A Day Trip To Neora Valley NP

It is almost three months since i spent my best birding days at Neora valley.....So i thought before my memories get weak to produce a write-up - I should pen down now.

On 10th november we reached New Jalpaiguri station in early morning; hired a direct cab to Pedong [www.pedong.org]@1800/-. It was almost afternoon and we were tired too - so we planned to spend the second half in leisure only and except some sunbird activity near the resort - nothing we got there....The very next morning - we woke up in early morning and made a short trek to Ramitey view point. On the way - we got Grey winged blackbird, lemon rumped warbler, rufous sibia and whiskered yuhina...After lunch we checked out from there and left for Lava; we had planned for Neora valley national park trip for next day so sooner we reached Lava - I went out for forest entry permit paper work and cab booking. The evening we spent at Lava Bus stand and had sumptuous snacks with Momo and Coffee at Orchid Hotel.  

We woke up at 5'o clock. It was just chilling outside - but sunlight was there with less fog.By around 6'o we checked out and left for Neora valley; With a bumpy ride on three to four feet wide road (in fact no road) - we reached choudaphera around 7:30. On the way we got a glimpse of white browed bush robin, rufous breasted accentor - had call of maroon backed accentor, barred cuckoo dove. Within just 1km towards zero point from choudapheri - we were stopped at many places and got sighting of some my lifers like - Golden breasted fulvetta, White browed fulvetta, Rufous-capped babbler etc. Except these lifers we got to see - Fire tailed sunbird, Green tailed sunbird, Streaked laughingthrush, Chestnut crowned laughingthrush and many more.  The last stretch to Zero point was full rewarding - fire tailed myzornis, black faced laughing thrush, himalayan griffon and yellow billed blue magpie.

The third and fourth night was spent at Kolakham [www.neoravalleyecohuts.com] and Rishyap[www.rishyap.com] and had plenty of birding there..... 


Some important information

• Hotel >> Pedong [  www.thesilkrouteretreat.com   ]   Lava [  www.hotelorchidlava.com   ]
• Distance >> NJP to Kalimpong [80Km], Kalimpong to Pedong [20Km], Kalimpong to Lava [30Km], Lava to Choudapheri [14km], Choudapheri to Zero point [3Km]
• Best Time to Visit >> October to May.
• Cost >> NJP to Pedong - 1800/- Pedong to Lava - 1000/- Lava to Neora valley NP (fulll day) - 1200/- (for 3 hours ... 100/- per extra hours ... ) + 100/- per head entry + 80/- vehicle parking

Note

I will write sometime more on Kolakham and Rishyap birding........watch out this space for more...

Photo gallery 

Black faced laughingthrush	Ashy-throated Warbler	Barred owlet
Black throated tit	Black faced laughingthrush in habitat	Blue fronted redstart
Blue winged minla	Chestnut tailed minla	Fire brested flowerpecker
Fire tailed sunbird	Dark breasted rosefinch	Eclipse male fire tailed sunbird
Golden bush robin	Green backed tit	Green tailed sunbird
Himalayan Griffon	Mountain Hawk eagle	Grey winged blackbird
Olive pipit	Rufous bellied eagle	Rufous breasted accentor
Oriental turtle dove	Rufous winged fulvetta	Russet sparrow
Golden breasted fulvetta	Barwing	Sibia
Whiskered yuhina	Yellow billed blue magpie	White browed bushrobin
Yellow browed tit

