Mumbai Bird Race 2008
SPROUTS TEAMS’ EXPERIENCES IN THE MUMBAI BIRD RACE 2008
“The bright sun was burning our necks. We had been on the move since early morning. However, we all were happy… very happy.. the reason; an Osprey with a big fish in its clu
tch, the first thing that we saw at the lake. We were sitting on the small jetty at IIT Powai lake. The whole lake bordered by tall and majestic buildings, was shining in front of us… probably in joy too, as it was getting the much needed attention on this day. It was the Mumbai Bird Race, an event much awaited by bird lovers”……that’s Ovee for you.
Ovee had planned everything with her team of “Dusky Crag- Martins”, Reshma ( a student from Kirti college, studying Oceanography), Geeta (another Oceanography student from Mithibai college) and Sahila (engineering student from D J Sanghvi college and a fellow PUKAR-SPROUTS project team member).
Three other SPROUTS teams were also participating in the event-
· “Hobby” led by Parth leading the Subramniam family,(Hobbies traveled with the “Dusky Crag Martins” as they had hired a car together),
· “Ashy Wood Swallows” from Borivali, led by Sangeeta – This team had Sonal, Shivangi & Vishal Bhave (again Oceanography students from Kirti, Suraj Das a SPROUTS member, Rahul Kolekar, member of the SPROUTS Pukar project team & a guest member Kunal Munsiff
· “White Eyes” from Mulund, led by Pranad. The team included Saloni from the PUKAR team, Vaijayanti from Kirti college, Sahil & Shaheen Sahibole
The PUKAR project was the main reason that ‘SPROUTS’ was in this race. The project concerns biodiversity of Mumbai and its impact on urban youth. Bird Race was the last of the six community events that we needed to complete under the youth fellowship programme. We had a chance to connect with over 300 participants from all over Mumbai!
Our plan was to visit the variety of urban habitats in our city & avoid the forest areas like SGNP to show people how much of biodiversity exists even within the city. We had also decided to stop at gardens, housing societies and highways in between the major places. All of these areas, right in the hustle and bustle of the city were purposefully chosen to stick to our project’s aims. It was not about the race or seeing maximum number of birds in a day; it was about the value of the hotspots or hotspecks where these birds are found and to observe the birds there with the common youth.
“Dusky Crag- Martins” decided to start with Lokhandwala mangroves, Bhavan’s college, a play ground behind that, Aarey milk colony, IIT Powai, Sewri and end the day at MNPS.
“Ashy wood swallows” decided to cover IIT campus at Powai – Godrej mangroves at Vikroli- Sewri & finally MNPS.
1st Leg: Lokhandwala mangroves was a good place to start with for the ‘Dusky Crag- Martins’, as they saw our commonest birds there. The newest and youngest birdwatchers within the team were excited seeing a Koel or a Parakeet. “The excitement in their faces gave me the energy and enthusiasm throughout the whole day. Activities such as Bird Race are a good chance to involve
new people and pass on the joy of bird watching” says Ovee. After learning the basic things such as shape, size, call, colour which help to identify birds, the team proceeded to Bhavan’s college.
Golden Orioles, Coppersmiths, Waterhens and Fantails enchanted everybody. The day had just started and the birds were at their best. The team also observed plants, including our state tree Queen’s Flower or Taman. The play ground was teaming with activity of Grey and White Wagtails, Shrikes and Pipits. We had been to mangroves, a college campus, and a play ground, it was time to visit a dense greenery at Aarey milk colony now. The sun was getting higher and everybody was starting to get a little tired, especially the kids with Hobby. Not many new birds seen here. Probably because the areas were planted with exotic trees.
The ‘Ashy Wood Swallows’ began from Borivli on the dot at 6.15 am & reached IIT Powai in 20 minutes flat……a luxury indeed. The moment the team reached it was greeted by a small kingfisher on the pole. The sun hadn’t quite risen yet & the team got to see how the bird activity actually begins as the day breaks. As the sun rose, the birds rose too. Everywhere there were birds……the majestic purple heron in its purple plumage, the white browed & grey wagtails, the purple swamphens, gulls, terns, spotbilled ducks, the sandpipers, an owlet, sunbirds, parakeets, starlings, bulbuls and what not. As the team moved into the other areas around the campus there were ibises, jacanas, prinias, yellow eyed babblers, cuckoo shrike, fantail and then the highlight……..the ZITTING CISTICOLA….highlight not because it is a rare bird, but because not many in the team had heard of this fancy name or knew how to identify it, so it gave the team a new high. The team’s tally at IIT was a great 61 !!! It was appetizing enough for a sumptuous breakfast of sandwiches, idlis & other munching stuff that the team had carried
tch, the first thing that we saw at the lake. We were sitting on the small jetty at IIT Powai lake. The whole lake bordered by tall and majestic buildings, was shining in front of us… probably in joy too, as it was getting the much needed attention on this day. It was the Mumbai Bird Race, an event much awaited by bird lovers”……that’s Ovee for you.Ovee had planned everything with her team of “Dusky Crag- Martins”, Reshma ( a student from Kirti college, studying Oceanography), Geeta (another Oceanography student from Mithibai college) and Sahila (engineering student from D J Sanghvi college and a fellow PUKAR-SPROUTS project team member).
