Bird watching at Sewri, Mumbai, India on 19 Feb’11

I started my bird watching escapades at Sewri on the 15^th of November 2009. I knew neither a bird nor a bee back then. This morning, I surprised myself by being able to identify almost all of the birds that we came across. I was hoping to photograph at least one bird that I hadn’t come across as yet. It didn’t happen. We spotted a Green Heron in flight; I didn’t manage a photo though. The number of Flamingos had significantly reduced from last year. And no Grey Herons.

A significant number of people assembled along the jetty to seek the guidance of the experts that BNHS had on offer. Almost three to three and a half times more than November 2009.

Perhaps Vijay Mallya instructed this Kingfisher to camp close to shore for everyone to see. It just sat there on a rope, about fifteen feet away from us:

We saw plenty of Spotted Redshanks, Tringa erythropus:

The Black-tailed Godwit, Limosa limosa:

The Little Ringed Plover, Charadrius dubius:

The Little Stint, Calidris or Erolia Minuta:

The Wood Sandpiper, Tringa glareola:

Little Egret Egretta garzetta:

Juvenile Flamangos:

A whole flock of Stints, Plovers, Sandpipers etc. chill out on the polluted mudflats at Sewri.

I have encountered all these birds before between November 2009 and March 2010. We saw a couple of Oriental White Ibis flying about and the Western Reef Heron, Egretta gularis, also known as the Western Reef Egret. And that’s about it.

FIN