Bhigwan the Big1- Trip report

 

Dear Friends hope you are enjoying the festival season, my best wishes to all of you for the upcoming festivals. While doing the celebration please ensure we continue to take precautions and keeping a distance from COVID.

Patience is Bitter but Its Fruit Is Sweet, this is the one-line story of this wonderful trip which came after a long break. The name of the sweet fruit is Bhigwan Trip, after a lot of discussion, cancellation, re-planning, re-scheduling somehow we made it.

Nature always offers unique aspects even though you visit the same place again, this is my second visit to the grassland, and believe me, the experience was totally different. With a lot of excitement let me update you on the success of this trip, come join me to experience one of the best parts of our state. 

The story begins

Like Sanjay of Mahabharata let me narrate every bit of it starting from planning. Due to deadly second wave travel again got impacted, all restriction, lock-down came in place again. After June/July things started coming back to normalization but forest visits were still on hold. Somewhere in July after my vaccination, we planned Chiplun Trip but due to a deadly flood, we had to cancel that. The situation was like bad luck behind all of us like never before, if a wave is in control then a flood will come in, there was no sense of relief, this was adding to the frustration. 

By the time it normalized the season ended in Chiplun, with very limited options left now; before I approach friends, I realized most of them were enjoying places like Goa, Ladakh, etc. August was also gone and frustration continued. In September, Deepa/Suma approached me for Bhigwan but again due to some reason it was not finalized though hope was still there. 

Somehow, the schedule matched for all of us and we started off to Bhigwan, the base plan was restricted to Bhigwan but the sweet reward of patience came with some magic (The magic is another part of the trip, I will explain the same in next blog, till the time you keep thinking about magic). 

Till now I narrated the story of the conversion of hope to reality, for the other side of the story let us reach the grassland and meet the lovely creatures after that you can visit the DSLR section to connect the story with the pictures. 

Go Green Grassland

Bhigwan offers grassland as well as wetland birds, the current season is for grassland birds, which includes migratory birds because of which we decided to go for grassland. The place is rich with god-gifted huge grasslands which attract migratory birds as well as animals like Fox, Wolf, Jackals, and Jungle Cat.

Due to the rainy season, it was lush green not only attracting this wildlife species but also provides equal opportunity to photographers and nature lovers with awesome greenery, which is now next to impossible in the city, I know you are eager to know more about what all we saw, let me explain the same one by one. 

Rock star Montagu

The sighting started with the deadly raptor “Montagu's Harrier,” at a time we saw around six. It is a migratory bird of prey of the harrier family. Its common name commemorates the British naturalist George Montagu.

Chalak Lomdi

This was the luckiest sighting ever, Lomdi (Fox) is known as the most clever animal and we always refer to the same as “Chalak /Chalbaz”. The fox is a somewhat nocturnal animal that prefers to move out in the dark also by nature it is a very shy animal and hence the sighting becomes extremely difficult and rare. You can find a tiger but finding a fox is not that easy hence this is called “Sweet Reward” in the true sense.

Jacobin cuckoo

Yet another super sighting in name of the cuckoo, most of us know the story of Chatak which is known as a bird with a beak on its head that waits for rains to quench its thirst. Jacobin Cuckoo is that Chatak bird, it is known as pied cuckoo or the pied crested cuckoo as well. It is partially migratory and in India, it has been considered a harbinger of the monsoon rains due to the timing of its arrival. 

And many more

The other attractions are – Shrike, Collared Dove, Chestnut-bellied sandgrouse, Rufous-tailed Lark, Black-shouldered kite, Bonelli's eagle, Rock Bush Quail, Little grebe, Mottled wood owl, Yellow-eyed babbler, Baya Weaver, Purple Heron, painted sandgrouse, Courser, Red Munia, etc….

Food Forever 

This part covered the story of sightings but the trip is incomplete without testy food, let me end the blog with an update on stay and food. 

All through the journey, we had very good food starting from the food court and restaurant at Saswad while coming back. 

We enjoyed homemade and local food a lot, Sandeep Nagre’s family made awesome food, which includes Pitlay, Thecha, Bakhari, Shev Bhaji, and Fish for Non-veggies. The taste was unmatched trust me you will not get such yummy local food at Hotel. Apart from this, we also enjoyed Misal Pav and Vada Usal at local Tapri at breakfast time.  

The success of the trip can be measured with not only sighting, the stay and food also play an important role. The homestay was nice with basic amenities with clean rooms.  

We return from Bhigwan on a memorable note; hope to visit again for things that we missed during this trip. Once again I am repeating, Magic is yet to come, keep waiting for the next part.

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

Agnipankh Flamingo Point – Sandeep Nagre (Owner) and family, thanks for making the trip memorable

Driver cum Guide  - Datta Bhau, thanks for the wonderful sighting 

Co-Travelers  - Deepa, and Suma thanks for this wonderful trip

Driver – Pathakji, thanks for driving safe throughout the journey  

BT Wild Art

DSLR Section

Montagu's Harrier (Male)

FOX

Jacobin Cuckoo

Mottled Wood Owl

Purple Heron

Bonelli's Eagle

Black-shouldered kite

Chestnut-bellied sandgrouse

Painted sandgrouse

Courser

Shrike

Yellow-eyed babbler

Rock Bush Quail

Rufous-tailed Lark

Baya weaver

Collared dove

Montagu's harrier (Male)

Montagu's harrier (Female)

Maharashtrian Thali

Misal Pav

Vada Usal

 

Musafir Wildebeest

 

Dear friends, hope you all are doing well, hope upcoming festivals will bring a bunch of blessings and happiness in our life. Do celebrate and follow your tradition but also ensure to take precautions while doing the same, a small mistake may turn into an invitation to an unwanted guest. Along with precaution, another important thing is to secure yourself with insurance to ensure your family is financially protected in case of an uncertain event.  

