Bird Watching and Nature Excursions in Goa
When you’re done with the regular touristy tours call the Bushmasters to join Rahul Alvares in exploring some of the most charming and isolated nature spots in Goa.
North Goa Bird Trip
6:30 a.m. (pick-up) to 10:30 a.m. (back at resort)
No this is not a trip to Chorao bird sanctuary since Chorao is actually not very productive for birds! Instead we visit Socorro plateau for forest birds ( leaf birds, Tree Pies, Orioles Munias, Drongos, Barbets, Plum Headed Parakeet, Bulbuls, Koels,starlings, doves, Jungle Babblers, Pea Fowls, Blue tailed Bee Eaters, wood peckers, sunbirds, minivets, and if you’re lucky Orange breasted green pigeons, malabar pied hornbills and Racket tailed drongos! Next, two stops made at Paithona stream and pilerne lake for kingfishers storks, jacanas, herons, shrikes, swallows, rollers, black shouldered kites, sea eagles, buzzards and harriers.
“Better known for his snake-wrangling skills, Rahul Alvares takes small groups of enthusiasts on a birding trip. Happy punters have seen golden orioles, scarlet minivets, sunbirds, rufous woodpeckers, kingfishers, and an orange headed thrush… and that on a bad day.”
— Lonelyplanet Magazine
Snake Watch!
7:30 a.m. (pick-up) to 10:00 a.m. (back at resort)
Observe a wild snake at close quarters under the reassuring guidance of a trained snake handler.
Get over your irrational fear of snakes.
Learn how to photograph a snake in its natural habitat without stressing or disturbing it.
Discuss emergency snake handling techniques, first aid, and other snaky details with a professional herpetologist.
The Snake Excursion (Ambolim)
Pick up 4 p.m. back by 10 a.m. next morning
If you actually wanna go looking for snakes in the wild then this is your trip!
We leave Goa late afternoon and make our way to Ambolim. Ambolim is about eighty kilometers away from Panjim and about fifty kilometers into Maharastra. The last thirteen kilometers of the journey is a steep climb through lush green forests replete with waterfalls and spectacular views of the plains below.
At night we take torches and go hunting for snakes along a quiet road lined by forests on either side. On an average day we see atleast a couple of vine snakes that reflect the torch beam as obviously as green coloured traffic signals in the night! On a good day we’ll see some Malabar pit vipers, catsnakes and a few others as well. Besides snakes there are a host of other insects, reptiles and intersting amphibians found here. The cacophany of different frog calls calls for some serious frog watching as well!
Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary bird trip
5:30 a.m. (pick-up) to 12:30 a.m. (back at resort)
Birding in the beautiful Bondla Wildlife sanctuary. The trees here are tall and the birds may be a little shy, but you’ll see some of the rarest of birds here. Malabar Grey hornbills, Ruby throated yellow bulbuls, Forest wagtails, grey bulbuls, white bellied woodpeckers, pygmy woodpeckers, heart spotted woodpeckers, white bellied blue flycatchers, Malabar whistling thrushs, emerald doves, nilgiri wood pigeons, trogons, fairy blue birds, small sunbirds, scarlet minivets and blue bearded bee-eaters are some of the birds we will spot on this trip.
Swimming and birding at the beautiful Barabhumi river.
The Boat Trip
7 a.m. (pick-up) to 12:30 a.m. (back at resort)
If you’re not looking to walk at all while birdwatching then pick this trip! Just sit back on a nice open boat and watch birds as we drift by some of the most beautiful backwaters of Goa. The boat trip is a trip to see the rarest of Goa’s Kingfishers: the Collared Kingfisher.
Spot upto six out of the total eight kingfishers you get in Goa. Osprey flying from post to post sometimes with fish in their tallons. Night herons, Little Green herons, Greater crested terns, Brown headed gulls and White bellied sea eagles all sometimes just within meters of the boat. On the way back we make a stop at the Neura wetlands to spot Grey Herons, Purple Herons, Reef Herons, Adjutant storks, Black headed Ibis and Black winged stilts.
A last stop at Karambolim lake will add Purple moorhens, Jacanas, Glossy Ibis and hundreds of Whistling teal to your list!
“Most unusual is Alvares’s Snake Trip. It’s particularly recommended for those who’ve harboured an irrational fear of snakes all their lives. Within three hours you go from herpetophobia to philia.”
— TimeOut Mumbai
Jungle Camping
2 p.m. (pick-up) to 10:00 a.m. next day (back at resort)
Pick up 2 p.m. / Arrival at camping site in Molem at 4. p.m / 4. p.m onwards swimming in the jungle stream, exploring campsite, pitching tent, and collecting firewood for building campfire at night. / 7 . p.m onwards campfire and cooking dinner. Night walk. / 6 a.m next day wake up, breakfast, birdwatching. / 8 a.m swimming in the jungle stream. / 9. 30 a.m drive back. / 11. 00 a.m drop back.
Includes breakfast, dinner and transport.
Requirements, trousers, shoes, change of clothes, swimming outfit, alergy tablets and other personal medicines.
