Birdwatching from South Goa - Nov/Dec 2017

Introduction
This was our fourth trip to Goa having visited North Goa in 2004 and 2007 and South Goa in 2011. This was a return to
South Goa staying once again at the Dona Sylvia Beach Resort in Cavelossim. I travelled with my wife on what was
essentially a four week relaxing holiday arriving on 11/11/17 and departing on 9/12/17 and booked as a package holiday
with TUI (formerly Thomsons).

Whilst birding was really an aside to the holiday I did manage some birding each day, usually from c.6.45 to c.9.30 a.m.
with occasionally a session in the late afternoon until dusk. I also arranged some dedicated birding trips as follows:

 Cotigao - half-day guided trip with Rahul Alvares

 Old Magazine House in Karnataka – one night

 Backwoods Camp - two nights

 Zuari River trip

This report is to assist any other like-minded birders that would like to combine a quiet holiday with birding away from
the birding hotspot of North Goa. A word of warning though; you will see very few other birders, generally everything
you see will need to be self-found but you will see some great birds.

My Birding Style
As I stated in the overview this was essentially a relaxing beach holiday but inevitably time was spent birding whenever
the opportunity arose. However, it is important to understand that I do not keep a life list so quantity of species and
new ticks is not that important to me. I didn’t spend too much time studying the pipits, larks and warblers simply to gain
another holiday tick, if they showed well I would enjoy the view and try to grab a record pic of the more difficult species
to try and identify it later. I started the holiday with the intention of keeping notes each time I went out but soon
stopped taking the notebook and simply completed a checklist from memory after every couple of days.

My hearing is not good and certainly not reliable enough to separate the more challenging species by call and so almost
all sightings mentioned in this report were of birds seen well or identified late from my photographs and not aided by
their calls.

Back home in the UK I am a dedicated patch-watcher and staying for four weeks in Cavelossim enabled me to make
regular visits to the same sites on my morning walks from the hotel and see how they changed throughout my stay – a
year in Goa would be a fascinating experience!

Other Birders
You will see very few birders in South Goa, however, in the weeks leading up to the holiday following a birding related
question I posted on Trip Advisor I made contact with John Kirby who would also be staying in Cavelossim with his wife
and two other family members during the first two weeks of my holiday. This resulted in me arranging for John and I to
visit Cotigao with Rahul Alvares whilst John arranged the overnight trip to Old Magazine House.

I also met some other birders at the Dona Sylvia hotel; John Davies was with his wife Pat and two friends Paul and Linda.
We all shared a trip to Zuari River and Alan and I went birding together a few times; Paul also joined us a couple of
times. Brian and Ann Walton were also staying at the Dona Sylvia and we shared bird information. I saw no other birds
around Cavelossim in the four weeks I was there.
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Birding Overview
Following my 2011 trip to Cavelossim I produced a report outlining the birding potential for the area and this report
hopefully adds to that earlier information and since it focuses on multiple visits to the same sites it will illustrate how a
site can change over just a few days.

My trip report from 2011 can be found here on BirdForum: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=217666

One thing I noticed on this visit compared to my previous visit to Cavelossim six years ago was that there seemed to be
much more green vegetation around, only a few trees had started to drop their leaves although this did change towards
the end of the holiday. A local that I talked to about this confirmed that the monsoon season seems to finish much later
now than it used to and this no doubt explains the much lusher vegetation for the time of year.

It also seemed much more humid than I remembered, the temperature when I set off each morning was usually around
23°C and had reached 30°C by the time I arrived back at the hotel peaking in the high 30’s by early afternoon. We had
rain showers on two mornings in the early part of the holiday which seemed most unusual and the Indian Sub-continent
was hit by a very unseasonal cyclone at the beginning of December causing much damage and loss of life in Sri Lanka,
Kerala and around Mumbai. Goa escaped reasonably lightly when compared with other areas although many beach
shacks were damaged or destroyed from the exceptionally high tides.

When I wrote my report from 2011 I remarked that gulls and terns seemed virtually non-existent around Morbor Beach;
waders on the beach fared little better with only a few sandplovers seen along with a handful of Kentish Plovers. This
year it was wholly different with plenty of waders, gulls and terns.

There has been a huge increase in large fishing boats that constantly patrol back and forth along this section of coast
with their trawl nets out. It is this that undoubtedly has accounted for the increase in gulls and terns as they could be
seen following the boats whenever the nets were hauled. Kites and eagles could also be seen preying on the by-catch.

The consequence of this is a decrease in the dolphin sightings, possibly due to constant disturbance from the boats and
combined with the lack of fish due to overfishing. I remember that in 2011 many afternoons would be spent in the
beach shacks having a cool beer whilst watching the dolphins passing up and down the coast. This year I only had two
dolphin sightings in the four weeks I was there, both early morning when the sea was calm and no boats were around.
Furthermore Goa was renowned for its cheap fish bought in the local restaurants and supplied by the local fisherman
that hauled their nets from the beaches. Nowadays fish is much more expensive in the restaurants and this is being
blamed on the overfishing by the large trawlers leaving little for the local fisherman to catch.

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Area surrounding Cavelossim

The map above shows the key areas around Cavelossim that I visited during the trip including the location of the Dona
Sylvia Beach Resort, Mobor Beach, the Mouth of the River Sal,the Scrubby Area just to the north of the hotel, the
paddyfield near D’Mello’s chemist shop, the pools alongside the road to the Fishing Wharf (Cutbona Jetty) and the New
Bridge (opened in 2013 when it replaced the ferry). I will describe each of these sites in more detail.