Three other SPROUTS teams were also participating in the event-
· “Hobby” led by Parth leading the Subramniam family,(Hobbies traveled with the “Dusky Crag Martins” as they had hired a car together),
· “Ashy Wood Swallows” from Borivali, led by Sangeeta – This team had Sonal, Shivangi & Vishal Bhave (again Oceanography students from Kirti, Suraj Das a SPROUTS member, Rahul Kolekar, member of the SPROUTS Pukar project team & a guest member Kunal Munsiff
· “White Eyes” from Mulund, led by Pranad. The team included Saloni from the PUKAR team, Vaijayanti from Kirti college, Sahil & Shaheen Sahibole
The PUKAR project was the main reason that ‘SPROUTS’ was in this race. The project concerns biodiversity of Mumbai and its impact on urban youth. Bird Race was the last of the six community events that we needed to complete under the youth fellowship programme. We had a chance to connect with over 300 participants from all over Mumbai!
Our plan was to visit the variety of urban habitats in our city & avoid the forest areas like SGNP to show people how much of biodiversity exists even within the city. We had also decided to stop at gardens, housing societies and highways in between the major places. All of these areas, right in the hustle and bustle of the city were purposefully chosen to stick to our project’s aims. It was not about the race or seeing maximum number of birds in a day; it was about the value of the hotspots or hotspecks where these birds are found and to observe the birds there with the common youth.
“Dusky Crag- Martins” decided to start with Lokhandwala mangroves, Bhavan’s college, a play ground behind that, Aarey milk colony, IIT Powai, Sewri and end the day at MNPS.
“Ashy wood swallows” decided to cover IIT campus at Powai – Godrej mangroves at Vikroli- Sewri & finally MNPS.
1st Leg: Lokhandwala mangroves was a good place to start with for the ‘Dusky Crag- Martins’, as they saw our commonest birds there. The newest and youngest birdwatchers within the team were excited seeing a Koel or a Parakeet. “The excitement in their faces gave me the energy and enthusiasm throughout the whole day. Activities such as Bird Race are a good chance to involve
new people and pass on the joy of bird watching” says Ovee. After learning the basic things such as shape, size, call, colour which help to identify birds, the team proceeded to Bhavan’s college.Golden Orioles, Coppersmiths, Waterhens and Fantails enchanted everybody. The day had just started and the birds were at their best. The team also observed plants, including our state tree Queen’s Flower or Taman. The play ground was teaming with activity of Grey and White Wagtails, Shrikes and Pipits. We had been to mangroves, a college campus, and a play ground, it was time to visit a dense greenery at Aarey milk colony now. The sun was getting higher and everybody was starting to get a little tired, especially the kids with Hobby. Not many new birds seen here. Probably because the areas were planted with exotic trees.
The ‘Ashy Wood Swallows’ began from Borivli on the dot at 6.15 am & reached IIT Powai in 20 minutes flat……a luxury indeed. The moment the team reached it was greeted by a small kingfisher on the pole. The sun hadn’t quite risen yet & the team got to see how the bird activity actually begins as the day breaks. As the sun rose, the birds rose too. Everywhere there were birds……the majestic purple heron in its purple plumage, the white browed & grey wagtails, the purple swamphens, gulls, terns, spotbilled ducks, the sandpipers, an owlet, sunbirds, parakeets, starlings, bulbuls and what not. As the team moved into the other areas around the campus there were ibises, jacanas, prinias, yellow eyed babblers, cuckoo shrike, fantail and then the highlight……..the ZITTING CISTICOLA….highlight not because it is a rare bird, but because not many in the team had heard of this fancy name or knew how to identify it, so it gave the team a new high. The team’s tally at IIT was a great 61 !!! It was appetizing enough for a sumptuous breakfast of sandwiches, idlis & other munching stuff that the team had carried
2nd leg: The ‘Dusky Crag- Martins’ team then moved towards IIT Powai in high hopes and hungry tummies. Everybody munched the packed food on the way. That’s when Reshma, pointed out a bird on a wire on the highway. It was a Black Shouldered Kite! Everybody reached the Powai lake in excitement. Just as the team stepped out of the car, there it was, an Osprey flying over the lake. What an amazing sight it was!! Powai IIT campus has so many various habitats, a lake, gardens, grassland, and trees, that it attracts many birds and the birders with them every year We observed many water birds near the lake including Northern Shoveller Ducks and Purple Herons. Many birds found in well wooded areas such as Jungle Babblers and Spotted Doves were also seen. The Bee-eaters attracted everybody the most. Those brilliant coloured small rockets which zoomed in on dragonflies spread a big smile on every face. All were surprised as about 30 Kites together took flight on the team’s arrival at the grassland near the boathouse. It was an amazing site!.
