Sachin Tendulkar of Birding : Jamnagar

I'll be emotional & philosophical in this post. Ill start off with the most common verse in bollywood - "When u want something very Bad, the whole of universe conspires u to achieve it". Jamnagar, since last 365 days has been on the back of my mind. Each time i will end up disappointed by birding in Mumbai, i would promise myself that my next trip would be to the best birding site in India i.e: Jamnagar and it should happen sooner than i think. Since i could not make it to Adesh Shivkar's Jamnagar trip due to convenience of dates, i decided to plan Jamnagar on my own. Meticulous that i am, i did my initial research and asked Jamnagar resident Mr. Manish Trivedi be my guide.

Jamnagar Landscapes

Day 1 - Dhicda Roadside (2:00 PM Onwards)
We took the only flight to Jamnagar, Indian Airlines. The shape in which airline is currently can be easily attributed to the service which it gives. After standing in the Mumbai Checkin queue for an hour we could finally managed to just sneak in the flight and reach Jamanagar at 12.00 Noon. We had high expectations w.r.t food at Jamnagar and overall i can easily say that Jamnagar food is not satisfactory. I would highly rate towns like Solapur w.r.t food, but sadly Jamnagar is rated way below on my food list. "Aaram (Gujarati Thali)" & "Madras (south Indian)" are the only two places serving good food when in Jamnagar. Coming back to Birding, we were amazed with the sites of lakes & ponds full of ducks & pelicans on the roadsides of Dichda & Century salt area. One can see ducks as far as eyes could see. Presence of ducks in Jamnagar roadside ponds can be directly proportional to presence of beer cans in Mumbai ponds. At certain places u cant see even water, as ducks and waders feed in enormous numbers.

Some Highlights -
- At the Airport approach road itself u can easily spot 10-15 painted storks close by.
- Common Teals, Pochards, Spot billed ducks, little grebes, Northern Shovelers, comb ducks, coots, Ruffs & stilts in huge numbers thriving together and easily spotted in large numbers. One need to really sit patiently for hours to ensure they come closer for photography.
- Godwits, shanks, Ibis (all types), stints, sandpipers, plovers, cormorants, darters in comparatively lesser quantities & spreaded out.
- We were shown the black necked stork nest with 1 chic by Mr. Manish Trivedi in this area.
- Flamingoes remained elusive with presence in Mumbai, but we found around 200 flamingoes here on one of the Dhicda roadsides. Wonder why they leave this beautiful region to come to dirty sewri in Mumbai.
- Dhichda as is mostly roadside birding, can be very dirty too. Roadsides of Jamnagar are not at all maintained properly due to virtually no cleanliness and non existent sanitation facilities. Also it takes lot of patience & time before ducks & other birds come close enough for photography.

Jamnagar Day 1

Day 2 - Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary (Morning & Noon) & Lake Lakhota (Evening)

Some Highlights -
- Spotted the lone nightjar in Khijadiya entrance road. Arrive before sunlight to see nightjars.
- 1000s of pelicans, painted storks, egrets, flamingoes & herons take flight from their night rest outs in Khijadiya. Various birding towers across Khijadiya gives amazing views of the flock flights.
- The best part about Khijadiya is the presence of water bodies at virtually eye level. This aids photography and gives breathtaking infinity views.
- Pied Kingfishers are found in plenty and one will get multiple chances of viewing the kingfisher's famous hovering & dive.
- Spotted the asian paradise flycatcher in one of the nature walks across in Khijadiya.
- A Single crake (cannot identify the kind) was sighted amongst various partridges.
- If theres water, there are ducks & coots and that too in numbers
- Mallard remained elusive but Great crested Grebes can be easily found
- Amazing closeups of herds of rosy & dalmation pelicans but not close ups of black necked stork
- We went to ship breakyard (15 Kms from Khijadiya) in search of Indian Skimmer however the Skimmer was not to be found. Later on we heard news that Mandar & Adesh Shivkar (of Nature India fame) have found 5 Indian Skimmers at Balchadi area. Too late for us. We had to goto Lake Lakhota.
- The rosy starlings hovering above lake lakhota is one scene which should not be miss in evenings. They have developed likings to the "Gujarati farsans like ghatiya etc" and when fed, 100s of starlings can empty the packet in seconds.
- Local population also feed ducks bread in lake lakhota, the same can give real closeups of ducks and their beauty can be admired.
- Raptors overall remained very difficult find in Jamnagar (except Marsh Harriers which are found in plenty). We did get closeups of black shouldered kites, brahminy & black kites.
- At Lakhota Lake : Though a birders conscience does not allow to do this - but one can keep farsans like Ghatiya very close (1 feet) and various gulls will come very close and pick up the food and go (in flight). Its a treat to watch gulls this close in flight