With the exception of the trips away from Cavelossim listed in the Introduction above I soon got into a morning routine
that alternated between walking the scrubby area just to the north of the Dona Sylvia Beach Resort and walking the Old
Ferry Road to the new bridge over the River Sal. In either case I generally started the day by visiting a small paddyfield
just beyond the D’Mello’s Chemist shop in Cavelossim and then deciding whether to walk to the bridge or to cover the
scrubby area and return to the hotel via the beach.

I have marked my routes on the map shown below.

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The Yellow route is the start of my walk from Dona Sylvia Beach Resort to the paddyfield and follows the main road
north through the village but could be easily picked up by anyone staying at other hotels in the village.

The Blue route requires a short doubling back from the paddyfield and then heading down the road next to D’Mello’s
Chemist shop. The road soon turns to the left and after passing a few houses you will reach a more open, marshy area
which can be quite good for the commoner species. Continuing along the road you will pass a few more houses and
upon reaching a T-junction turn right towards the river. You will soon reach open fields and eventually the road climbs
to the bridge. As well as the river itself there are a few pools that can be viewed from the road bridge. After searching
this area I would usually return to the hotel by the same route.

Old Ferry Road (looking towards the river) Looking north from the Old Ferry Road

The Red route on the map picks up from the paddyfield and continues along the main road for a couple of hundred
metres until you pass a yellow house on the right and then the Comfort Plaza Hotel on the left of the road. Take the
tarmac road alongside the Crown Plaza and this will lead you to the scrubby area.

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Comfort Plaza Two Palm Trees

Just behind the Crown Plaza the road passes between two overgrown pools that despite their scruffy appearance always
had something to see. From here road climbs a slight incline and then turns 90° right. I would typically explore the bushy
areas beside the tarmac road for a hundred metres or so before leaving the road in a generally southwest direction
through the scrubby area, eventually reaching the beach just to the north of the Dona Sylvia Beach Resort and would
return to the hotel via the beach. On my last visit to this area before leaving the tarmac road and cutting through the
scrubby area I continued north along the tarmac road until it eventually ended at the wall surrounding the Naval
Shooting Range (c. 1 kilometre). The area showed a lot of promise and I wish I had had time to explore it further.

[It is worth noting that there are multiple paths through the scrubby area and the opening back to the beach is not that
clear and easy to miss. For your first visit to this area it might be advisable to start the walk from the beach end since the
beach entry is easily found as it passes between two palm trees visible from the beach about 200 metres north of Dona
Sylvia Beach Resort. See picture above.]

Paddyfield near D’Mello’s Chemist

This field illustrated the benefit of being able to revisit an area a number of times.

I would have passed this field several times in 2011 but I don’t recall seeing anything here of interest and paid no
attention to it. So it was a real surprise this time to find it brimming with birds. It was relatively small at c.100 x c.50
metres but proved a real bird-magnet. At the beginning of my stay the field was quite muddy and its crops had probably
been recently harvested. Over the next few weeks it went through the stages of preparation, ploughing, flooding and
planting This resulted in a good selection of birds using it over the four weeks I visited.

The only downside to visiting this field as part of my daily routine was that I tended to visit it around 7 a.m. The light at
this time was still a little gloomy, however around 7.20 the sun would rise above the trees at the far side of the field and
you were then looking directly towards the sun. The best lighting was during the afternoon but this didn’t tally with my
typical birding day and so other than a couple of visits combined with trips to the shops I stuck to the mornings.

a.m. visit p.m.visit

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Nevertheless a great selection of birds was seen. Birds such as Cattle Egrets, Pond Herons, Red-wattled Lapwings,
White-browed Wagtails, White-breasted Waterhen, White-breasted Kingfisher and Bronze-winged Jacanas were
always present. There was always a selection of waders present. They seemed to have peaked just after ploughing when
the field was very wet and muddy and reduced considerably as the rice crop reached several inches tall. Wader species
included: Redshank, Greenshank, Spotted Redshank (just 1 seen on 8/12), Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Green
Sandpiper, Greater Painted Snipe (only seen on my first two visits), Snipe sp. (several seen but only one positively
identified as a Pintail), Temminck’s Stint and Black-winged Stint.

Other birds that made an appearance included: Little Egret, Intermediate Egret, Black-headed Ibis (just a single during
one visit), Blue-tailed Bee-eater (four on the fence surrounding the field one morning) and Yellow Wagtails (present
most days but peaked at c.30 when the field was at its wettest and muddiest).

Scrubby Area to the north of Dona Sylvia Beach Resort (Red Route)
This was my main birding area with a great selection of birds seen. I did try one late-afternoon visit but found it
disappointingly quiet so stuck to the mornings.

Many bird species were seen on virtually every visit suggesting they were resident in this area at this time of year
whereas some species were encountered just once or twice suggesting they may be birds that are perhaps still on
passage or simply moving around locally.

White-browed Bulbuls were plentiful and could always be found throughout this area as could Red-whiskered Bulbuls. I
only encountered a Red-vented Bulbul on one occasion and Grey-headed Bulbuls a few times but certainly not every
day. I saw Hoopoes regularly, almost always two seen together and there seemed to be at least three areas where I
often saw them suggesting there might have been up to three different pairs in the area.

Green Bee-eaters were everywhere and both Blue-tailed and Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters were seen occasionally.
There were a few Peafowl in the area and two females were found with small chicks whilst the males were generally
moulting their tail feathers and so looked a little disappointing. A few Spotted Doves were seen most days and noisy
parties of Jungle Babblers were frequently encountered.

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Eurasian Golden Orioles were far more numerous than I remember from previous visits and were encountered almost
everywhere.

