As inconspicuous an area as it sounds, the "Bhandup Pumping Station" is a treasure trove for birders. A small left diversion after the Mulund - Airoli junction on the Eastern Express highway leads one into the mangroves lining Mumbai's coastline.
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| Waiting for the sun |
I ventured into this birding spot after some googling. Took the morning BEST bus no 373 from Mulund (W) where I had stayed overnight till the Airoli-Mulund Flyover. Reached the bustop while it was still dark and started walking along the well lit road. I could see two morning walkers ahead of me and that gave me confidence. There were a couple of shanties on the left probably housing the salt pan workers. The tar road reached the gates of the treatment plant and the walkers turned around to go back. I was at a dead end until I saw a trail on the left. This went around the treatment plant and further into the mangroves and finally to another tar road along the perimeter of the plant but from outside it.
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| Trail leading to a small temple of the local fishermen (Kolis) |
There was a water body with some
Egrets to the left. I decided to take the trail to the left of this road instead of going on the tar road. This trail got narrower with dried grass lining the trail and water on both sides of the road. A
Common Kingfisher flew off on hearing my steps. Daylight had started breaking in and I was getting more confident.
I was not in shoes and some part of the trail was wet with muddy slush which made it worse. I could see a small temple at the far end of this trail without a soul. Two large water bodies on either side of this temple had some
Black winged Stilts and
Egrets.
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| White Cheeked Bulbuls - lots of them in these mangroves |
Lot of
White Cheeked Bulbuls were singing occasionally disturbed by a
Black Drongo. I waited for the sun to make its way up and light the whole scene. The
Common Kingfisher from the trail road had followed me here too. The water body was bereft of any waders other than the occasional
Egret and the
Stilts. As I waited patiently alone with only the Bulbuls and Crows to give me company, I wondered whether to go back. Was also not sure if the tide affected the narrow trail and the wet portion of the road could actually disappear under water if that was the case..
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| Little Egret |
Suddenly I saw a local coming along the trail that I had taken with some load on his head. This gave me some confidence and soon after another person with a camera and binoculars materialised. Advait Marathe, was to be my companion and guide for the rest of the morning. He had come here before and knew the trails. I was lucky to have him and we waited together for some time. A
Bayshrike and the
Common kingfisher came back as the light got better. Advait suggested that we go back to the other side and I gladly agreed. We made our way through the same trail and got an
Ashy Prinia along the way. A
Little Egret had landed on the this road and foraging on the ground giving us some good snaps. I could see the yellowish green feet which is one of the difference between the
Little Egret and the
Intermediate or
Great Egret apart from the black beak.
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| Baya weaver Female |
A flock of
Black headed Ibis and
Spoonbills flew overhead without any plans of landing nearby. We reached the other side of the mangrove back to the tar road. Advait led me to another trail which was more walkable and spotted a
Purple Heron far away on a tree top craning its neck straight out of the dense foliage like a dinosaur.
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| Red Avadavat (Munia) male and female |
Spotted a group of female
Baya Weavers in a bush along the right. Another birder with a huge Zoom had stationed himself to get flight shots of the gulls. But the large water body to the right of this trail was without any
Flamingoes or
Pied Avocets. Some Terns / gulls were hovering around and occasionally landing on the water. Advait suggested going back along the Tar road to the end of the Pumping station periphery as there was a possibility of getting some water birds there. As we walked back we saw a group of small birds foraging feverishly on the ground. We dropped down on all fours and spotted the
Red Avadavat (Munia)with his harem. What luck !! A lifer for me.And some good shots as well.
This was total vasool until a crow scared away this bunch into the bushes.
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| Garganey (far left) and pair of Yellow Spot billed ducks |
It was getting hot and we made out way to the last spot, the dead end of the tar road. Saw some
Wood Sandpipers,
Plovers along the stream to the right of this road. The end of this stream and road had dense foliage on the other side and a
Spot billed duck pair with a
Garganey. Well, no luck with any other waders.
It was 10:30 AM and an end to a productive birding session. We made our way back to Advait's bike parked near the Pumping station gate, sparing me a walk in the sun to the highway. It was a treasure trove of birds hidden in the teeming Urban city of Mumbai and at such close proximity to the highway.
The
Pied Avocets and Flamingoes had been missed but I was in for a surprise the next day.
Sunday afternoon, as I drove from Mulund, en route to Kalina, with my brother's 150-500 mm lens next to me (which I had borrowed for the Karnala - Uran session earlier in the day) I decided to take a quick 15 min. diversion into the Pumping station. I now knew that the road was good to drive and got tempted. More importantly wanted to try my luck with the 150-500 mm lens.
As I reached the water body a flock of more than 50
Lesser Flamingoes were cruising on the far end !
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No Where to Go ! As rapid construction is displacing
the mangroves and water bodies around Mumbai. |
Could not believe my luck and tried to get the best out of the lens. There was a flock of Stilts who flew off on my approach otherwise not a soul in sight as I thought of trying my luck again till the far end where we had seen the
Garganey and Spot Billed ducks. Saw a
Western Reef Egret and the same Spot billed ducks. I was getting late as I made my way back to the car, an
Ashy Prinia and another bird attracted my attention. The other bird was ID'ed by Advait later as a
Yellow Eyed Babbler which I had only heard the previous day. Another lifer for me.
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| Yellow Eyed Babbler |
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| The lonely road. Far end of the Pumping station |
I reached the car and reluctantly made my way back to the highway, back to where we humans reside, pollute, multiply and destroy.
This brief diversion had transported me again to the wonderful world of birds and I wanted to remain here.
More pics here
Sunday's Karnala Uran pics here
