5 DAYS IN GOA (continued)

The next two mornings we were lucky enough to have Lloyd to ourselves and Carimbolin Lakes were our first venue.Hoopoe and golden oriole were immediately evident and on the lakes edge was a splendid purple heron lots of purple gallinule,bronze winged jacana,lesser whistling ducks,black headed ibis flying over,glossy ibis and red wattled lapwing to name but a few.

PURPLE HERON

PURPLE GALLINULE

LESSER WHISTLING DUCKS

LOTEN`S SUNBIRD

RED VENTED BULBUL

GLOSSY IBIS

BRONZE WINGED JACANA

RED WATTLED LAPWING
Moving into a wooded area Lloyds local knowledge was indispensable as he found these little beauties

BROWN HAWK OWL

SPOTTED OWLET

GREY BELLIED CUCKOO

ASIAN PARADISE FLYCATCHER

SPOTTED OWLET.
After the woods we moved to a more open scrubby area where a different set of birds were seen.

INDIAN ROLLER

ASHY PRINIA

BAYA WEAVER

COPPERSMITH BARBET

Back to the lake on the way home we added Oriental Darterand Lesser Adjutant Stork.

ORIENTAL DARTER

DARTER or SNAKE BIRD.
On the road back to Calangute one more treat awaited when we spotted another favourite bird on a roadside wire.

BLACK SHOULDERED KITE

WHAT A BEAUTY.
The afternoon was spent on the beach relaxing,with a cold kingfisher of course.
Another early start next morning, we were taken inland to a plateau where as the sun came up lots of different birds were seen including plum headed parakeet,pompadour green pigeon,crested tree swift,white cheeked barbet,blue tailed bee eater,small minivet,bronzed and white bellied drongo,blue winged and golden fronted leaf birds and a crimson backed sunbird.Idon`t have photos of many of these as the dawn light was not good enough,but later on:-

BLUE TAILED BEE EATER

WHITE BELLIED DRONGO
As the heat increased the number of raptors also rose and we saw the following :-black shouldered,black and brahminy kites,crested serpent eagle,marsh harrier,shikra,honey buzzard,changeable hawk eagle, and booted eagle.

CHANGEABLE HAWK EAGLE.
From here it was all downhill to a lowland water area where we were lucky enough to find  three kingfishers,pied ,common,and white fronted all in one place

COMMON KINGFISHER

WHITE FRONTED KINGFISHER, I had been trying to get an acceptable photo of  this bird all week without much success so when this one didn`t mind my presence I made the most of it

On the other hand the pied kingfishers ,a pair were not so cooperative and Icould not get close

PIED KINGFISHER female.

PIED KINGFISHER male (2008)

One more stop on the way back to find yellow wattled lapwing  was successful and we also saw .....

ASIAN PARADISE FLYCATCHER

BRONZE WINGED JACANA

ORIENTAL MAGPIE ROBIN

Back to the beach for the afternoon

WHITE BELLIED SEA EAGLE
Before we checked out on saturday morning a few birds were in the hotel garden

WHITE CHEEKED BARBET

WHITE BROWED WAGTAIL

RED WHISKERED BULBUL
So it was back to Bombay for a couple of days before coming home to the frozen wasteland of East Kent,
and Iwill finish up on a  lighter note.
I was fined 200 rupees for throwing a tiny piece of tissue at a litter bin whilst getting into a taxi and missing,it was a fair cop as they say and it is pleasing to know that they are doing something to clean up one of the dirtier cities in the world

Looking at the list of fines I could have had a **** for half the price!!!
So we leave India with more good memories to cherish.