One morning whilst birding with Alan Davies we came across a flock of birds stripping berries from a low shrub and this
gave a great opportunity for prolonged views of many birds at close range. These included Red-Whiskered Bulbuls, a
Grey-headed Bulbul, White-browed Bulbuls, Coppersmith Barbets, Asian Koels, Chestnut-tailed Starlings, Common
Iora and Jungle Myna. Sadly the light was very poor this particular morning so photographs were disappointing given
the excellent opportunity for close range views.

Coppersmith Barbet Red-whiskered Bulbul

The area held large numbers of both Black and Brahminy Kites and these were seen in good numbers daily. It seems
that the Brahminy Kites roost singularly (or at least not in a large communal roost) with several spread across the taller
trees in the scrubby area first thing in the morning and so these were the most plentiful species at this site in the
mornings and could be watched preening and preparing their feathers for the day ahead. The Black Kites didn’t seem to
arrive here until later in the morning possibly being the ones that have a large roost in trees alongside the River Sal
upstream from the new bridge.

White-bellied Sea Eagles were seen most days and the general area probably held one or two pairs with some juveniles
also seen. I would see at last one, sometimes two, flying over the scrubby area each morning.

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White-bellied Sea Eagle carrying a stick over the scrubby area presumably to a nest near the river

The only other raptor species seen in this area was Shikra with one being seen on a few occasions.

Barbets are notoriously difficult to pick out when perched in amongst the leaves at the very top of the trees but
nevertheless in addition to the Coppersmith I did manage to see quite a few White-checked Barbets in this area.

White-cheeked Barbet – it’s somewhere in there!

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Both male (brown phase) and female Asian Paradise Flycatchers were seen on several occasions and on one occasion a
single male and three female types were seen together (family party?).

Asian Paradise Flycatcher (male) Asian Paradise Flycatcher (female)

Other birds seen regularly in this area but not in high numbers included Black-headed Cuckooshrike (both male and
female regularly encountered in the same small area towards the beach and a single male seen near the tarmac road),
Long-tailed Shrike, Small Minivet (usually seen in pairs), Rufous Treepie, Common Iora, Asian Brown Flycatcher,
Oriental Magpie Robin, Brahminy Starling (small numbers only encountered towards the end of my stay amongst flocks
of much more numerous Chestnut-tailed Starlings) White-rumped and Scaly-breasted Munias.

There were a number of species that I encountered in this area that I hadn’t expected. First up was an Indian Grey
Hornbill seen on 14/11 but not seen subsequently despite been looked for on future visits.

Indian Grey Hornbill Eurasian Wryneck

Another surprise find was a Eurasian Wryneck found on 15/11 near the beach area but unfortunately disturbed by a
local fisherman before I was able to get a decent picture.

A Rufous Woodpecker was another species only seen on one date as was Black-headed Bunting (3 on 7/12) seen from
the tarmac road towards the Naval Shooting Range.

Blue-faced Malkoha was seen on two occasions although both sightings were frustratingly brief.

30th November found two new birds that were only seen on that one date, a Drongo Cuckoo and an amazingly confiding
Indian Thick-knee that was next to the tarmac road and clearly confident in its camouflage plumage as it didn’t move as
we walked along the road just a couple of metres from it.

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Drongo Indian Thick-knee

Another bird seen near the tarmac road was an Orange-headed Thrush that seemed out of character in an area where it
was a predominantly dry grassy area with just a scattering of bushes.

Another bird that provided a great deal of pleasure was a Spotted Owlet. It appears to roost in a dead palm tree just
within the entrance to the Scrubby Area from the beach end. A short walk along the beach from the hotel often allowed
the bird to be seen without even entering the scrub and could be seen most days. Brian managed to get an excellent
picture of two birds; one on top of the tree and the second at the entrance hole just a few distance from the top.

Spotted Owlet

This was an excellent area to adopt as a ‘local patch’. I have highlighted my key species seen but there were plenty of
others not specifically mentioned to maintain my interest including the pipits, larks, warblers and sunbirds.

Old Ferry Road (Blue Route)

I had visited this area a couple of times in 2011 and felt the area had a lot of potential. This time I visited it quite
regularly, partly because it was a nice contrast to the Scrubby Area and also because it was much easier to walk on since
you are on tarmac throughout rather than the sandy ground in the Scrubby Area…….much easier in the humid
conditions.

After checking the aforementioned paddyfield the first birding area you encounter are the open wet fields you reach
after passing the first houses after D’Mello’s Chemist. The area always held the common species such as White-
breasted Kingfisher, Green Bee-eaters, White-rumped Munias and the Pied Bushchats.

Another feature of this visit was that there seemed to be many more pigs being kept around Cavelossim and in this area
of wet fields the pigs did a great job of turning the soil and the resulting mud proved a great attraction for wagtails and
waders such as Wood Sandpiper. The area also attracted a few egrets and herons with Purple Heron being a regular
sighting here in the long grass and on one occasion a Woolly-necked Stork provided close views.

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Purple Heron Woolly-necked Stork

Ashy Prinia

The scrub that bordered the dykes was good for warblers and prinias but patience (or luck) was required to get a good
view.

The next area of interest along this route are the open fields alongside the Old Ferry Road.

As before, I am sure that the birds encountered along this stretch of road will be determined by the farming activity in
the fields at any particular time. Whilst I was there I saw very little farming activity and I wondered if this might have
tallied with an explanation given to me by a local villager who explained that when he was young each family would
intensively manage their own patch of farmland with all family members being involved. He would be expected to carry
water from the well to water the crops before heading off to school. There was scarcely a time when a piece of land
wasn’t being cultivated for one crop or another and most families were self-sufficient. Nowadays most younger family
members are leaving their family farms to work in the tourist industries and as a result less and less land is under
continuous cultivation.