Must Visit Bhimashankar

Before I pen down to trip report on Bhimashankar i would like to thank Lord Shiva to make such a lovely place on the earth to visit spiritual odyssey amidst mountain splendour mingled with wildness in the lap of northern part of Sahyadri. Bhimashankar is the place to come to, to rejuvenate your soul in communion with nature set against the backdrop of a rich Sahyadri Wildlife Sanctuary. Bhimashankar is located 127 km from Pune city in the Ghat region of the Sahyadri hills. The main
importance of this place is having the Jyotirling amongst the 12 shrines which are Somnath, Shri Sailam, Mahakaleshwar, Omkareshwar, Kedarnath, Varanasi, Trimbakeshwar, Vaidyanath, Nageshwar, Rameshwaram Grishneshwar and Bhimashankara. We set out at 5:30 on a saturday morning. We took the NH-50 Pune Nashik Highway; And from Mancher we tool a straight left. We reache there by 8:30;could have reached early but stopped often to take pictures enroute; The last 30km was little bumpy but trust me - the route was so picturesque - specially the ghat region. anyway - there was not much crowd that time; we were planning to cover the the trail first to Gupt
Bhimashankar which actually originates from the temple behind. I asked a local about the trail - he told us the trail is of 2km but through deep forest. As this was the first time for us here - so i thought to take that local with us; He was ready to guide us for 200 buckes. I guess my reader can understand little the idea behind this adventure - yes ofcourse birding. Heard about this trail in many blogs since i am pune; and it started really proving when i saw a single puff-throated babbler doing breakfast with insects under a bush. Though it was not much fantastic shot i achieved for low light with higher iso - but put some real energy to cover this trail with full attention. Chimte (the guide) was ahead of us; after walking for 500mtrs we found a spot like birds heaven - two monarch, one male asian paradise flycatcher, few scarlet minivets and 2 crimson backed sunbird around us...wow we
really got mad to see so many colorful birds around us. I never thought that my first trip to this place would be so much rewarding. Chimte showed us three four Malabar Gaint Squirrel or Shekaru (in marathi) by that time. The last few meters was really hard - it was stepping down towards the river bhima waterbody. On the return - we saw many colorful butterflies and insects; but the best finding came at the end when we saw the glimpse of white bellied blue flycatcher - the color was just world of world. We were very delighted to see this endemic beauty inside that forest. The whole trek we completed in two hours; little hectic - but worth to visit for any birder. After the puja we left the place by 2 and reached Pune by 4:30. That is the end of this trip; Hope to visit this place soon - at least once in monsoon.

How to reach

From Pune, drive along the Pune-Nasik NH-50 highway and turn left from Manchar at the road leading to Bhimashankar. The mountain road is quite a steep climb. The distance is about 127 km from Pune.

Government MSRTC buses (non luxury) run from Pune to Bhimashankar every 30 minutes from 5:30 am till 4:00 pm.

Where to stay

The local upajjhayas (priests) make arrangements for the lodging and boarding of pilgrims at a small cost. Visitors are accommodated in either temporary hutments or in dharamshalas near the village. There are few private hotels 10km before the temple - Hotel bluemormon, Hotel Natraj are few better options.

Best time

Anytime through out the year. October to February is best; Monsoon is from May to September mid.

Birds' Checklist

Crimson backed sunbird
Monarch
Asian paradise flycatcher
Red whiskered bulbul
Puff-throated babbler
White bellied blue flycatcher
Blyth's reed warbler
Scarlet minivet
White rumped shama
Black shouldered kite
Tailor bird
and few common

Alibug - a weekend gateway

Alibug was added in my travel wishlist long back since i heard of akshi beach, a birding paradise which is just 5km from alibug. Thruday 26th jan was my off but dropped the plan to visit any known place due to public holiday - but trip planning , car booking everything was done by afternoon. 27th we started in very early morning. After crossing the lonavala turn on the left on Mumbai Pune Highway - we went ahead few more km towards Mumbai and got a left towards Khopoli. At Pen - we got to see first signboard for alibug. We reached alibug at 9.00 am. It was low tide time - so saw a vast openness on the sea-shore. It's a wonderful place to take a relaxed vacation with nothing on your mind. Alibag is a perfect place for a short vacation. Saw lesser sand plovers, Kentish plovers, Ruddy turnstone, little ringed plovers etc. There is a historic fort that is now in ruins just off the beach. We did our pack-up soon from alibug and moved towards akshi...a nice place...full of fishers...not much crowded..we found total open vastness in front of us....love the horizon in far... The water line was far away due to low tide - i walked least a kilometer towards the sea....Suddenly i noticed a big flock of birds on my left side resting on the sand - and found Great knot, little tern, great crested tern, caspian tern and a single Indian Skimmer..I heard of this skimmer sighting by Parag Damle on 26th and this was ofcourse another attraction for me to come this place. After 1930 - it was the first sighting of skimmer in alibug coastal area....After 1 hour birding there we headed for Murud Janjira. On way - we saw many raptors in the sky - white bellied sea eagle, tawny eagle, bramhiny kite etc. We reached Janjira at 1.15 - but all the muslim boatmen went for Namaj of friday. So - we left this place after taking some few shots of Janjira fort...The afternoon we relaxed at Kashid beach....the most beautiful and crowded among the all we saw that day. Water boating, horse riding, hammock hanging - what else...the place was a full of fun...we enjoyed a lot in the beach. We were quite tired after a full day roaming ... can't remember how he sit back in the car for pune back.......we reached Pune by 8 in the evening. It was a fantastic trip for us and would be kept in your conscious mind for a long time.....

