Hi, lovely readers hope you enjoyed both part 1 & 2 of the Dandeli trip, I got many motivational comments on both
reports, with folded hands I would like to convey my thanks to all of you. Your
comments, suggestions, and likes are motivating not only me but also it is
motivating many others to join the nature trips.
By reading blogs and stories my colleagues
motivated to do trips outside the city and explore such nature linked places where
luxury will not be there like five star but hospitality and nature’s rewards
will be unmatched.
Amish and Ashwini who
already love birding motivated Sarang and Preeti to join for a birding trip. In pas also larger group had enjoyed places like Pench and Gir. Support
of such lovely colleagues is just like oxygen and super motivating to improve the blog as well as photo quality. I hope you are also geared up for yet another fantastic
trip through this blog.
hum panch
As the title suggests, the story is of five nature lovers, at the beginning, certain things were unanswered when Ashwini initiated the thought,
the open questions in front of us were - Where to go? How to go? Tiger safari
possibilities and safety measures etc. Ashwini led the thought and
discussed the same with Amish and then matter came to my bucket to finalize the
place to the nearest possible location to avoid outside state travel.
Tiger safari was ruled out due to time
and distance, I had a couple of options, and one of them was Nandu Bhau (Shiroli
– Chiplun). I discussed the matter with our travel expert Saurabh (he always has
something unique in his pocket). After discussion with Saurabh and Nandu Bhau, we finalize the plan with a small group who are more interested in birding. So finally,
with the addition of Preeti and Sarang the group Hum Panch was finalized for the
trip.
The Journey started by Sarang with his
car and I was the one who boarded the last, we reached Nandu’s sanctuary
after taking multiple breaks including budget discussions of our finance
minister Preeti 😝.
We enjoyed yummy food at Datta Snacks, Joshi wade wale, and finally hotel Abhishek for lunch. At all places, we were lucky to have the best food
varieties starting from Vada Pav, missal pav, Kokum Soda, SOL kadhi, and Wada
at the end. After having so many things during the journey and me being there the
journey cannot end without PAN, Anita pan shop made us crazy with a superb pan
at such a small place. This is how we enjoyed the road journey but once we reached Nandu’s place, the joy reached a different level, let me explain what all happened
during these 3 days in the next section.
All-rounder Trip
Yes, the trip deserves to be called as
an “All-rounder” I will explain the same step by step so and at the end DSLR
section together surely will convince you on the same.
Day 1
Day 1 that is on Wednesday we reached
at around 5-5.30pm at Nandu’s place, I had a little bit of idea about the place
because I had traveled there for ODKF but the other 4 had no idea about offering
the of this place. I told them when Nandu is there we should not bother
about expectations; he will surely ensure the best things for us. Upon reaching
while settling down with tea and coffee, we heard some calls as if it is for
our welcoming, we came out of the cottages, and before we ask anything, we saw
coupe of Hornbills occupying tree and doing playful activities. This was the
warm welcome by birds and it was a hint that the place is rich with surprises
and we will surely have the best time. The day ended with yummy local homemade food
by Ram Bhau and we closed the day early to take a rest.
Day 2
Nandu Bhau was completely managing the plan of
action for us, the morning we were asked to go for the hide. Though I had experienced
the hide earlier as well, this was new for other partners. In hide, we had a good
time with birds like Barbet, Treepie, Indian blackbird, flycatcher, squirrel, and many more. The hide always remains a small part as it depends on temperature
and bird’s mood, a still close encounter with such small lovely birds made our
session successful with some sharp images. After a small session and having yet
another different food test we geared up for the evening session.
After hiding the expectations were there
to find raptors in the field, Bhau is an expert who knows where to get the best of the
best, and hence he had decided safari of grassland for the evening session. The evening started with Indian
roller, Bus chat, Pipits, and it went up to the level of the scene of matting
of Brahminy kite, the sighting of Honey-buzzard couple and Black-eared kit couple, etc. One after the other sitting on the tree with various styles was just mazing. This was not enough, we also saw a tunnel that is rich with a lot
of unique species, but who will dare to go inside the same let's see someday
will have some courage to do that as well 😜
Day 3
Day 3 activity came as an idea of Ashwini, the idea was to go out and meet Crocodiles in their own zone. (Dekho Mugger Pyar Se). To experience this the best place is the Vashishti river where you take a ride on a motor boat to take a tour of not only Crocodiles but many other wetland birds and raptors as well. We saw cute little Croco to big huge Croco with count crossed mostly 80
or maybe 100. The first time we saw
such a large quantity at one place, the fear in mind was Khoon Bhari Maang part
2 toh nahi Banega na Hamara😜. The experience was out of the world
because it also added sighting of the kite with a kill, harrier with kill, eagle,
wooly neck, kingfisher, storks, etc. this was the third pattern such as Hide then grassland and now river safari, it was dream come true type of feeling which again added as toping to us with the sighting of Thick-knee, this made our lunchtime more delicious, so we had a lot more during the lunch and then we went back to the cottage for taking rest.