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The wires alongside the road were good for Black Drongos and an Indian Roller was ever present. Pied Bushchats were
abundant as were Stonechats along with both White-rumped and Scaly-breasted Munias.

Black Drongo Indian Roller

Pied Bushchat female Pied Bushchat male

There were certainly fewer Swallows than I remembered from 2011. Whilst I saw Barn, Red-rumped and Wire-tailed
each day they were only present in small numbers and nowhere near the hundreds seen in 2011.

The wet dykes and channels provided feeding for waders, in particular Wood, Marsh and Green Sandpipers along with
Greenshanks, Redshanks and Common Sandpipers. One small field that was flooded and prepared for planting halfway
through my stay soon attracted the aforementioned waders along with a few egrets and Red-wattled Lapwings and
Black-winged Stilts.

The area was quite good for raptors and most visits would produce at least one Marsh Harrier quartering the fields and
one of my holiday highlights was a Pallid Harrier that was seen hunting on two occasions and gave me my best ever
views of this species.

Pallid Harrier Pallid Harrier

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Both Kite species were common as they passed over and probably the same White-bellied Sea Eagles I would see flying
over the Scrubby Area could also be seen each morning as they commuted between the sea and the river. On one
occasion two adults and two juveniles could be seen together as they gained height, possibly leaving their nest site,
before the adults headed towards the sea. Before reaching the river an Osprey could be reliably seen each morning
preening on top of a dead palm tree before it flew off to the river. A Shikra was often seen huntng along the edge of the
tree line surrounding the fields in the manner of a Eurasian Sparrowhawk.

Booted Eagle

Another personal highlight from this stretch of road was a white-phase Booted Eagle that flew low overhead before
being turned back by the resident House Crows.

A couple of other birds of note seen along here were a Clamorous Reed Warbler seen when I was with John Kirby and a
Bluethroat that I saw very briefly before it disappeared into cover.

Continuing along the Old Ferry Road the road soon veers off to climb to the bridge over the River Sal. From the bridge
you get excellent views both up and downstream and can appreciate the size of this river. Standing in the centre of the
bridge for a few minutes will almost certainly provide you with close views of birds as they pass along the river.

From here you also get a distant view of a Black Kite roosting site and I was able to watch them leave in the morning in
huge numbers as they climbed on the thermals. There was also a tree that provided a roost for Black-headed Ibis.

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Black Kite roost Black-headed Ibis

Whilst on the bridge you are also at the height of the tallest palm trees giving a unique opportunity to look down on the
trees. I was fortunate enough to video a pair of Purple-rumped Sunbirds feeding on the flowers just a few feet across
from me. There are also a couple of dead palm trees that attracted a small party of Rose-ringed Parakeets each morning
that came to drink from liquid that had collected in the top of the trunk. Another tree held a pair of nesting Brahminy
Kites providing another unique viewing angle.

Nesting Brahminy Kites Rose-ringed Parakeet

Below the approach roads to the bridge are a number of small ponds that also attracted the birds. Whilst looking down
onto the small pond to the north side of the bridge a local fisherman flushed a number of birds including an adult Black-
crowned Night Heron that had presumably been roosting in trees next to the pond.

On the opposite side of the road you look down on a pond that regularly attracted Common, White-throated and Stork-
billed Kingfishers.

Stork-billed Kingfisher White-throated Kingfisher

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Blue-tailed Bee-eaters were also regular here along with Wire-tailed Swallows. The area immediately surrounding this
pond held both Brown and Long-tailed Shrike. I wandered down to this pond a couple of times and a number of the
commoner species were always present including Golden Oriole, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Greater Coucal, Ashy Prinia,
Pied Bushchat, Stonechats and both Scaly-breasted and White-rumped Munias.

There was always a good selection of larks and pipits along the Old Ferry Road although the only ones I positively
identified were Richard’s Pipit, Paddyfield Pipit and Malabar Lark.

Church Pools

In my 2007 report I mentioned some pools on the way to an electrical substation a little way past Cavelossim Church
when leaving the village. I had visited this area a couple of times and it had proved quite good. This year when we
passed the pools on our way to the hotel from the airport I could see that the pools had recently been ‘dug-out and
redeveloped’ and they didn’t look very inviting for birds and so I had no plans to visit them. However one day John was
passing the pools on his return from a family trip and he saw a large flock of birds circling the pools; he stopped the taxi
and was delighted to see 2-300 Small Pratincoles.

Alan and I looked for the birds the next day but they had moved on and only a few Red-wattled Lapwings and Indian
Cormorants were seen.

On 6th December my wife Pat went on an excursion from the hotel leaving me to spend the day birding and so I
combined the Old Ferry Road with Scrubby Area and even included these pools along with the Electricity Sub-station.

It was mid-morning by the time I reached the pools and with no shelter from the sun it was uncomfortably hot.

It was clear that despite their very sterile appearance there were plenty of waders around, far more than on my earlier
visit. A flock of around 60 Lesser Sandplovers were very flighty and kept circling the pools before landing again.
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A small group of the flock of Lesser Sandplovers

A further search found up to 12 Pacific Golden Plovers (my only ones of the trip), a couple of Terek Sandpipers, three
Greenshanks, Common Sandpipers, Little Stints, lots of Redshanks and Red-wattled Lapwings.

Mixed selection of waders - Pacific Golden Plovers, Lesser Sandplover, Red-wattled Lapwing, Terek Sandpiper and Dunlin

This was only a couple of days after the exceptional high-tides resulting from the cyclone and I wonder if many of these
birds had been temporarily displaced from the beach since the high tides had completely covered the roosting areas.

