Dhamakedar Dandeli

Thanks for reading blogs regularly, got feedback from many that the frequency of blogs is reduced, yes I agree, due to the COVID situation the number of trips has gone down drastically hence the frequency schedule got hampered. Let us pray that no new variant bites our country and we remain safe so as we can go back to routine. Having said that precaution is must don’t forget mask, sanitizer, and distancing. 

As I promised in the last blog that something big I will deliver, so keeping my words and presenting today the Dhamakedar trip report from Dandeli

This is my 2^nd trip to Dandeli (Old Magazine House) so you can understand the kind of love I have for this place. To see the action and fun let me take you to the place virtually, I am sure you feel every bit of it. 

The introduction

Do you know what the first step for cooking anything is? It is a recipe and similarly, for any good trip, you need to have good planning. 

We had initiated well in advance, we closed the location somewhere in August which helped us to get cheaper flight deals, and the rest of all other booking was taken care of by Saurabh’s team (Book my Safari) for finalizing the location the experience and detailing of the first blog was very helpful. 

Dandeli itself is a beautiful place and Old Magazine House (OMH) is like heaven within Dandeli. The reason for attractions are many – 

a. Surrounded by lush green trees

b. It is home to hundreds of species which include leopard and some really rare species 

c. The morning starts with the lovely sound of birds 

d. The night ends with the magical behavior of flying squirrel 

e. Multiple opportunities like Timber Depot, Coracle ride, nature walk, etc. 

f. Awesome food especially Medu Wada

This is why I fall in love with this place, I strongly suggest everyone get the experience of this place at least once. I am sure after an introduction you are eager to reach the place so let’s move to the journey section.

The Journey begins

In excitement, I forgot to tell you about my co-travelers, this time my office colleagues Amish, Ashwini, Preeti, and Sarang joined me for this trip. After COVID, this was for the first time we planned a long trip and hence we were highly excited.

The luck started from the point of departure itself, our departure flight got pre-pond, and the return flight got postponed which gave time to find out a better place for lunch and got more time at OMH. This was an indication of the best trip coming our way, with this, the journey started with a fun time airport lounge and then yummy lunch at Tumkur Tatte Idli. For travelers, I suggest taking a small break at this place either for breakfast or for lunch because for a successful beginning of the trip food plays a crucial role, you should not miss this, small but very good a taste with highly reasonable cost.

After enjoying yummy lunch and a small piece of shopping for Peru and dry snacks we reached OMH where Mr. Nadafji and the team helped us with smooth check-in.

Yeh toh trailer tha Picture Abhi Baki hai mere dost, let me start the core story in the next section.

The Old (Magazine House) is Gold

The place is nothing less than the gold, what a lovely place, normally we have a tendency to say if this is owned and managed by Government it will not be great but let me tell you that with OMH believe me it is not true. The place is managed so well that you do not feel that you are missing anything like big resorts. The forest is beautiful and added with clean accommodation with all required facilities, more addition is amazing food especially breakfast like Medu Wada and Dosa, and finally added with humble and helpful staff, you hardly get all together at one place.

I know I did not mention sightings because it is the Gold of the trip and needs to be addressed separately and yes every best sighting requires patience J, so now let me take you to the hide where you can meet such jewels 

Spotting of Spot-bellied

As I said the due to a change in flight, we got an opportunity to reach OMH early, which gave us scope to evaluate the evening session. This extra time turned into super luck when we were welcomed by an extremely rare sighting of Spot Bellied Eagle Owl

While we were settling down with the place and doing birding at hiding, we got information from Vinayakji (naturalist) that this superstar is waiting to meet us. It was like this lovely creature was just sent to welcome us because the sighting of this owl is not easy and you need to be extra lucky. Though the light was not favorable somehow we manage to capture it for our memory.

It seems spot bellied liked our group a lot because it arrived again on next day evening and stayed for more than 30 minutes. During this time he was active and turning head, looking around and trying to find his food, this sighting is one of the best moments amongst all my trips to date because as I said it is extremely rare to get so much time with this bird and over and above it is my favorite bird.

The Topper Trogon

Another star of the trip is Trogon, this bird is amongst the specialty of OMH but it requires effort to find. In a dense forest, you need a sharp eye to find it, which was done by Pundalikji (Naturalist) on next morning when we went on a nature walk. Trogon was part of our checklist and hence hunger to capture was high. Pundalikji was well aware of our expectations and hence he was putting extra effort to find it, somehow the experience of veteran helped us to fulfill our wish, we found this bird twice in our trip making all of us very happy

Host Hornbill

Next in line is the host of Dandeli, Hornbill nai Dekha toh kuchh nai Dekha, Dandeli is home to this lovely bird and hence requires special mention, during the last visit we saw the aerial display, and this time Malabar grey hornbill displayed its art of eating. 