Jamnagar Day 2

Day 3 - Jamnagar Outskirts - Porbandar Area (Morning) & Narara (Late Noon)

Some Highlights -
- Jamnagar outskirts (places like Porbandar etc) are photographer's delight. Waders & ducks come real close and offer immense clicking opportunities.
Each & every color and feature of Common Teal, Pochard, Pintail, Crested Grebe, Coot can be admired at this close proximity at a location near porbandar.
- Atleast 400 Demosaille Cranes were sighted at a distance of around 15 feet.
So one can head to these destinations as against going all the way to Khichan in Rajasthan. Around 100 Common cranes were also sighted in flight here. This can easily be Crane capital of India.
- Narara is one of the very few places in India to see crab plovers. Because we didn't go during High Tide, Crab plovers were not to be found. Narara is waste of time, if gone during low tide.

In all around 90 species of Birds were sighted in 3 days. If i had spent another 2 days and visited areas like Charkala Salt plans, ranjit sagar dam, i could have easily hit the 150 species mark. Gujarat government, unlike most of the other Indian states is aiding birders by installing state of the art birding infrastructure at various places. Khijadiya is amazingly well maintained and clean. Jamnagar is indeed Sachin Tendulkar of Birding.

Jamnagar Day 3

(Link to the top 10 Pictures clicked at Jamnagar will be posted soon. Follow "Manish Gadia Photography" on Facebook.com)

Mumbai City - Aarey Cycling Track

Following is a good 8-9 Km Trek (60 minutes). Please note since there are steep climbs involved it can be strenuous.

Guide to the Map (below) -

1) START - After paying the Aarey toll (from Goregaon side) take the immediate right (10 metres) and then immediate left. This is New Zealand Trail. Follow the trail. Go straight till New Zealand Hostel & circle the pond and then go back to Goregaon Toll Naka (or can extend the trail further till the beautiful Powai Lake).

If you are headed back to Goregaon Toll Naka, after 5-10 minutes you will come across Aarey Market where there are lot of small restaurants. One also can take a detour by taking left which comes post Chotta Kashmir Boat club. This detour will ensure you checkout the temple in between and avoid crowded aarey road.

MANISH GADIA PHOTOGRAPHY

Click on Images to see bigger sizes of the Images. You will be redirected to Flickr.com where above image you can click the Zoom Icon (+) and see original sizes of the Images

ERADICATING THE CYLO MENTALITY AMONGST DEPARTMENTS IN BANKS

Taking the Marriage of Personal Financial Services / Retail Division & Commercial / Corporate division to next step (Applicable for all BANKS as the structure is more-o-less the same)

Retail, Business Banking & Corporates are 3 divisions all banks have. How can we reduce Costs and Improve cross departmental sharing of leads and best practices?
The answer lies in taking the marriage of 2 departments to next level. "Dotted Line Mapping" may be used effectively for the same.

Example -
I am part of SME Factoring CMB business. We at Factoring are mapped to the Field Sales team. Mapping team to team, cluster to RM etc results in effective realisation of the leads generated. The mapping ensures the leads are lost in the processes and are effectively being followed up. A Dual way pressure ensures both the parties are on toes always. A bond is created which ensures good for both the teams.

