, Martins, Chats, Shrikes and a Malabar Lark.
We saw some White Browed Wagtails and White rumped Munias
On the road from the Molyma hotel to the Rajbag road, on one tree, we saw a pair of Bluefaced Malkoha, the rufous form of the Asian Paradise Flycatcher and several Common Iora. In 10 years of birding in North Goa we have only seen Blue Faced Malkoha 5 times.
We visited Cotigao early one morning. The taxi arrived at 6.30 and in 20 minutes we were birding a large open area about 5 minutes drive before the entrance. On our previous visit we had seen a pair of White Bellied Woodpeckers there. On this occasion we saw Scarlet Minivets, Plain and Thick Billed Flower Peckers, Golden Fronted Leaf Birds and several other of the common species. We then entered the park and after paying drove straight to the bridge over the river and saw a white bellied water hen, several different King Fisher, many Baya Weavers, umpteen Herons etc.
The driver asked us if we would like to go to a local waterfall. We drove to the area and walked about ten minutes along a riverbed to a dam. No waterfall but lovely scenery. Got the scope up and running and the first birds that flew by were a pair of Malabar Trogon!! We had wonderful views of the female.
We then drove to ‘Tree Tops’ where I made the mistake of climbing up about 15 metres to a tree house. 10 minutes to climb up and about 30 minutes to climb down with my husband having to guide my feet on to the rungs. Only do this if you are taller than 5’ 5”!!
There are many places that you can stay on the very beautiful beaches of Palolem and Patnam.
These are various versions of huts on stilts. Some are extremely basic and some quite sumptuous. They cost between Rs. 1000 to 3000 per night. In Rajbag, near the Intercontinental hotel, not the Rajbag at Turtle beach, there is a basic hotel, room price c Rs. 800 called the Molyma. Tel. No. 91-8322643083. The advantage of this hotel is that it is set in the scrubland where we saw many of the birds mentioned above.
Rajbag beach is very quiet, dominated by a 7 star hotel. Thanks to it’s well watered lawns which you can see from a road through the complex on to the beach, we saw some Yellow Wagtails as well as White Browed Wagtails.
Patnam beach is quite beautiful with no one trying to sell you anything. Palolem beach is a bit busier but compared to Baga and Calangute is an oasis of peace.
So if you want to see some nice birds in beautiful and peaceful surroundings give the deep south of Goa a go!
By Jeanie Atkins, January 2011.
Much has been written about bird watching in Northern Goa.
However, if you have birded in Northern Goa several times then I highly recommend that you give the far south of Goa a try. A two or three night stay will be very rewarding and will probably make you return again for longer.
There are three main areas that are good for bird watching.
Cabo de Rama is an old Portuguese fort in which there is a wooded area by the church that is full of birdlife. When we were there we saw a Brown-headed Barbet and several White Bellied Sea Eagles amongst many others.
Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary is the largest sanctuary in Goa and another very good birding area.
And finally the area between Palolem and Patnam.
We had previously visited South Goa several times whilst staying in the North, including an overnight at Cotigao Reserve, tel. No (0832) 2965601. They have good clean rooms at Rs. 400. These are described as ‘cottages’ and consist of a room with 2 beds and bathroom and a larger more expensive room which is not worth the extra money.
This year my husband and I decided that we would spend 2 weeks of our 10 week India holiday at Rajbag which is the beach below Patnam which is below Palolem.
We found our accommodation via www.holidayrentals.com and stayed at The Pink Villa’s studio apartment.
This was a rather small room with a nice garden. They also have larger apartments which cater for 4 to 6 people.
We birded around our apartment which was quite scrubby and saw many Blyth Reed and Greenish Warblers, White Browed Bulbuls and Common Tailor birds.
Magpie Robins were very vocal. There were also plenty of Red Whiskered and Red Vented Bulbuls and various Sunbirds. There were many Green Beeaters, Golden Orioles and Black Rumped Flameback Woodpeckers. We had a good view of the white morph of the Asian Paradise Flycatcher. There were also many Ashy Prinias.
Whilst walking out of Rajbag towards the Palolem road junction, approximately a mile of nearly traffic free birding, we found many birds. Notably several Woolly Necked Storks, a Marsh Harrier in it’s silver wing and red body morph, Ashy Wood Swallows and Rosy and Chestnut Tailed Starlings. There were also some unidentified sandpipers in a small stream and a Greenshank.
There were plenty of Swallows, Martins, Chats, Shrikes and a Malabar Lark.
We saw some White Browed Wagtails and White rumped Munias
On the road from the Molyma hotel to the Rajbag road, on one tree, we saw a pair of Bluefaced Malkoha, the rufous form of the Asian Paradise Flycatcher and several Common Iora. In 10 years of birding in North Goa we have only seen Blue Faced Malkoha 5 times.
We visited Cotigao early one morning. The taxi arrived at 6.30 and in 20 minutes we were birding a large open area about 5 minutes drive before the entrance. On our previous visit we had seen a pair of White Bellied Woodpeckers there. On this occasion we saw Scarlet Minivets, Plain and Thick Billed Flower Peckers, Golden Fronted Leaf Birds and several other of the common species. We then entered the park and after paying drove straight to the bridge over the river and saw a white bellied water hen, several different King Fisher, many Baya Weavers, umpteen Herons etc.
The driver asked us if we would like to go to a local waterfall. We drove to the area and walked about ten minutes along a riverbed to a dam. No waterfall but lovely scenery. Got the scope up and running and the first birds that flew by were a pair of Malabar Trogon!! We had wonderful views of the female.
We then drove to ‘Tree Tops’ where I made the mistake of climbing up about 15 metres to a tree house. 10 minutes to climb up and about 30 minutes to climb down with my husband having to guide my feet on to the rungs. Only do this if you are taller than 5’ 5”!!
There are many places that you can stay on the very beautiful beaches of Palolem and Patnam.
These are various versions of huts on stilts. Some are extremely basic and some quite sumptuous. They cost between Rs. 1000 to 3000 per night. In Rajbag, near the Intercontinental hotel, not the Rajbag at Turtle beach, there is a basic hotel, room price c Rs. 800 called the Molyma. Tel. No. 91-8322643083. The advantage of this hotel is that it is set in the scrubland where we saw many of the birds mentioned above.
Rajbag beach is very quiet, dominated by a 7 star hotel. Thanks to it’s well watered lawns which you can see from a road through the complex on to the beach, we saw some Yellow Wagtails as well as White Browed Wagtails.
Patnam beach is quite beautiful with no one trying to sell you anything. Palolem beach is a bit busier but compared to Baga and Calangute is an oasis of peace.
So if you want to see some nice birds in beautiful and peaceful surroundings give the deep south of Goa a go!
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