We were lucky to see a pattern of eating, near the gate area suddenly we saw Malabar grey with a caterpillar in its big bill, Hornbill was rubbing it on the tree multiple times to ensure that it can remove bristles before eating, this continued for around 15 minutes which was again a difficult moment to capture. Our luck was blessing us with unique sightings at every step, which was an unbelievable moment for all of us. 

The Jackeline

I know the spell is not correct but taking the liberty to connect the story, here I am not talking about actors but referring to the Jackals. During the Timber Depot visit, the unexpected surprising glimpse came from Jackals. We saw 3 of them looking for food, they were eyeing deer over there, they walk across near us. Even guide Vinayak and Guru acknowledge that this is a lucky sighting because the movement of Jackals is not regular at Timber. 

The Checklist

I would love to mention each and every species we saw but that will be endless hence providing you the checklist of what all we saw at OMH and Timber Depot

The lucky list apart from the above species includes –

Common cuckoo, Tickell's blue flycatcher, White-bellied blue flycatcher, Puff throated babbler, Fulvetta, White-rumped shama, Malabar pied hornbill, Jungle owlet, Rose-ringed parakeet, Plum-headed Parakeet, Vernal hanging Parrot, Bronze Drongo, Racket-tailed drongo, White-cheeked barbet, Indian giant squirrel, Velvet-fronted nuthatch, Blue-bearded bee-eater, Common emerald dove, Flying lizard, Oriental magpie-robin, Flame throated Bulbul, Yellow Browed Bulbul, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Indian paradise flycatcher, Oriental White Eye, Black-naped monarch Orange Headed thrush, Blue-capped rock thrush, Shrike, woodpecker and many more

We saw nearly 50 species in two days which is a good amount of count, don't forget to visit Dil see DSLR see many of them 

Now while coming to the end of the blog let me update you on additional activities that we enjoyed at OMH. Nadafji offered us a small nature walk near the property under the guidance of Vinayakji, the Kali river view from the place was just awesome and added with the sighting of viper snake, it was in an angry mood because I did not visit the walking trail. In addition, Nadafji also offered us a complimentary visit to Coracle ride, both these offerings made our trip a complete success. 

Before ending the blog let me tell you that this was half of the trip, the climax is yet to come hence keep following the blog closely to know more about part 2

Lastly, just one piece of advice, whenever you visit such a place do shop from small local shops it will help them plus you will get unique flavor as well, during this trip we tried hands-on shopping of Kunda, Dharwad Peda and Belgavi Saree

 I hope you liked this blog, keep blessing me and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, do let me know your feedback on btwildart@gmail.om

Vote of Thanks

Mumbai Travellers and Team – Many thanks Saurabh, Jogi, and Pathamesh for managing the tour so smoothly, you guys are rocking, keep it up.

Co-Travelers  - Amish, Ashwini, Preeti, and Sarang, thanks for yet another blockbuster trip, you guys are awesome.

Naturalists – VinayakJi, PundlikJi, and GurudattJi, many thanks for helping us with such unique sightings and making our trip memorable.

OMH manager – NadafJi you deserve a special mention as you helped us with many more things than we had thought.    

OMH Staff – Every staff including Chef and other supporting staff

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Dils se DSLR  

Fraud Alert

 

Dear Friends hope you have completed both doses of vaccination if not please complete the same in this year itself so as we can stay COVID free in 2022

My apologies for taking a little longer to publish a new blog, due to some commitment could not manage for some time but yes will bounce back with something big shortly. Now the question is what to offer today? Till now I have been spreading awareness about wildlife but today thought to spread awareness about online fraud which I recently experienced so that my readers don't fall into the trap of such fraud attempts

Recently I came across a very scary incident and hence thought to publish it on a public platform to save others from such incident, let me directly get into the details, please read each line so as you understand the modus operandi and save yourself from a possible attempt in future 

 Exchange Online

Let me begin with what I have gone through and how I manage to escape from it then I will put my thoughts on other aspects of this topic

So let me start the story – Last Sunday I decided to sell old furniture, initially, I had contacted a secondhand dealer near my house, his offer was not lucrative so I thought to try online portal to get better price hence I opted for one of the famous portals for online buying and selling

The process to activate an account and upload free advertisement is very easy (Even fraudsters can get in easily with dummy details); with either email or mobile, you can quickly login into it

Upon login it allowed me to upload one free advertisement so I uploaded pictures and quoted Rs. Five thousand for the dining table. 

