Sewri 2009

Last week we went back to see the flamingos. Was greeted by this fanatastic sight. Don't know if the census for the flamingos has happened this year. But my gut feeling is that there are more flamingos this year as compared to last year.
I had carried along my HDR-HC7 along for taking the photos. Not an ideal option, but still got some good pics of flamingos + other birds
Spotted some other birds as well. Indentification underway (courtesy DK)
Common Sandpiper	Indian Pond Heron
Marsh Sandpiper	Eurasian Curlew
Common Sandpiper	Common Sandpiper
Lesser Sand Plover	Sea Gull
Little Egret

Palas Resort

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About 90 kms from Mumbai, this is a great place to relax over a weekend. This is a big resort and has a good tree cover. We booked this resort through our travel agent and the room cost us Rs. 2,200/- per day. Gaurav (GD) got a 10% discount on direct booking. Rooms are fairly big and clean. There are lawns attached to the rooms which are ideal for having your morning cup of tea.

The resort has a good swimming pool (2 1/2 feet to 5 1/2 feet). It also has a Lawn Tennis court as well as Table Tennis tables. Food here is fairly good, though a bit on the spicy side. You have an option of taking a package for the food. For a cost of Rs 350/- you get breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner.
There are a couple of good spots that one can go to during our stay at the resort. Pali Ganapati: One of the Ashtavinayak Ganapati's is just 15 kms from the resort.
Karkarni Devi Temple: This too is at a distance of around 15 km from the resort. It is opposite to the IPCL township, which in itself is a good spot to visit. The way to the top is by climbing around 250 steps.
We visited Alibaug on one of the days. This is around 50 km from the resort and makes for a good outing.

Goa

We visited Goa in the second week of June. We stayed at the Royal Goan Beach Club at Monterio. I have put up the review for the resort here.

Couple of good spots which we discovered (had missed in all our previous trips) were

Goa Kala Academy: This is a great place to spend your evening. The place is very clean, has lots of benches available for sitting/relaxing and a continuous cool breeze. We reached the place at around 2 in the afternoon and still enjoyed it.

Candolim Beach:The thing that strikes you immediately when you come to this beach is an old boat that has got washed ashore during a storm. This is a quiet beach in North Goa. Saw very few people here.

Saw a lot of kingfishers in Goa. Below is the best photo that i could manage.

Kerala Birds

We had decided to go to "God's own Country" in Diwali vacations. After doing some search on the internet, we came across the KTDC site which had various packages. Check link below.

http://www.ktdc.com/packages/season-packages-oct-2013-feb-2014.html

We had opted for Package III which was a 7N/8D tour covering Cochin, Munnar, Thekkady and Kumarakom. We could not get hotel bookings for Kovalam. Hence the package was tailored for us to include additional days in Kumarakom. We had a Scorpio for the entire duration of the trip. 

All hotels offered were prime properties. Specially loved Waterscapes at Kumarakom. It is situated on the banks of the Vembanad lake and has stunning views of the same. A complementary trip to Bird Sanctuary on Vembanad Lake was provided by the hotel. Was not much into birding then. But got lots of bird sightings thanks to our boatman. Below are some photos from that trip.

Purple Moor Hen	Small Cormorant
Drongo Cuckoo	Purple Heron
Small Cormorant	Small Cormorant
Purple Moor Hen	Indian Pond Heron
Purple Heron	Lesser Egret
White Breasted Water Hen	Small Cormorant

Sewri Birds

All of these photos were taken at the Flamingo Watch Point in Sewri, Mumbai. The best way to reach the Flamingo watch point is by taking the train to Sewri Station, from where it is at a walking distance. Check out the route here.
Rock Pigeon	Black Headed Ibis
Indian Pond Heron	Juvenile Lesser Flamingo
Small Egret in breeding plummage	Sea Gull
Intermediate Egret	Common Sandpiper
Eurasian Curlew and Black Headed Ibis	Western Reef Egret
Yellow Bittern