We all know about the Retail - Corporate - Business referral programme where each lead submitted is rewarded monetarily through HSBC online system. Top Mgmt of HSBC is also keen to reap the success of marrying PFS & CMB (lead sharing). However i feel to actually derive the benefits and make it a long term proposition - "MAPPING RM to RM" is required.

E.g : - Let Each Team Leader in SME CMB (Corporate / Business Banking) be mapped to a Team leader in Retail selling Team. Once a month meeting will happen between the two where the month's business acquisitions / leads are shared with each other. Business coping can be done in the team meeting also where the field sales officer responsible for the same can give real time input of the probability of Retail or a Corporate sale. Thus each Team leader becomes one point of touch in Retail for Corporate / Business banking and vice versa. When given atleast 20% cross sales targets - this kind of mapping would do wonders for both the divisions.

Benefits -
- A Bank becomes both personal & business banker to the client
- Leads will not be lost in processes
- A news business acquisition will hold much more Total customer value & thus more revenues
- Eradication of current cylos - PFS, CMB etc etc. A Bank becomes ONE as to current MANY

LISTEN TO CUSTOMER = COST REDUCTION

LISTENING TO EXISTING CUSTOMERS: RECOMMENDED FIRST WAY TO CUT COSTS or DRIVE SALES

-Are Corporates listening to Customers in India?
-Do they take feedback about the product sold and implement the correction actions?
-Are Indian Corporates smart enough to do cost reduction by having a simple “Customer feedback implementation Team” rather than paying huge sums to consulting companies? -Why do most of surveys target new customers and not existing ones?
- Why spend on Marketing when it can done at reduced costs?
- Is Marketing just push and not pull?
- Why spend on TVCs & Print Media when word of mouth can be used?

I often make it to a point to write to Corporates if I am dissatisfied by the service / product. An evaluation on replies / complaints filed and responses post that is as follows -

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CASE 1) BANKS

Banks in particular are very good in complaints of Corporates. MNC banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered has laid down process to handle the same with escalation levels clearly defined. A proper Customer complaint lodging channel exists on websites for Corporates. However the situation is opposite in retail banking channel, there are still millions of credit card related complaints pending for reverts.

Conclusion :
Corporate – Satisfactory
Retail – Highly Dissatisfactory

Note -

Firstly, i feel the marketing campaigns in the year 2007-08 were fabulous and made various Banks, brands, to be remembered amongst the clutter.

Due to the exceptional times (Year 2009), I feel generic brand 'MNC BANK' has taken a hit. E.g: Banks have exited cases, which we had booked just 3-6 months from the start date of relationships. Various banks took decisions like stopping various businesses/ products in their umbrella.

I understand that the same was done considering a larger view of the market, however the notion that "MNC Banks wont support corporates in times of crisis and only PSU Banks acts as a pillar then" has now been engraved in the minds of good customers.

I feel a real micro level connect is needed (specially with the lost customer base) rather than only print or media campaigns. Listening to grievances of customers and acting on the same is one of the steps recommended (though it will cost the respected division a lot). A other way to look at it is, listening to them probably is a better way to invest the marketing funds now (as India comes out of recession).

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CASE 2) HOTELS

An Email to a Hotel (I stayed here for a Night)

Dear Sir / Madam,

UTan resort follows a very very rigid policy of throwing out customers sharp at 11:00.

When someone comes to Utan in the evening at 7:30 PM on a friday nite and next day they ask for a late checkout by 1:00 PM. It should be given as i have been frequent at UTAN and not all customers come in by 11:00. So to say BLUNTLY NO to loyal customers for the same and be rude with them on PHONE is not advisable.

Utan is a good property run by a very rude receptionist.

Rgds,
Manish Gadia

Reply I received from UTan -

Dear Manish,

Hi ! This is Dr. Gopal, responding to your suggestion.
Thank you very much for conveying your feelings which are respected.

