ODKF Special Trip Report

Hello friends hope you are doing great, as you know if I don’t post a topic on the weekend that means some trip report is on the way. I know you were waiting for the new topic but due to travel could not manage last week but never the less today’s topic will surely rock everyone, so now let set go directly to Chiplun.

The Report Card

The report card I am presenting is of Chiplun, last week we planned this visit to capture a very special bird called ODKF that means “Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher” I know you all are aware of Kingfisher but ODKF is unknown so let me make sure that with this report you get familiar to ODKF as well.

The journey started with a fear of cancellation due to heavy rain across Maharashtra but love towards nature of 13 enthusiast won against the fear factor.

From the starting point, it was heavily raining which affected our time schedule a little bit but not our mission. After a long travel of around 8 hours, we reached the place with a big relief that now no one can stop us from meeting one of the most beautiful species of this world. Mr. Nandu and his team were ready to welcome us and to treat us with well-planned arrangements. After a quick lunch, we were set to enter the zone to sight ODKF, here the bird is king and no one else, you can sight only at the wish of this lovely bird where it kept us waiting for some time to test our patience; we had patience of traveling 8 hours in bus so another little more waiting time did not matter to us, the waiting game turned rewarding when finally ODKF arrived in style with kill in its beak. The action continued for a couple of time and it came with a variety of kills each time, this variety offered us a golden opportunity to create a frame, the drama continued on Sunday as well making the trip most memorable and successful ever.

Along with ODKF some of us were lucky to get birds like Woodpeckers, Changeable hawk-eagle, flycatchers and many more but the hero of the trip was multi-color, multi-tenanted little but very beautiful ODKF no doubt about it.

This is how we enjoyed the trip with hospitality and expertise of Nanduji & team and very nicely arranged trip by Prathamesh (Mumbai Traveler) the effort of all of them is commendable. Apart from the arrangements, lovely co-travelers deserves to applaud, lovely people around is key to a memorable trip, many thanks to each one of you, hope to see you again.

I know you are eager to know details of ODKF so without taking more time we need to jump to the next section to meet and greet the gift of nature.

King of colors

The style of feeding the chick is USP of this bird. It catches insects, lizards, frogs, shrimps, skinks, fish for the chicks, but before feeding, it uses the perch or similar place to keep the kill in the right position to ensure that it is comfortable for them to feed the young ones, once they are comfortable it reaches the nest to feed the chicks. Pictures will help you to understand this behavior batter

The Oriental dwarf kingfisher is known as the black-backed kingfisher or three-toed kingfisher, it is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae

The amazing color combination makes this bird so attractive; the crown of the Oriental dwarf kingfisher is colored lilac-rufous. The tail is short and the tip is orange. The bill is long & broad and colored reddish-orange. The irises are black and the bare skin around the eye is dark gray. The legs and feet are reddish-orange and underparts are yellow with glowing bluish-black upperparts. Apart from the above the colorful patches such as blue and white patches on the side of the neck and lilac pink rump is like finishing touch on the body part

The Oriental dwarf kingfisher species excavate one-meter long horizontal tunnel on the riverbank for nesting. The nest is not lined. The clutch may comprise four or five eggs. Both the parents take turns to incubate and the eggs hatch out in 17 days. The young birds fledge after 20 days. The hatchlings are fed with a variety of insects and small vertebrates

The nominate Oriental dwarf kingfisher subspecies Ceyx erithaca erithaca is partially migrant. The north most populations migrate from their breeding grounds in Indian subcontinent, southern China, Indochina, and the Malay Peninsula and reach Indonesia (Sumatra and Borneo and their associated islands) for wintering

I am sure now you are familiar with this attractive bird, try to visit a place like Chiplun to enjoy the offering of our mother nature

NAndu nature’s man

As I mentioned Nanduji the owner of the camp helped us with sighting, the effort and love of Nandu towards nature needs a huge round of applaud. We need such a knowledgeable person who knows the ground reality and works day and day out to maintain the beauty of our nature. I am quoting his words which are of great learning for all of us

“We cannot create nature, we can only damage the nature. If we really respect and understand the importance we can only payback it by maintaining its beauty which will help our next generation”

Such a meaningful and eye-opener words, high time we realize the importance now else next generation will see only on blogs and not in reality.

Now let me end the blog by thanking everyone to start with Mumbai Travelers, Prathamesh, Nandu & Team, and lovely travel family members, last and not the least our bus driver who ensured that our journey is not hampered due to rain and managed safe driving. Many thanks once again