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Little Egrets, Common Kingfisher and Indian Cormorant

As illustrated in the picture above the pools also held a few other birds; a Marsh Harrier flew over a couple of times as
did an Osprey and a Woolly-necked Stork although the latter two were exceptionally high.

The walk to the sub-station turned out to be a waste of time, no doubt not helped by it now being late-morning and also
the grasses in the fields were exceptionally tall making viewing anything almost impossible. I did manage to spend a few
moments watching a Common Kingfisher where the road passed over a small stream.

Common Kingfisher.

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Cavelossim Beach
On several occasions after a relaxing day in the sun I would take a walk along the beach in the late afternoon. I would
either walk north towards Carmona Beach, a small resort about 4 miles from Cavelossim or south towards Mobor Beach
about 2.5 miles away.

North to Carmona beach

South to Mobor Beach

There were always plenty of Brahminy and Black Kites to be seen with the Black Kites in particular often gathered in
groups of up to 20 birds resting on the sand above the high tide line.

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A group of Black Kites

Black Kites

Brahminy Kite juvenile Brahminy Kite

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White-bellied Sea Eagles were almost guaranteed each day as they flew along the treeline before heading out to sea.

As with the other sites I visited the makeup of bird species on the beach changed throughout my stay. Sandplovers and
Kentish Plovers were always present and collectively accounted for between 500 and 1000 birds. They could be found
in small feeding parties along the water’s edge or in larger roosting groups of up to 400 birds above the high tide line
along the quieter stretches of beach.

A careful scan through those groups would always add a few more species. Terek Sandpipers were always present with
one group of seven together being seen on one occasion and probably a total of c.20 birds scattered along this stretch
of coast. Dunlins could also be found among the flocks of sandplovers usually in ones or twos, or in small parties of up
to five and were certainly more numerous than the Tereks. On some days a couple of Sanderlings could also be found
amongst the flocks of sandplovers.

Terek Sandpiper

It took me quite a while to get my eye in and to be able to quickly pick out the Greater Sandplovers from the Lessers.
They were certainly in the minority and probably represented less than 5% of the sandplovers I checked.

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Greater and Lesser Sandplover

As I walked north towards Carmona on 18/11 there seemed to be a wider variety of species than usual amongst the
regular species and several birds were only seen on this one occasion. These included a single Eurasian Curlew, a
Whimbrel (although I saw one the following day as well), a Grey Plover, three Greenshanks (although these were also
seen on subsequent days), a Curlew Sandpiper and two Great Knots.

Curlew Whimbrel Terek Sandpiper Grey Plover Greenshank

Great Knot Kentish Plover

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Greenshank

Sanderling Small Pratincole

Whilst returning from a walk from Mobor Beach on 26/11 I found two Small Pratincoles on the shore although I am sure
they were not there when I walked south a short while earlier. Perhaps another example of the daily changes to the bird
population. I didn’t see them again on future visits.

It was quite difficult to identify the seabirds following the fishing boats since most of the time they were just out of
binocular range and I was looking towards the sun. Fortunately they could often be found gathered on the sand at the
water’s edge but more often than not they would be disturbed by the beach dogs or by other sun-worshippers walking
the beach before I could get close. However, on one occasion I did manage to carefully scan through the flock and to get
close enough to get some pictures. I found: Sandwich Terns, Greater and Lesser Crested Terns, Gull-billed Terns,
Brown-headed and Black-headed Gulls, Slender-billed Gulls and a single immature Larus that I couldn’t positively
identify from the views I got.

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Mixed seabird flock

On most visits there was also a Western Reef Egret to be found near the mouth of the River Sal.

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Pools by the Cutbona Jetty Road and Velim Lake
In 2011 I visited some pools next to the road that leads to the fishing wharf (Cutbona Jetty) having found them by
chance on a day out whilst touring the local area in a taxi.

This year I revisited the pools again; firstly a morning visit on our way further south and secondly I hired a taxi with Alan
Davies for a late-afternoon visit. The first visit was intended as a recce to see if the pools would still be worth a revisit.
There were plenty of birds present, however, in the morning you are viewing into the sunlight but it was clear an
afternoon visit would be worthwhile.

Morning visit

One big change here however is the huge increase in wagons along the roadside. Due to the increase in fishing activity
mentioned earlier there is now a long line of perhaps 40-50 wagons always parked up on the road that passes the ponds
making parking a little more difficult and increasing the disturbance to the pools themselves. Some wagons may be
parked there for several days as they wait for their turn to collect their fish cargo and so a degree of caution is required
when exploring this area as the paths and dykes are used for the drivers’ daily ablutions. We restricted our exploring to
the first (and most accessible) pools when reaching the road.

Wagons waiting on the road to the fish wharf

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The pools held an excellent selection of waterbirds and this was probably the only site visited during my stay when I
regretted not bringing my scope. Many birds, particularly the ducks, were always a little distant for the bins.

Nevertheless a good range of species were noted. Among the ducks were Teal, Garganey, Shoveler, Gadwall and Lesser
Whistling Duck. The waders included Black-winged Stilts including adults and juveniles, two Little Ringed Plovers,
Marsh Sandpipers, Wood Sandpipers, two Black-tailed Godwits, 3 or 4 Ruff, Redshanks, Greenshanks, Dunlin, Snipe,
several Stints mainly Little but possibly included Temminck’s as well, and a few Red-wattled Lapwings. The full range of
expected egrets and herons were seen as were Black-headed Ibis.

A small selection of waders

During the brief morning visit looking in to the sun there were good numbers of terns and gulls present but viewing was
hampered by looking towards the sun. Unfortunately when Alan and I visited during the afternoon they were largely
absent and I wonder if the site is largely used by the seabirds as an overnight roost. We did still manage to see a couple
of Whiskered Terns and the morning session had still enabled a good number of Gull-billed Terns, Black-headed and
Brown-headed Gulls to be identified.