Let us put our problem to your consideration. We have limited no. of rooms & our main occupancy is on Saturdays & public Holidays that gets booked well in advance. therefore we are not able to oblige our Friday check-in guests with this request as next day(e.i. Saturday)'s guests start arriving & we are commited to their check in time. However if you book for any other night than Friday,saturday (Public holiday eve), I assure you we will be able to extend to you late Check out. Alternatively if you choose to extend your stay by one more night we can give you discount for the first night which you came in late.

I am personally very sorry for the rudeness any of my staff at the reception has shown towards you or anyone else. I personally will look into it.

Regards,
Dr.Gopal

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Email sent to another resort which was not replied yet (it’s been 8 months)

Jagbir,

I stayed in your resort last to last Friday Night. It was a Horrific stay. With AC not working, zero cleanliness, Flush not working, shady bedsheets / curtains, later service. One of the worst places in Mumbai.
U-Tan resort in close proxmity is just 600 rs costlier but 10 times better.
I demand full refund.

Rgds,
Manish Gadia

Conclusion – Mixed Feeling

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CASE 3) CARS

Sir / Madam,

I had bought CIVIC 1.8 AT in the month October (2007) from Linkway Honda (Goregaon East). During the said period, there was a scheme whereby i was entitled for a free stay in certain Resorts / Hotels. I have emailed & written to the following address manytimes (PO Box 9207, New Delhi 110092, India), however nothing happened.

I have contacted the dealer LINKWAY also, but all they have to say is "This is HONDA's scheme not theirs, contact HONDA". As a buyer of relatively expensive model of your company, i stand now after 2 years highly disssatisfied. There is no proper consumer re-adressal forum. I am entitled for some offer & i should get one.

But till now all my phonecalls etc have not been heard.
I have intentions of highlighting the same to various AUTO publications for the non receipt of the offer.

Requesting once again to give the resort booking which i deserve / or give me necessary reimbursement.

CC:- HONDA JAPAN, HONDA INDIA

P.S: - Please be assured, i didnt commit any mistake in filling the offer form & the same was submitted on time.

Response from HONDA – No response as yet. The Dealer Linkway called just to say sorry, however no action. I also want to give valuable feedback on Honda Civic as a vehicle, however I have no contact with Honda nor can I find any Internet site where I can lodge my feedback.

CONCLUSION – Highly dissatisfactory.

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CASE 4) CINEMAS

The following complaint was lodged on PVR’s website. No response yet (its been around 4 months already).

Dear Mr/Ms. Customer

Greetings from PVR Cinemas !!!

Your complaint has been registered and a case with Case ID: CAS-34686-V3T4ST was opened against your complaint.

Case details are as shown below:

Case ID: CAS-34686-V3T4ST

Case Type: Feedback

Customer's Comments::

I and my friend are regular at PVR. But this time we have decided we will not goto PVR anymore. It all started with one movie (name of which we forgot. I think it was werewolf), we went to a screen in PVR goregaon. The volume of the movie was sooo sooo low that we had togo and complain to the management. Post that we went to PVR goregaon 2 more times and now again yesterday for "HOT TUBE MACHINE". May 01 2010 06:15PM The movie quality and the sound quality was soo soo bad that in all it was a very bad experience. PVR doesnt deserve to cheat us with 250 rs and then give us worst quality in the world. We demand PVR to refund us our 1000 Rs (250 Rs each for 2 Movies). Please refund the same as we are genuine customers. More importantly work on Screens like AUDI 4 at PVR Goregaon etc etc. They are very very bad.

Our representative named: PVR Customer Support is working on this case. We are glad to serve you.

Regards,

PVR Customer Support

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An Email was shot to another Cinema chain operator

Dear Sir,

I am a regular visitor of Movietime cinemas HUB - Mumbai and would like to bring the bad food situation exisiting at your theatre.

Recently i went to see Ishqiya at the multiplex and bought sandwiches and rolls (Veg, Chicken). Post eating the same, both me and my friend

felt vomitty. The entire cine going experience was screwed up because of that. Normally people prefer eating at Mcdonalds then to eat at Movietime cinema as the food quality is very very bad.

