Birding tour of Kolhapur-Panhalgad

Join for Birding tour of Kolhapur-Panhalgad  - Kolhapur is my native. But it was not until, I seriously started birding three years back that I realized how rich Kolhapur was in avifauna. I stay in Thane (Mumbai), however in the past three years I have never missed an opportunity to visit Kolhapur be it a wedding of a distanttttt relative or any other family matters. After all family matters J. But they all know my real reason of eagerness.
Birding, birding andddd birding!

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

So having discovered for myself the birding potential of Kolhapur I decided to literally show off my find by inviting my close friend and birding partner Sudesh Salian from Thane for a weekend getaway to Kolhapur and Panhalgad.  Sudesh is an avid birder and an ace photographer himself. I didn’t have to woo Sudesh too much as he was already impressed with my stories from my previous exploits of the place and was game for it.Birding tour of Kolhapur-Panhalgad
We zeroed in the weekend of 26-27th Mar 16 for this birding expedition. Now that I had the moral responsibility of making the trip count, so just to lessen the burden off me I told Sudesh “Even if we don’t find the birds he would definitely enjoy the Kolhapur hospitality and cuisine, particularly the famous tamda-pandhra rassa (spicy mutton red and white curry)”. Knowing Sudesh, he accepted my offer as an additional bonus to the promise I made on the birding front. Ha haa…
Kolhapur is 375 Kms from Mumbai and we decided to take the overnight Volvo bus on 25th Apr (Fri) which departs at 10 pm from Thane. The onboard video played some lousy movie which helped us fall fast asleep. We reach Kolhapur early morning, 5:30 am the next day (Sat) and had a piping hot tea at a tea tapri and checked into “Gulmohar” my family home in Kolhapur. After attending to early morning chores we were ready for the anticipated birding session.
My first pit stop was the New Palace estate which is just 15 mins walking distance from “Gulmohar”. New Place, as the name suggest is a magnificent  palace of the erstwhile King of Kolhapur Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj. The palace is surrounded by a private estate of 200-300 acres with a lake to adorn. This estate was going to be our playground for the early morning birding session.
Of course we were not disappointed. The moment we stepped through the main gate of the estate we were greeted by our first sighting of the day, an Indian Peafowl. A little ahead on our track we saw a beautiful white throated kingfisher perched in the early morning glow. Then a peacock decided to take the aerial route right in front of us. Mind you, all this was within a few minutes of us landing at this wonderful place we had not even taken our cameras out of the bag. I told Sudesh that this was just a prelude for things to follow.
One cannot but be surprised by the habitat New Palace estate has to offer. Situated in the middle of the city but still protected and conserved for the numerous bird life to flourish. The bank of the lake is lined with tall tress which houses large population of painted Storks and Herons. It was nesting season for the birds. Just then Sudesh spotted a large colony of painted Stork through his binoculars, on a tree at the other end of the lake. I told him we would have a closer look at them later in the day and asked Sudesh to follow me to our next target. I only hoped that the spotted Owl would still be occupying the burrow where I spotted him on my last visit. And we were lucky, we saw it again precisely in the same tree burrow. The owlet was quite curious of the new visitors and was peeping out of the burrow. Being an expert birder Sudesh immediately alerted me to the possibility of the adult owl in the vicinity, keeping a watchful eye on the young owlet. And he was right the owl was perched on an adjacent tree overlooking the burrow and the little one inside it.  We clicked photographs to our hearts content and at the same time being responsible Birders and defiantly didn’t use the flash.
Then it was the turn of another lifer that of an Indian Grey hornbill. We spotted it hopping amongst the branches looking for its favorite fruit. To our surprise the Indian Grey Hornbill was quite common there which as Sudesh rightly said “what crows are to Mumbai, Grey hornbills are to Kolhapur”. Yup! I said but they are endemic to the estate habitat only as I never spotted one outside in the city. By now it was already past breakfast time. We came out of the estate and went to a small eatery and ordered for Kolhapuri Misal and Cut Wada (potato wada with lintel curry). Since we were a bit tired by the overnight travel we decided to go back to our place of our stay and revisit in the evening. Nothing is as relaxing as a hot shower after a birding session. I offered Sudesh to take him to the famous Mahalaxmi Temple. I called my local friend Devraj to come pick us up in his car to which he readily obliged. Every time you visit the temple it’s a divine experience. Unfortunately due to heavy rush we couldn’t enter the sanctum sanatorium and had to be content with mukh darshan.
Lunch was lined up at Waman Guest house in Shahupuri area of Kolhapur. It’s a very old joint but famous for its Malvani fish servings. I have been visiting this place for last 25 years now and it’s still the same. A dingy community dining hall where the source of attraction is the fish thali served in front of you. Being a fish eating Manglorean, Sudesh really enjoyed his piece of fish.