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Gulls and terns early morning

The pool on the right-hand-side of the road as you approach are much deeper than the pools on the left and whilst they
held no waders they did have a couple of Oriental Darters and good numbers of Cormorants.

Cormorant (and Oriental Darter) roost

The deeper water in this pool was also used by the Whiskered Terns for feeding and also by Common and White-
throated Kingfishers.

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The wader pool here was one of the only locations where I saw Pied Kingfisher on this trip, a species that had proved
particularly elusive this year.

The area was quite good for raptors; as well as the usual two kite species Marsh Harriers were always present and an
Osprey flew over whilst we were there. Looking towards the distant hills a large group of perhaps 40 raptors could be
seen soaring along the edge of the ridge. Doubtless most would be kites however I believe these hills are the ones
reported as being especially good for a wide range of raptor species when they were being viewed from Velim Lake
many years ago and so once again I missed not having the scope. With more time available it could have been worth
exploring the hilly area for the raptors alone.

Velim Lake
Exceptionally disappointing this year, being largely overgrown with little open water and very few birds seen.

A small group of egrets and eight Woolly-necked Storks could be seen packed tightly together in the distance but
nothing else of interest seen during a very brief visit.

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Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary
Before leaving the UK I arranged to visit this location with John Kirby and used local guide Rahul Alvares:

http://rahulalvares.com/

[Rahul’s website gives you a good insight to his experience and excellent wildlife knowledge. It also lists three books that
he has been involved with and I bought all three from him whilst I was there. The first two are paperbacks that describe
his early life and his skill and profession as a ‘snake catcher’. Rahul is passionate about wildlife conservation and he
spent much of his early years educating people about snakes and would be called by villagers to capture any snakes that
they found in or around their homes. The third book is of interest to visiting birders and was authored by Heinz Lainer
and lavishly illustrated with photographs taken by Rahul. It is called Birds of Goa and rather than being a field guide to
aid bird identification it is a book that details the status the birds of Goa and lists the records of the scarcer birds in the
manner of an annual bird report back in the UK. It does have its flaws however since it is only as good as the records that
are formally documented. Many species can appear to be much scarcer than they actually are simply because people
don’t report their sightings. This was borne out when I asked the guides at Backwoods Camp if they ever reported their
sightings anywhere….they don’t!]

Rahul’s books – more info on his website

Rahul picked us up from Cavelossim at 6.a.m. and we reached Cotigao shortly before it opened at 7 a.m. We parked up
and then spent the next 3 hours birding the trail I had followed in 2011.

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Birding is typical of this type of forest i.e. good ears and an excellent knowledge of the local bird calls is essential and
that is where Rahul’s skills came to the fore. Over the first 45 minutes or so I don’t think I actually saw a single bird
despite Rahul picking out numerous birds from their calls in the dense forest. Eventually though we reached a clearing
where viewing was much easier and as the sun climbed higher bird sightings followed in quick succession.

It was great to see a party of at least six Asian Fairy Bluebirds at ground level rather than in the treetops and they were
accompanied by several Yellow-browed Bulbuls and a Grey-headed Bulbul. In the tree tops a number of species of
Barbets, Pigeons and Parakeets were constantly passing through along with Hornbills, Orioles and Minivets.

My particular highlights were a Grey Junglefowl cockerel that fed quite close by allowing a chance of photographs
despite the poor light under the tree canopy. There was also a White-bellied Woodpecker tapping on a tree just a few
metres away but difficult to get a clear view through the dense vegetation.

Grey Junglefowl

I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Cotigao and for any future visit I would have no hesitation in booking Rahul again.

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Old Magazine House, Karnataka
This overnight trip was arranged by John and we were accompanied by our wives, Pat and Monica.

http://www.junglelodges.com/old-magazine-house/

This excursion was a real highlight of our trip and was enjoyed by all four of us and our only regret was that we didn’t
arrange to stay for two nights.

Old Magazine House (OMH) is near Dandeli in the Indian State of Karnataka and took about 3.5 hours to reach by taxi
including a couple of brief stops en route. We used a Cavelossim taxi driver called Babu whom we had all used on our
previous trip in South Goa. Babu is a very safe and careful driver with a sharp eye for finding birds despite not actually
being able to name many of them. He is happy to stop whenever an interesting bird is seen and would often pull over
and point out birds that we had missed.

Babu can be contacted on: +91 9850047242

Babu stayed overnight at OMH in the staff quarters rather than travelling back home for the night and we used him the
next morning to take John and I along with the bird guide Vinny to the Timber Yard about 25 km away in Dandeli.

The approach road to the lodge is good for birding and butterflies but the main attraction here is the viewing area
positioned in front of several bird baths that attract a huge array of birds throughout the day but especially from mid to
late afternoon. The birds tempted down to the baths are typically the forest birds that are often so difficult to see well
in the dense tree canopy.

Mixed bathing

The site is very popular with Indian photographers that seldom seem to carry binoculars but are weighed down with
tripods loaded with cameras with huge lenses. Many perches have been provided near to the baths to enable the birds
to pose for their photographs but whenever something new arrives the ‘machinegun firing’ of the camera shutters is
quite deafening……do you really need several hundred shots of the same bird in the hope that one might be in focus
[rant over for now but see Zuari River Trip for the next episode!]