While Ovee’s team reached IIT, the ‘Ashy wood swallows’ proceeded to the mangroves at Vikroli. It was scorching hot but the officer in charge at the place happened to be a friend of Kunal & gladly agreed to accompany the team on the trail to the creek. The team saw a falcon, a tit, white cheeked bulbuls, warblers, sunbirds etc & on reaching the creek had some nice sightings. The terek & the common sandpipers, the pond heron, the red & green shank, the marsh sandpiper & more waders. The best sighting was the display of sandpipers & the team also captured it on their cams. However the tally rose only by 10.
3rd Leg: The famous Flamingos of Sewri were next in everybody’s minds. All the SPROUTS teams reached there around 2 pm and were greeted by many waders. There were Godwits, Plovers, Sandpipers and a lone Black Headed Ibis along with the greater & lesser Flamingos, the western reef heron, a peregrine falcon, curlew, stints to add some more. It was disappointing to see absence of Mudskippers though. Many other teams here and all exchanged their experiences.
There was with just an hour before the finish at MNPS. All rushed there and took a quick round of the area. The team had hopes for seeing Shikra and Alexandrine Parakeet which had not been seen during the day. The park looked changed. It was made neater and looked rather vacant. The patch of mudflat on one side was also dry, some construction work going on in that area. There have been sightings of Lapwings, Sandpipers, Gulls and Raptors in this area before but this time there were just a few grey herons.
It was time to submit the logbooks. A tally of 78 species for the ‘Dusky Crag Martins’, 84 for the ‘Ashy Wood Swallows’, 81 for the ‘White Eyes’ & 61 for the ‘Hobby’ was not very high compared to some other team which saw over 130 birds in the whole day, but the teams felt victorious.
“I had participated in the Mumbai Bird Race event last year, but this time it was different, I led a team! The experience taught me the importance of qualities such as decision making, leadership, teamwork, and planning. It was a test of my knowledge and abilities. In my view, we won as they could observe 78 species of birds from urban areas and most important, the team was happy at the end of the day. We not only observed birds but also plants and habitats. It would be great to have a Plant Race next year!”….is what Ovee had to say at the end of the day
We had some pamphlets describing our project, which we distributed to many other teams. We also distributed planner, our PUKAR mid-term product, to Sunjoy Monga, Adesh Shivkar and Mandar Khadilkar which were the key figures in organizing this event. It was a nice moment when all the four teams went together on the stage and explained the reason behind visiting totally urban areas . The long, fun filled day ended with exchange of experiences over dinner.
It was time to submit the logbooks. A tally of 78 species for the ‘Dusky Crag Martins’, 84 for the ‘Ashy Wood Swallows’, 81 for the ‘White Eyes’ & 61 for the ‘Hobby’ was not very high compared to some other team which saw over 130 birds in the whole day, but the teams felt victorious.
“I had participated in the Mumbai Bird Race event last year, but this time it was different, I led a team! The experience taught me the importance of qualities such as decision making, leadership, teamwork, and planning. It was a test of my knowledge and abilities. In my view, we won as they could observe 78 species of birds from urban areas and most important, the team was happy at the end of the day. We not only observed birds but also plants and habitats. It would be great to have a Plant Race next year!”….is what Ovee had to say at the end of the day
We had some pamphlets describing our project, which we distributed to many other teams. We also distributed planner, our PUKAR mid-term product, to Sunjoy Monga, Adesh Shivkar and Mandar Khadilkar which were the key figures in organizing this event. It was a nice moment when all the four teams went together on the stage and explained the reason behind visiting totally urban areas . The long, fun filled day ended with exchange of experiences over dinner.
That was an interesting reading with beautifully captured snaps.Tfs. My maiden attempt in blog world- http://pranaychandra-pranay.blogspot.com
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