Shaniwar Wada

Shaniwar wada is a masterpiece foundation in the heart of pune city. Built in 1736 by Bajirao I - Several additions were made to the palace like fortification walls with bastions, gates and court halls by his successors. Some portions of the buildings were destroyed in the fire of 1828. We spent few hours in the afternoon on 19th November and find it is a must see place in weekends.

How to reach: Easy to reach from anywhere in Pune. Nearby places are PMC and Laxmi road.

Go Malshej

As I am getting older in IT world - many good habits of mine are getting screwed up; I had a habit of blog writing in the near past – but since last 2.5 years – i could not pen down even a small write-up after any travel trip. Writing a blog is always a matter of passion and patience; I think – I am loosing these two P slowly. But this time I really feel passionate to write something on my recent Malshej Ghat trip. Travelling in November to any hill stations always remains pleasant; I had a plan to visit the same during monsoon; but could not manage; except a small visit to Tamhini Mulshi and Lonavala Khandala. On 5^th November - we left at 5:30 AM from Vishal Nagar for Malshej. It was not completely dark that time. We got into the Indica with some fast foods and of course the full camera set; the journey via NH50 Pune Nasik Highway was really pleasant. Road was excellent. We crossed RajguruNagar, Narayangan within 90 minutes. From Alephata, we took an immediate left turn and took NH222 highway. This NH222 actually originates from Ahmednagar and connects Kalyan. The outside perspective was changing rapidly; It looks like we were passing long Mountain Pass; The all over greeneries in the lap of Western Ghats was eye-soothing; at 8:15 – we reached Pimplegaon Joga dam, nearly 20km ahead of Malshej. We did stop there and had some birding near to that Dam; snapped Malabar crested lark, stonechat, purple sunbird, pied bushchat, yellow eyed babbler, kestrel etc. But found real pleasure to watch the blue waters of the Dam with the background of sahyadri Hills; after having some tea on the road, we left for Malshej Ghat and reached there within next 30 minutes. Malshej Ghat is a mountain pass in the Western Ghats near the Pune and Thane Border at distance 130 km from Pune. It has got number of waterfalls during the monsoons; our driver Ganesh was driving was telling his experience of Malshej ghat during July. Several water streams we saw on the road side and realized how they used to decorate this Ghat during monsoon. We had our breakfast there with some steamed corn and bara pao. Took many shots of the lofty rugged hills, the zigzag road turning and the monkeys;

How to reach: To reach Malshej ghat from Pune, take NH50 (Pune-Nasik highway), turn left at Narayangaon and pass through Junar. State Transport buses are cheaper and available from Kalyan, Karjat and Pune at regular intervals.

Accommodation: Flamingo Hill is a resort run by MTDC – Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation in the vicinity of Malshej Ghat. You can do a online booking via MTDC website. There is another private hotel Su-Shant Holiday resort (Contact T.S. Shah 9527007374/9860146030).

Best time to visit: July to September. But winter is much pleasant and good for photography and birding.

Birds seen: Malabar crested lark, Chestnut shouldered petronica, Yellow eyed babbler, Common kestrel, Pied Bushchat, Common stonechat, Sunbird, Wagtails, Alpine swifts etc.