Peter Jones Wildlife blog

4. Cavelossim The final 3 nights of my trip were spent at the small town of Cavelossim in the South of Goa. Relatively few Birders have visited this area, although some good reference reports exist, identifying places with potential. One thing I did notice was the landscape changes quite frequently here, and areas marked as good in November, were pretty dry by March. There was however, good opportunities in a small lake on the edge of town, and the fields surrounding the town had a good assortment of birds. The large scrubby area north of the town was good, although hard work, and the beach all the way down to the River Sal estuary was productive, with the bonus of superb Humpback Dolphin sightings at the estuary on the morning I explored the area. I chose a long walk checking the fields either side of the Assolna Bridge, Lake Velim, and on to Betul Lighthouse. The plan being to mop up the common species I had missed during the week. I didn't quite make it on foot to the Lighthouse

3. Zuari River: This was an eagerly awaited trip in the middle of the holiday. The Zuari river is home to Marsh Mugger Crocodiles, and two species of Kingfisher unlikely to be encountered elsewhere in Goa: the Collared Kingfisher and Black-capped Kingfisher. Both were seen well, although difficult to photograph. This was a relief as the Black-Capped seems to have become scare recently, and what a stunning bird this was. Crocodiles were seen well, along with Striated Heron and Western Reef Heron, plus the other common Herons and Egrets. Orange-Breasted Green Pigeon, Lesser Adjutant, and Stork-billed Kingfisher completed an enjoyable morning boat trip. Sightings: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zJWmiNz4iIohs0nEliua325TtPfQ6nmN

2. Western Ghats: This was to be where the bulk of the exciting sightings were made. I spent 4 nights at Nature's Nest camp, and their resident guide Ramesh proved to be excellent at finding a large number of birds in the 3 days we had available. Sri Lankan Frogmouth, Indian Pitta and Malabar Trogon were seen well, and many other highlights were seen during the trips into the forests including Brown Fish Owl, Crested Hawk Eagle, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, and Yellow-browed Bulbul. I could go on and on. Night safari's produced good sightings of other highlights such as Jungle Nightjar, Jerdon's Nightjar, and Indian Scop's Owl. The camp area had 4 Sunbird species, plus Little Spiderhunter, Puff-throated Babbler, and Tickell's Flycatcher, plus a brief Orange-headed Thrush, and Indian Tit. Sightings: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1H_9Agx_uHA3hlIJQEXMZ1HN0djPHffa-

1. Carambolim After a long tiring trip, I spent the first morning in the Carambolim lake area. What a place this is, with some incredible wetlands south of the main lake. As the sun rose, I was seeing more and more small flocks of many species of waders, plus a stream of Herons and Egrets overhead. New Indian species for me included Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Black Drongo, White-rumped and Scaly-Breasted Munia, Wire Tailed Swallow, Stork-billed Kingfisher, and Spot-billed Duck. Many of the birds I was familiar with were species I had gone so many years without seeing. These were also big highlights, including Citrine Wagtail, Temminck's Stint, Marsh Sandpiper, and White Breasted Kingfisher. An incredible start to the week. Sightings list: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EZ9apHl4lG3NHEP2GUENpBwgo_83wEAM

Intro: I spent a week in Goa, wildlife watching, from 8th to 15th March 2018. Flights were with Thomas cook both ways, Gatwick to Goa. Transport within Goa was by taxis. The wildlife watching can be divided into 4 parts: 1. A morning birdwatching at Carambolim lake, and surrounding wetlands 2. 3 days in the Western Ghats, based in Nature's Nest camp, and guided around the area's forests 3. Zuari river boat cruise 4. Final 3 days of the week, based in Cavelossim, birding the local area, mainly fields and coast. I will add a separate post for Mammal and Bat sightings. plus a post dedicated to the photos taken during the week.