Back to Gulmohar for the afternoon siesta. At 4 PM we again visited the new place estate. Contrary to the morning session the evening session was docile and we immediately decided to go explore the painted Strork colony which Sudesh had spotted in the morning. To get close to the birds nesting in the tree we had to go out of the estate and climb on to the 15ft high boundary wall. But it was worth the effort. The view was absolutely meant to be engraved in our memory for ever. Flock of painted Storks perched on tree tops against the setting sun. On that good note we decided to call it a day but the night life was still on in Kolhapur.
As mentioned earlier no Kolhapur visit is complete without the tamda  and pandhra rassa. We had a feast at the newly started Hotel Patil Wada which serves good traditional Kolhapuri cuisine. After an action packed day we retired to our abode for the night “Gulmohar”.
The next day we were ready by 6:00 AM and rearing to explore the new location which I had planned. Panhalgad. It is just 20 Kms from Kolhapur town. It’s a historic fort built by Shivaji Maharaj and located at a moderate height of 845mtrs from sea level.  I borrowed Devraj’s car for the 40 min. drive. We had only one thing on our minds, spotting the elusive Asian Paradise Flycatcher.
Our first stop on reaching Panhalgad was Tabak garden. It’s a garden located in a valley sandwiched by hills on 3 sides and a valley on the 4th side. The hills are lined with huge old tress with vast canopies providing a perfect habitat for the many bird species we were about to see. We first spotted the Orange Headed Laughing Thrush which was merrily bathing in a water puddle in the garden. Myself and Sudesh where lying down and taking eye level shots of the beauty when a veredit fly catcher decided to join in the puddle then came the Bulbuls. Looked like it was some kind of Hamam for the birds.
We decide to look around the garden, we spotted a couple of Rofous Treepie, doing rounds in the tree branches, another lifer for both of us. The other varieties of birds we spotted were White Cheeked Barbet,Cuckoo, Nilgiri Peigon.
But we were not to lose focus of spotting the Asian Paradise Flycatcher of which we had a fleeting glimpse but no opportunity to click. We decided to check out with the gardener to increase our chances. We learned that APFC is called “ Swarga Nartak” in Marathi. The gardener directed us to a well in a remote corner of the garden where we can find it perched on the wall of the well looking for insects.
We immediately went near the well and decided to play the waiting game. But the waiting game really tested our patience and when we were about to give up on the pursuit,  suddenly a female APFC emerged out of the well and perched itself on a small shrub besides the well. Finally our wish had come true. The beauty was just a few feet away from us as if posing for our cameras. Just then we spotted a White Cheeked Barbet feeding its little one in the burrow on a tree behind us. Actually we had a problem of plenty, but who’s complaining ? We took turns photographing APFC & Barbett. The turnaround time of the Barbett was so fast that it was difficult to focus and click it while it was feeding through the burrow. Lucky for me, I got a few decent shots.
We were hoping that the APFC male with its long white tail would be around and appear before us. But that was not to be and so finally we decided to check him out some place else. It was a big task pulling Sudesh out of Tabak garden as he was so engrossed in the action he didn’t want to leave that place. We then decided to go to Nehru garden as advised by some fellow birders we had bumped into.
Nehru garden is just a few blocks away near “Teen Darwaja”. Again there was a well there which was covered with thick vegetation forming ideal perch for the APFC. We slowly approached the spot keeping our fingers crossed hoping for a glimpse of the APFC male. And suddenly something flew out of the thick vegetation and indeed it was the APFC male. It went and sat on a tree at some distance. We were confident that it would visit again and we decided to wait. But this time we were not as lucky, it never came back till we were there. We decide to finish the incomplete agenda (APFC male) on our next visit to Kolhapur.
We drove back to the city had a light veg. lunch and decided to take a nap before one last birding session at New Palace in the evening. There was a lot of bird activity unlike last evening. We again photographed the Owl in its burrow, the Hornbills, Minivet, lesser flame Black Woodpecker, Shikra but the icing on the cake was the opportunity to click Indian Peafowls in all its glory against the dry summer habitat.
After the last session we had to rush back to Gulmohar as we had to get packing for our return journey. That day was India vs. Australia WT20 knockout match. We decided to watch it on the big screen at Hotel Tourist near to the bus stop. We all saw Kohli was at his best. So the man of the match on cricket field was Virat Kohli and on the birding field was Sudesh. Haa…
Myself and Sudesh are definitely on for a second round of Kolhapur – Panhalgad as we have an unfinished agenda, to photograph the APFC –male. And this time we are seeking for likeminded friends with love for birding and passion for photography to join us in our next trip to Kolhapur.
So get your bag packing , camera battery charging, check your diary for the dates & itinerary mentioned , pick your phone and contact yours truly to book your seat.

Birding tour of Kolhapur-Panhalgad (In search of Asian Paradise flycatcher & many more)
Date : 7th May(Sat) & 8th May(Sunday)
Itinerary: Same as mentioned in the article
Day 1: Kolhapur
Day 2 : Panhalgad

Cost Rs 7000/- per pax. (Ex. Kolhapur)
Includes : ALL meals including breakfast (one non-veg meal)
Stay : At Hotel Vrushali
Conveyance : ALL conveyance from hotel to the birding destinations
Hurry !!!  soliciting only 5 birders on the trip on first come first basis

Birding Tour of Kolhapur-Panhalgad - Joint today!! before seats gets filled up.
Contact Mr. Amol Patil +919967544378 birding tour, birding tour companies.
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