After a piece of advice let us start the journey of wilderness, today I am introducing the animal which is common in the African region but it is absolutely uncommon or says unmatched with any other animal in the World. The lifecycle of this animal is such that it can go into pages still it is difficult to cover everything. I am very sure even with limited details you will enjoy this the most.

So now let me disclose the name, it is Wildebeest, some of you may not know about this animal as it is not found in India but after reading you will remember it forever. So to start with I will brief you about this animal and then we will explore the migration cycle, let us move to the next section to start the journey. 

What's in a name

While the common name for this animal is the Wildebeest, its scientific name is Connochaetes taurinus. It is also referred to as a gnu (pronounced ‘g-new’)

In African countries, the animal known as gnu was given the nickname of Wildebeest. In English, this translates to Wild Beast. In England in 1823, a naturalist named William John Burchell was the world’s first to give a description of the Blue Wildebeest. The wildebeest’s scientific name was formed using two Greek words that help describe the animal’s physical appearance

Appearance & Behavior

The Wildebeest is not properly proportioned. The animal has a heavy front end but its hindquarters and legs are skinny. The wildebeest has a head shaped like a rectangle and broad shoulders

Not every wildebeest is the same color. Some have a light gray brush while others are a color closer to blue-gray. The darkest wildebeests are a gray-brown color. On their shoulders are dark brown stripes that cross their body vertically. Wildebeest have a black mane, which is thick and long. They have a long beard on their neck, which can be dark or pale

Wildebeests are animals that also have horns that curl away from their head. A male wildebeest has horns that are twice the size of a female wildebeest

Approximately 50% of a wildebeest’s life is spent resting. 33% of their life is dedicated to grazing and 12% of it is spent interacting with other wildebeest

Though wildebeest normally live with each other, they are also known to temporarily live with the zebras they encounter in the plains. This is because zebras will eat away the top layer of grass so that the wildebeest can get to what is underneath

The Diet

Due to their diet, wildebeests are always traveling. They constantly look for water (which they drink twice per day) and grass. When the weather is dry they graze on fresh grass and then travel back home before the rainy season begins

At the end of the rainy season, they return to the area and graze again. Because the wildebeest has a wide mouth they are able to eat a lot of grass very quickly. When grass isn’t freely growing, they search for shrubs and trees to eat

Fantastic facts

Wildebeest are animals that can run as fast as 50mph

The two main species are blue wildebeest and black wildebeest

The larger a wildebeest is the more vulnerable it is to its prey. To protect themselves, a group of wildebeest will come together and begin stomping the ground. They also let out loud calls to make sure the herd knows they are in danger

To attract a female they secrete and expel feces into their territory. If a male tries to enter their territory the wildebeest will fight for it. If a female enters, he will try to mate with her

Baby wildebeest are referred to as calves. Once baby wildebeest are born it only takes a few minutes before they can stand up and run

When they reach 10 days old they can begin eating grass. As soon as a male wildebeest is one year old they are able to go off on their own

As many as 500,000 wildebeest are born between February and March each year. This is when the rainy season begins in its natural habitat

The Great Migration

To understand the migration cycle better it is important that we know some details about this lovely animal hence I kept this section at the end. So let us start the migration with this Musafir

The funniest way to define migration is मैं अकेला ही चला था जानिब-ए-मंज़िल मगर लोग साथ आते गए और कारवाँ बनता गया. To some extent, Wildebeest migrates in a similar manner. They travel in millions together hence the title of this blog is “Musafir” because they keep migrating all through the year to different places

The Great Migration is the largest herd movement of animals on the planet. In fact, with up to 1,000 animals per km², the great columns of wildebeest can be seen from space

The numbers are astonishing: Over 1.2 million Wildebeest and 300,000 Zebra along with Topi and other Gazelle move in a constant cycle through the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem in search of nutritious grass and water

Guided by survival instinct, each wildebeest will cover 800 to 1,000km on its individual journey along age-old migration routes

Hungry predators including Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Hyena, Wild dog and Crocs make sure only the strongest survive in this natural spectacle also known as ‘The Greatest show on Earth.’

The circuit takes the animals from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in the south of the Serengeti in Tanzania, up through the Serengeti and across into the Masai Mara in Kenya and back again

The journey is beset with danger: predators snatch young calves, the slow is brought down by a pride of lions, brave beasts break legs on steep river slopes, crocodiles take their share of the stragglers and the weak and exhausted drown

It is generally believed that their journey is dictated primarily by their response to the weather; they follow the rains and the growth of new grass

Some experts believe that the animals react to lightning and thunderstorms in the distance. It has even been suggested that wildebeest can locate rain more than 50km away

These are the reason why it is called “The Great Migration”, nothing in this world can beat this. Natural instinct and intelligence guide them to travel and go back to the original place which happens every year in the same manner, I would advise at least once in a lifetime you should witness this historical event 

While ending the story leaving you with a snap shot that will help you to understand and connect the story in the best way

I hope you enjoyed every bit of it, please shower your blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, and in the end, do not forget to share feedback on btwildart@gmail.com

Learning of the day 

State Bird of Meghalaya

Hill Myna– 

This is a stocky jet-black myna, with bright orange-yellow patches of naked skin and fleshy wattles on the side of its head and nape

BT Wild Art

DSLR Section