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I have many memories from our great sightings at OMH but some particular favourites are the great views of Emerald
Dove, Black-naped Monarchs, white-phase male Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Blue-capped Rock Thrush, Orange-headed
Thrush, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher, Indian Blue Robin, White-rumped Sharma, Black-lored
Tit, Flame-throated Bulbul, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Puff-throated Babbler, Dark-fronted Babbler, Brown-cheeked
Fulvetta, Crimson-backed Sunbird, Oriental White-eye, Black-throated Munia and Little Spiderhunter.

We also had great views of a Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher that was causing great excitement amongst the regular
visitors since this was the first time ever it had put in an appearance at the camp.

Another highlight occurred just after we had arrived and before we had even had time to check-in when a Black Eagle
swooped down to the bird baths and passed just a few metres in front of us. Despite the view being brief it was
nevertheless a most unexpected and memorable sighting.

Dark-fronted Babblers Puff-throated Babbler

Oriental White-eye and Puff-throated Babbler Flame-throated Bulbul

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta and Yellow-browed Bulbul Asian Paradise Flycatcher

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Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher

White-bellied Flycatcher male female

Black-naped Monarch White-rumped Sharma

Little Spiderhunter Blue-capped Rock Thrush

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Orange-headed Thrush Oriental White-eye

At times it was difficult to know where to look next and this was demonstrated late-afternoon when several
woodpeckers of four different species were in view at the same time. These included Rufous Woodpecker, Black-
rumped Flameback, several Great Flamebacks and a Lesser Yellownape.

Greater Flameback Black-rumped Flameback

Lesser Yellownape Rufous Woodpecker

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Before dusk we decided to go and watch the sunset over the Supa Dam Reservoir but en route stopped at the bridge
over the River Kali just below the hydro-electric dam. This proved to be a great place to watch the Malabar Pied
Hornbills fly to their riverside roost and up to 20 birds were seen, some very close.

Malabar Pied Hornbill

Sunset over Supa Dam Reservoir

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Timber Yard at Dandeli
The next morning Babu took John and I, along with Vinny to the Timber Yard at Dandeli. The Timber Yard is a vast area
where felled timber is stored before being sold. Amongst the felled timber are huge specimen trees that are a magnet
to a wide range of bird species, in particular the Hornbills. There is a numbered Hornbill trail around the yard to explain
about the types of trees and their importance to the natural world (although we didn’t specifically follow it). It seems
that there will always be some trees fruiting here and so once they are found you will also find the birds.

Malabar Pied Hornbills were numerous and they were accompanied by plenty of Indian and Malabar Grey Hornbills
that could be watched at ridiculously close range.

Malabar Pied Hornbills

Malabar Grey Hornbill

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Unfortunately we didn’t see the Great Hornbill, it seems they depend on specific species of trees with branches that are
spread wide to provide them with plenty of space for their huge size. Vinny took us to a tree where they had been a few
days before but they had stripped that tree of its fruit and moved on but had not yet been relocated.

When I could draw my eyes away from the Hornbills there were plenty of other birds to be seen. We got excellent views
of Yellow-footed Green Pigeons at virtually eye-level, Grey-fronted Green Pigeons, Brown-headed and Malabar
Barbets, Vernal Hanging Parrots, Plum-headed Parakeets, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Jungle Crows, Velvet-fronted
Nuthatch and Thick-billed Flowerpecker to name just a few.

Plum-headed Parakeet Yellow-footed Green Pigeon

Another surprise here was two Hill Mynas seen well at the top of a tall tree.

Before leaving the camp to head back to Cavelossim we spent some time on the river being paddled in a coracle; a
pleasant touristy diversion with a couple of large crocodiles seen but not many birds. If visiting again I would miss out
the coracle and spend an extra couple of hours watching the bird baths!

The trip to OMH is highly recommended and I will definitely repeat it when visiting Goa again, perhaps next time with an
extra overnight stay.

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Zuari River Trip
There are several operators offering birdwatching cruises on the River Sal from Cavelossim, however, for birders no trip
to Goa is complete without the birdwatching cruise on the Zuari River run by Crocodile Station. This is the only trip in
Goa I know of where you are virtually guaranteed to see Collared Kingfisher as well as a number of other scarce species.

Crocodile Station
Ferry Wharf
Cartalim
e mail: crocstation@vsnl.net
phone no. 2550334 mobile 9822127936

I arranged a trip for Alan and his friend Paul and our wives Pat, Pat and Linda using Babu to taxi us to the boat from
Cavelossim. The boat also had five Indian photographers as well as two boatmen and a bird guide.

The cruise commenced at 7.30 a.m. returning to the wharf at c.11 a.m.

I have been on this trip back in 2007 and found it to be a great morning out as I did this time but with a few
reservations. The trips back in 2007 were aimed at birders that wanted to get a decent ‘tickable’ view of the key species
such as the scarcer kingfishers and paid little attention to the commoner species. This time the trip also needs to satisfy
the needs of photographers as well as the birders, often to the detriment of the birds.

The trip commenced by heading a considerable distance downstream to a perch where White-bellied Sea Eagle would
most likely be found. The boat was slowly moved into a position with optimum lighting and then moved closer and
closer until the bird was flushed but not before every photographer regardless of what side of the boat you were on got
ample opportunities to fire of dozens of shots….I shouldn’t really complain because I also got a couple of shots I am
happy with as well. This procedure was repeated as the boat moved back upstream with similar close encounters with
Brahminy Kites, Greater Crested Terns, Western Reef Heron, Wire-tailed Swallows, Common Kingfishers and Ospreys.
In all cases the birds were approached closer and closer until eventually flushed. We also stopped for views of the
Peregrine perched high above on the river bridge with the boat being turned and repositioned several times to ensure
everybody that wanted had great views and great photographs. Eventually after almost two hours we headed into the
narrower channels where the Collared Kingfishers could be found.