Within a minute started getting calls for an inquiry, it looked a little strange to me but thought dealers remain active and may approach early than individuals. This was my first experience of offering online and had no idea of such an ill motive of someone

 

The person called me on WhatsApp, introduced himself as Amit Kumar (9394160716), and said he is a resident of Bhiwandi and is a dealer of second-hand furniture and he is interested in my offer

He also asked if I have more furniture to offer, I shared pictures of other furniture as well and I asked for a total quote of Nineteen Thousand cash. He agreed immediately without any single rupee bargain, this created some bit of doubt in my mind hence I ask him only for cash

The fraudster insisted on half online transfer and balance as cash when he will arrange pickup, I agreed to 50% online transfer and balance later. He said he will transfer on PAYTM/GPAY etc and I said I am ok with PAYTM

Now see the modus operandi – He thought he got a fish in the net

He said to continue on WhatsApp and scan the QR code sent by him, the moment I scanned the App showed the “PAY” button. This I noticed and denied to act further. I said why it shows pay?. It should directly transfer money and should not ask anything. Mr. fraudster said he is transferring using a machine at his end and hence it requires action from my end, he added that money from his end is already processed and will be credited to my account only if I submit the same from my app

I told him just scrap the deal this is not correct, to gain my trust he said let me transfer Rs.2 after that I should follow the same process to get the credit of ten thousand

This time I got a QR code of Rs. 2, I scanned that and again noticed that App showed the “PAY” button, I did not click any button still Rs. 2 got credited to my wallet. this was enough to gain trust, now he started insisting and pushing me to follow this process for initiating ten thousand 

He thought I am trapped, now he asked me to scan a QR code of ten thousand, he said Sir now you know the procedure, please go ahead for 10k, on scanning the app lead to the “PAY” button, now I was very sure that something is surely wrong, I refused to enter anything; I told it is fraud because for receiving the money no action required then why the app is diverting me to PAY? I told him that I don't want to go ahead and let's cancel the same

When I refused, he started shouting that 10k is debited from his account hence I have to complete the transaction and proceed further. He threatened me with a police complaint and said give me 10k back. He immediately removed QR codes from WhatsApp when I offered him to approach the police station together. I was vigilant on the usage of my wallet hence could manage to escape else for sure I could have made a loss of 10k

Let me ask you a question, why Rs. 2 was credited to the wallet but not 10k? For both amounts process was absolutely the same. The point to be noted here is that he actually transferred Rs. 2 directly from another mobile number which was without any QR code, I realized this when I checked the details of credit in my wallet. Such as a smart way to gain the trust and trap immediately

In just a matter of 5 minutes, 10k would have gone, we need to be extra cautious when we use digital platforms for any dealing. Especially when such platforms are not strong in terms of verification and don’t provide any service, it is just an open platform where anyone can easily enter and take advantage of the lack of security

The intention is not to blame any specific platform or blame the digital world, just wanted to share details of incidents that happened and to spread awareness. The digital platform has its own advantage but for that, we have to be vigilant. Flexibility comes with the risk of fraud hence be extra careful when you enter into any such dealings

In the next section let me help you with points we need to take care of while dealing on digital platform 

Chain se Sona hai toh Jaag Jao

1. Check how strong these digital platforms are. For example, by just providing an email id allowing us to use the platform freely, the risk is high

2. If portals are free with basic or no verification, the risk is high

3. If a person is approaching immediately and accepting everything at one go, the risk is high 

4. Don’t scan QR code

5. Don’t entre or provide CVV or password, for receiving money these details are not required, this is for sure fraud

6. Fraudsters most of the time use WhatsApp calling and use free WIFI available at places like stations so ignore if you receive calls from WhatsApp

7. Ask for providing complete details from the dealer, if they are not providing you name, address or registration number, etc, it is fraud for sure

8.    Don’t share bank details, credit/Debit card details, if it is asked, it is a fraud

9. Spread awareness if you notice any such incident

In the end, let me summarize, digital platforms have their own limitation, verification may depend on the business model and many other aspects. We need to be vigilant and cautious while dealing with the online world. If you come across any kind of fraud then please spread awareness so as we can save others from the fraudsters   
 
Request you share feedback on btwildart@gmail.om

9

Pride of Parinche

 

Dear readers thank you so much for showering your love towards the Bhigwan trip report. Your overwhelming response and appreciation of pictures are truly helping me to improve the quality.