Requesting you to please look into it as it is coming from a loyal customer of Movietime.

Rgds,

Manish Gadia

Movietime staffs are better in taking care by replying to the complaint. They promised an action. But it’s been almost a year and things have not changed. Movie time still serves the worst food in the cinema category.

CONCLUSION – Highly dissatisfactory

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CASE 5) Courier

The following complaint was lodged on Accord Global’s website. We got telephonic response but the undelivered courier has still not reached (its been around 2 years already)

Hello,

My AWB - 1000349066

I have sent a Greeting Card through you to a UK address. It has been over 10 days and i am still figuring out where my greeting card is.
I have called Accord Call Centre and had a chat with one lady over 10 times (022 - 32664550). Every day she confirmed me that the shipment is happening, but it has not happened as yet. I had told 100 times to Mr. Pawan (9987671102) and that Call Centre Lady to deliver the same to neighbor etc if no one it at the address, but till now they seem to just laying eggs.

I plan togoto Consumer Forum with strictest of action to be taken against owners of accord Global. Kindly send me details of partners of your company so that an action can be taken against them.

Rgds,

Manish

CONCLUSION – Highly dissatisfactory. Lost Package and no accountability. No Refund. No Claims paid.

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One of the Finest Overnite BIRDING trail near Mumbai City - Phansad

TRIP PLAN: BIRDING ROADTRIP

DESTINATION – ALIBAUG – KASHID - PHANSAD – MURUD GRANDPRIX (source - Mumbai Nature Guide by Sunjoy Monga, personal experiences, blogs)

DAY 1

5: 00 AM - Depart from Mumbai towards Alibaug by Car

ROUTE –

8: 00 AM – PITSTOP 1: - DHARAMTAR CREEK BRIDGE - 3 KM From Vadkhal Jn (after Pen, the junction where left road continues as Mumbai – Goa Road) - 5 Mins Pitstop

8:15 AM – PITSTOP 2: - POND WITH HERBAGE 1KM post Poynad

Karlekhind Jn – Saral – Rewas Creek edge – Mandwa – back to Alibag via Kankeshwar and Kihim - 5 Mins Pitstop

9: 00 AM - PITSTOP 3 – KANAKESHWAR TEMPLE HILL (on the Alibaug - Mandve Road)

Take a slight detour (3km to be exact) from Chodi village to the holy Kanakeshwar Temple (close to Kihim). The climb up to the temple of about 700 steps shouldn't take more than 45 minutes. This is called as Alibaug’s Very own mini silent hill station -2 Hours of amazing Trek and Birding Experience

11:00 AM: PITSTOP 4 - DHOKAVDE POND - 5 Mins Pitstop (end of Alibaug - Mandve road)

11:30 AM: PITSTOP 5 – AKSHI BEACH - But first reach Ramdhaneshwar near Alibaug for a Raptor watch before Akshi Beach- 15 Mins Pitstop

12:30 AM: PITSTOP 5 – REVDANDA BRIDGE- 5 Mins Pitstop

1: 00 PM: PITSTOP 6 – MAHUA FARMS RESORT / SEA SHELL RESORT (Near Phansad)- 3 Hours Pitstop for Resting & Lunch

3: 30 PM: PITSTOP 6 – MURUD FORT AND BEACH - Evening snacks at Murud Beach. Visit Fort “Janjira” for Wader and Raptor watch. Back to Resort.

DAY TWO

6: 00 AM: PITSTOP 7 - PHANSAD WLS TREK

Start early morning for Trek at Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary

Visit the Grassland patches and Waterholes (Gunyacha Maal, Chikhalgaan & Phansadgaan) Chikhalgan and Phansadgan are perennial water sources and are also filled with insect & birdlife)

Visit the Sacred Groves (near Supegaon - a great place to see some birds that like to inhabit the fringe of the forest) visit the Periphery of forests .