The guides worked hard to locate the kingfishers and whilst doing so also found a couple of Black-crowned Night
Herons roosting in deep cover. These held little interest to the photographers since no clear shots could be obtained
and none were carrying binoculars anyway.

Eventually the first Collared Kingfisher was found and after much repositioning of the boat everybody got at least a half-
decent view. Fortunately the Collared Kingfisher seems to be confident its own environment and since it too was in
deep cover largely ignored those on the boat and appeared unconcerned by our presence.

A little later one of the boatmen spotted a Scaly-breasted Rail at what must surely have been a regular stakeout since
even when its location was known it was remarkably difficult to see amongst the mangrove roots. Inevitably the
photographers had little chance of a photo so waited patiently until the birders had all got at least a glimpse of the bird.

We soon spotted another two Collared Kingfishers one of which sat patiently until everyone was satisfied with their
own views and photographs.

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Collared Kingfisher

Before heading back to the wharf another Osprey was found perched on a thick bamboo fishing pole eating a fish. Once
again the boat was taken in really close until the bird was flushed and the photographers were able to get their flight
shots. As we moved away the Osprey circled a few times before returning to its perch with at least one of the
photographers asking the boatmen if they could go back and flush the bird again for more flight shots. Fortunately we
were out of time and we headed quickly back to the wharf. The tidal river had now receded somewhat and the muddy
edges held a good number of waders, however, unlike in 2007 we had no time to check them out having spent so much
time in the earlier part of the trip obtaining the aforementioned photographs.

You will have realised by now that whilst I still thoroughly enjoy this trip I am not comfortable with the repeated
encroaching into the birds’ personal space just to obtain several hundred pictures most of which will doubtless be
deleted.

I am not sure what the best way forward is with this. Obviously both birders and photographers have their own specific
needs and no one group has more rights than the others; I also take plenty of photos of my own. But if the birds are
repeatedly disturbed in the way the birds were on this day then they will surely move on and then we all lose out.

I was disappointed that we never managed to see a Black-capped Kingfisher on this trip and I heard from other birders
that they have been much harder to find here in recent years. On reflection I wonder if continued disturbance is partly
to blame. We saw two examples here in 2007 and if I remember correctly this species tends to sit in the open on the
outside of the mangroves and unlike the Collared Kingfisher doesn’t usually tolerate a close approach. I am sure that if
they have been repeatedly disturbed in the manner of the birds mentioned earlier then there is a possibility that they
will move on to find somewhere quieter.

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Backwoods Camp
It is likely that Backwoods Camp is well-known to any birders that visit North Goa since it is often viewed an essential
part of the birding circuit, particularly for anyone chasing a long list of species. It is also doable from South Goa being
around 2 hours by taxi from Cavelossim although we had to make our own way to the camp rather than the hotel pickup
being an integral part of the Backwoods package when staying in the North Goan resorts.

We arrived on the 3rd December and stayed for 2 nights. Our stay coincided with the cyclone I mentioned earlier
although it didn’t affect our stay too much other than a very cloudy start to the day on 5th with heavy rain from mid-
morning and intermittent rain during our return journey to Cavelossim in the afternoon.

The birding experience here is well documented in many other bird reports so I will only detail my personal highlights
from this trip.

Backwoods Camp accommodation Tambdi Surla

On both evenings our guide, Loven, took a small group of us out to look for nightjars and owls. On the first night we
could hear a Jerdon’s Nightjar but couldn’t see it. However, we did find a Sri Lankan Nightjar perched on a branch over
the road and heard Oriental Scops Owl, Brown Wood Owl and Brown Hawk-owl.

On the second night we did find and see two Jerdon’s Nightjars and most surprisingly we also saw Indian Jungle
(formerly Grey) Nightjar. Both were new birds for me having missed out on the nightjars in 2007.

On our final morning we walked up stream from the temple at Tambdi Surla and saw five species of Kingfisher including
Common, White-throated, Stork-billed, Blue-eared and the target bird, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher.

Tough going at times

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We saw several other good birds on this walk including a Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher. Loven and I discussed my
sighting at Old Magazine House and now with one appearing here as well we speculated on whether there had been an
influx of this species to the Western Ghats this year, it seems the bird is relatively widespread in other parts of India but
very scare here.

We also had great views of Large-billed Leaf Warblers, Black Bulbul, Western Crowned Warbler, Alpine Swift, Crested
Treeswift, White-rumped Spinetail, Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Banded Bay
Cuckoo, Common Hawk Cuckoo and found another roosting Sri Lankan Frogmouth.

Conclusion
This was a fantastic holiday, made even better by being fortunate enough to be able to stay for four weeks. The birding
was even better than I remembered from 2011, no doubt helped by our extended stay and the guided trips to Cotigao
and Old Magazine House.

After returning home and reviewing my checklist I found I had seen a very respectable 244 species, undoubtedly
assisted by the trips where I used local guides. There were several species that I never saw but could have expected to
had I been willing to put in a little more effort; especially amongst the LBJs that simply couldn’t be bothered with but
also some species were missed such as Pheasant-tailed Jacana and Forest Wagtail. Even in the area around Cavelossim I
recorded 157 species including some real surprises as detailed above.

Can I recommend a trip to South Goa? Definitely, but with the warnings given above and in my 2011 report; the birds
are there, you will just have to find them for yourself. I am sure there are lots of bird-rich areas in South Goa that have
never been viewed through a pair of binoculars so who knows what else is to be found. Pick your spot, bird it well and
share your findings.

I have placed some pictures from this trip on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/30861563@N00/albums

If you want more information then please don’t hesitate to contact me: ian.hargreaves9@btinternet.com

Ian Hargreaves

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