Now it is time to fulfill the promise of providing a magical part with this blog, without taking more time let me disclose the magic. Part 2 of the trip is a visit to Parinche for meeting one of the magical birds, so let me enlighten you with this unknown place step by step in the next section. 

Let the story begins

To begin with, let me tell you how this place came into the picture and after that I will introduce you to the specialty of this place.

So let me start, while we were planning for Bhigwan, Deepa updated me about this place and showed me some wonderful pictures of other friends, the details were so attractive that we all 3 decided to visit this place but now the question was whether to plan a special trip or to tag this with Bhigwan. 

A couple of times Bhigwan got postponed adding to the question mark on this place as well, but with the blessing of all, we finalized the date of the trip and added this place as well. Now let me tell you why this dependency? The reason is the distance between both these places is around 100KM and hence to avoid multiple visits it is wise to club both together. This is how we planned that we will complete both places in one go. I know you have never heard about this place and you are eager to know so let me talk about this place as well.

Parinche is a village in Purandar Taluka in Pune, the small place suddenly came into the limelight because someone loves Bajari (Pearl Millet Fields) which is easily available at this place, and hence now it has become famous. Now the question is who “Someone” is. Any minister, any celebrity, or any sports person…… the answer is “None of the above”. 

I know you are eager to know about “Someone” who is not amongst big shots but still made this small place a big one. Patience my friends, remember the fruits of patience are sweet right 😝, so let me not test your patience and disclose this mystery in the next section.

Let the magic play

Before I disclose the details, I want you to sing this song along with me, Aashiq hoon main, Kaatil Shatir bhi hoon, Sabke Dillon mein Shaamil bhi hoon, Badshah main Badshah………….yes the Badshah is none other than “Vernal Hanging Parrot” such a beautiful creature, its charm has made the place famous.

In the love of Bajri this bird visit this place from July to October, the behavior, the style, the pattern, etc makes this bird truly charming and hence bird lovers/photographers are travelling any distance just to feel the beauty of it. Let me update you more one by one, I am sure once you go through the details you will agree that this is a magical bird.

They are unique amongst birds for their ability to sleep upside down, thus, their common name, hanging parrots; the bird is also known as Indian Hanging-Parrot, Indian Lorikeet

The overall plumage of the vernal hanging parrot is green. The underparts are yellowish-green. The male has a pale blue patch on the throat. In females, the throat patch is green. The rump and upper tail coverts are red in male

The tail of this parrot species is short. The bill is red in the male. In females and immature birds, the plumage and bill are duller

The diet of these vernal hanging parrot species is mostly Bajri or soft fruits. Wild fruits, berries, nectar, seeds, buds, and flowers are their primary food. They have been observed to frequent fig trees for figs and plantain tree flowers for nectar

The unknown fact is that most of the time parakeets are mistaken as Parrots, let me tell you that Vernal Hanging is the only parrot available in India rest of the others are parakeets

Now after knowing the facts let me close the blog by updating you on a little snapshot of how we spent time with vernal and then you can visit the DSLR section to feel it as a virtual visit

Date with Vernal

Now at the end let me update you on the details of our date with Vernal. The important thing is time when you plan either with your BF/GF or with birds 😜 you need to ensure that you reach on time to get best out of it, we were told by Gaurav to visit around 6 am or around 3 pm to enjoy the time with this lovely bird

At Bhigwan we had concluded the activity around 10 am and hence we could manage to leave by 11 from there. It took two hrs so we reached around 1pm. We started evaluating the nearby area where we got Bunting, Red Adavat, Baya, etc but our eyes were searching the Vernal

Gaurav increased our hope when he said that some time bird comes at around 1.30 pm, now it was 2+ but no glimpse, to irritate us rain started coming little hard, now you can’t use camera unless you have rain covers. Somehow, with hope and pm prayer, we were passing the time sitting in a hide or in a car

After a long wait suddenly at around 2.45 pm the vernal arrived and arrived in style, at a time there were more than 8, they were enjoying Bajri and we were enjoying their activity. This was the first time I saw vernal and was mesmerized by the beauty of this bird. It was like bumper luck for us, the success of Bhigwan added with the superb sighting of vernal what more you can demand. After such a lovely date we started our return journey which was finally ended by having wonderful lunch near Saswad.

I hope you liked magical vernal, keep blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, do let me know your feedback on btwildart@gmail.om

Learning of the day

State Bird of Mizoram

Mrs. Hume's pheasant – 

The name commemorates Mary Ann Grindall Hume, wife of the British naturalist in India Allan Octavian Hume. It is the state bird of Mizoram and Manipur

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DSLR Section