The Open Grasslands or Mals -the forest suddenly gives way to open grasslands in small pockets through most of the Sanctuary, these make great spots for seeing good fly-pasts and viewing Mammals (though mainly at night).

6:00 PM: DEPART FOR MUMBAI

AAREY MILK COLONY BIRDING TRAIL

This trail can be covered by a Car or on foot. However Car / 2 wheeler would be needed to cover the entire trail in a given morning. Around 125 species of Birds has been recorded at Aarey. I have also found out that invariably every species of bird has a prominent place in Aarey where chances of spotting them are very high. For E.g: Oriental magpie robbins can be spotted easily at Panchavati Gardens, parakeets & kites near Aarey guest house, Baya Weavers in Green Tunnel Lane, Vultures and other raptors at the Carcass point, pied starlings on Bald Hill etc. The most common bird of Aarey has to be Cattle egrets (and rightly so). Aarey is a good Birding destination both in morning and in evening. The Top 14 points at which sightings of Birds of Aarey are high has been listed in the Map below (relate each point with number and details given below map). Around 10 minutes can be spent at each point. Watch out for snakes & reptiles on the trail. Stay clear from them.

(Disclaimer – I’ve prepared this blog in a hurry. Please ignore the grammatical errors. Over due course, I shall proof read this :) (Regret the bad map quality. I am in process of creating the image in photoshop to enhance the clarity. If someone volunteers todo that it will go long way in helping us)

(Click on Image to Enlarge the Image or access the PDF version of the Image by CLICKING HERE )

1. The Birds Playground: The Aarey Welcoming Trees

Location - After paying the Aarey toll (from Goregaon side) take the second right and then immediate left. Walk for 100 meters. This area is denoted by large trees extending from a small temple till further 300-400 mts parallel to the road on left hand side.

These huge trees at the entrance may be one of the noisiest sections in whole of aarey. This site can be termed as bird’s playground. Mynas, Doves, koels, bulbuls, cuckoos, crows, drongos etc are at play here.

2. The Small Hillock

From the playground site walk further inside Aarey. You will cross 2-3 small living huts the and then cattle-feed growing land on the right hand side. You will also cross 1 small bridge. There will be an immediate left turn. Do not take the left, walk straight. Pass the Buffalo shed on right and cross the small bridge number 2. Just after that on the left hand side there is a small elevation, which can be easily climbed. This is a great hiding point. Once can sit on the small hillock without being spotted by birds. This hillock overlooks a small pond. Eurasian thicknee, White breasted hen (good chance), Pond heron (almost everytime), Greater coucal (almost everytime), Egrets (everytime), Kingfishers can often be sighted here. Birds continue their chirping in this section also. Often you will hear lot of birds (copper smith barbarets, robins, mynas in particular on the neighboring trees).

One can go on the other side of the pond and after 100 mts of walking (in the dense trees) and come out in an open field. Here one can easily sight oriental magpie robins, leafbirds etc. Greater Coucal nests can also amongst trees during the walk. Note - Crows can be very menacing in this section.

Caution – This site can be filthy but the efforts may be worth it J

3 & 4. The Green Tunnel Lane:

Turn back from the Site 2 (Small Hillock) and take the left you missed earlier. The lane is so called as trees on both the sides almost covers top of major section of the lane. In middle of the lane, there are couple of coconut trees on the right hand side where lots of Baya Weaver nests can be found hanging. Towards the left hand side drongos, doves, prinias can easily be sighted (mostly on the electric wires).

5. Chotta Kashmir Pond / The Bald Hill and the approach road:

From the Site 4, keep moving towards temple and reach main aarey road. Take the right and reach Chotta Kashmir Pond. Kingfishers, Cormorants, domesticated ducks / geese, gulls can be found in and around the Chhota Kashmir Pond during wee hours.