In the evening Nandu Bhau took us to a small
jungle trail to give another type of experience of forest birding and a little
bit of walk as well. This was not the end of the story because the main part is yet
to come which will be the poster boy of this blog, yes the climax in the movie
always comes at the end. The journey was almost towards the end but the owl was not yet
there on the list, how can it be possible to end the trip without an owl. I had requested
Nandu Bhau on the very first day to see if we have any sight where we can capture
owl, so see what happened at the end, whether we got Owl or not in the next section.
The Climax
On the last day after diner Bhau came and said let's
go for the owl, you will not go without taking owl pics. He took us to the place
where Barn owl was there with little ones, we went during the night with no
lights around. We were searching it around in the dark where Amish and I saw
some moment, it was like something in fraction passed in front of us. It was
quick and we felt that it is surely bird movement, we immediately informed Nandu
to check. Nandu without taking time turned the torch in the right direction and
what we saw was just out of the world. The Barn Owl with small rat kill was
sitting in from of us, it was an unbelievable moment because it is always
difficult to find nocturnal species right in front that is too with the kill. This was
like a dessert treat for ending the trip, we got a lot definitely much more than what we had expected, it was an awesome trip and will always remain as one of the best nature trips for all of us.
Now the time came for us to take a
leave from this lovely place, the return journey too had its own fun element. We
stated return journey same way we had while coming to this place, taking small breaks starting with
Anita Pan shop, Parshuram temple, shopping of local stuff (like Poha papad,
Amla juice, Kokam) lunch at Shiv Sagar and many small stops in between for tea
and more shopping without which trip would have not qualified as “All-Rounder”
This was not the only fun we had, let me explain what all we enjoyed apart from birding in the next section.
Nandu’s World
Nandu’s sanctuary is a different world
in itself, he with his family tried all possible help to give us comfort in all
aspects. Starting with stay, cottages are neat and clean with all required amenities,
surrounding is such that you feel auto meditation and mental peace, food
serving by his cousin brother Ram, too good food especially UKDI Modak, and Homemade
Kokum Sharbat both were outstanding, it was added with flavor Pitlay, Upma, Poha, routine sabzi with Bhakri, pickles, etc
Therefore, to conclude Nandu’s expert knowledge
and his efforts and passion towards conservation, his hospitality and stay and
food all this combine together the sanctuary becomes a different world all
together. Every season here has its own importance with varieties so one should
visit here in Shiroli Chiplun and understand nature by exploring Nandu’s
sanctuary.
Lucky list
Now before I end the blog let me
update you on the list of species we sighted
Malabar Pied Hornbill, Asian Koel,
Sadhan coucal, White Throated Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, Brown Shrike, Plum
Headed Parakeet, Indian Blackbird, Rufus treepie, White-cheeked Barbet, Squirrel,
Indian Roller, paddy field pipit, yellow wattle lapwing, Pied Bush Chat, Siberian
bush chat, Indian Robin, Brahminy kite, oriental honey buzzard, grater spotted
eagle, wooly necked stork, Crocodiles, Marsh Harrier, Night Heron, Purple heron,
Green Heron, Grey Heron, Open Bill Stork, Eurasian Thick-knee, Spider, Orange
Headed Thrush, Barn Owl, ashy drongo, black-headed oriole, Indian Paradise
Flycatcher, Oriental White Eye, Prinia, Jungle babbler, Russell's Wiper, Dove, black
eared kite, hoopoe, common Drongo, Pond Heron, etc.
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
Travelers and Team –
Many thanks, Saurabh for valuable suggestion and all your help to plan successful
trip
Hum
Panch - Many thanks Amish, Ashwini, Sarang and
Preeti for such a memorable trip
Food
Arrangement – Ram Bahu
many thanks for the yummy food
Over
and above Nandu Tambe, many thanks for sharing your thoughts about conservation
and taking all the efforts to make this trip a lovely one. Keep it up.
BT Wild Art
DSLR Section
Barn Owl
Barn Owl
Brahminy Kite
Marsh Harrier
Malabar Pied Hornbill
Plume headed Parakeet
White-Cheeked Barbet
Rufous Treepie
Dekho Mugger Pyar Se - Crocodile
Khoon Bhari Maang Yaad hai - Crocodile
Indian Blackbird
Spider
Indian Roller
Paddy Field Pipit
Black Eared Kite
Common Kingfisher
Wooly necked stork
Eurasian Thick-Knee
Yellow Wattle Lapwing
Indian Robin
Hum 5 with Nandu
At Datta Snacks
At Hotel Abhishek
Homemade Kokum sharbat
Morning Breakfast by Ram Bhau