Post birding session at Chotta Kashmir, come back on the main Aarey road and cross the chhota Kashmir pond car park (just ahead) and after 200 meters walk, there is a small left. This is the approach road towards the bald hill. On this road, one can spot bathing cisticolas, bulbuls, prinias, fantails, ioras, petronias etc (just out from chotta Kashmir pond). Cars cannot go up to the Bald Hill. Just when the straight approach road is about to turn auto left, park your car at that point. Immediately in the front (towards right side), there is a walkable dusty road which goes further right and finally to the top of small hill (not visible in monsoons though). This hill is Bald Mountain.

Bald Hill is so called, as the top of the hill is plain area with only some patches of trees on the circumference. Huge number of Asian Pied starlings and common mynas can be found on this plain area of the hill. On the peripheral trees, number of Kites and egrets can easily be spotted. This area in evening can be a photographers delight. (Note - The hill cannot be accessed in monsoon as the road, which leads to the hill, gets covered with vegetation). Watch out for snakes and other reptiles here.

6. Tribal Area Lane:

From Site 5, come back on aarey road and reach the main aarey junction (aarey market). Take the right towards Aarey Nursery. There would be a 5 mins long drive on this road, cross the tribal village, drive a bit and park the car. The huge field on left handside will yield good sightings of many birds specially orioles, doves & Weavers.

7. Egret Park:

Drive straight from site 6 to reach site 7. One can find maximum number of egrets in this location, courtesy of a huge buffalo shed. To see the number of egrets can be quite a sight.

8. Base of Swimming Pool Mountain:

This is where the swimming pool mountain starts (the mountain has a man made swimming pool on top). Cars have to be parked near the shed and it usually takes 2 mins of walking from the park towards the mountain to reach Site 8. This area can surprise a Birder. In the evening swifts and bats fly at very low altitude. Mongoose & snakes can often be sighted here. This place has a bit of squeakiness associated to it.

9. Carcass Point :

Carcass of dead buffaloes are disposed here. This attracts vultures and other raptors. This is the best place to spot last remaining vultures in heart of the city (very rarely sighting though). Cars have to be parked on main road and one has to walk on this branched road. 9 out of 10 times one will also find a spotted dove here. Biggest of Aarey eagles can be found here.

10. Panchavati Garden:

This place can also be called as Oriental Magpie Robin Garden as huge number of magpie robins can be sighted here. One can just sit on the benches kept and wait for robins to come close. This area may soon be destroyed as it has been given to Force 1 Commandoes to set up a base. Save Aarey Milk Colony Facebook community is protesting the same.

11. Lotus Pond (only in monsoon):

The last remaining pond *with herbage) gets filled up in only in monsoon and is dry otherwise. Ducks, Grebes, jacanas have been sighted here during monsoons. However the sighting of these birds is very rare.

12. Aarey Guest House Hill:

This is a 5-7 minute steep climb in car to reach Aarey Guest House. Parakeets can be easily spotted next to Aarey guest house. Further up next to wireless tower once can find number of Kites hunting. This is a restricted access lane however walkers and birders should have no issues in traversing throughout this area. Cameras may not be permitted here. Peacocks were found in this area at one point of time (sadly no more). Very Rarely racket tailed drongo can also be spotted here. The peace and tranquility, which exists in this area, is unparallel. This is one of the last remaining untouched places at Aarey.

Note – The site has only one entrance. It cannot be approached by any other road.

13. Aarey School :

From Site 12, head back on the main Aarey Road. At Aarey Junction (Aarey market) take a right and then second right. Follow the map and reach Aarey school. Leave the road and enter the bushes right next to Aarey School gate. Since this area being slightly at high altitude and overlooking a slope downwards, also the bushes here are generally dry (non monsoon), large number of birds can easily be sighted here. Parakeets are very prominent at this place.

14. Powai Lake :

An awesome end to the Aarey Trail. The long powai lake promenade is now redone which traverses the half of lake’s circumference. Terns, kingfishers, ducks, egrets, Herons, gulls, cormorants, kites, plovers, stilts, flamingoes (rarely) and other waders swarm this lake.

Note - Boating may start soon which will affect the birding here.

(COMING SOON - PICTURES OF EACH SITE)
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