PURBOSTHALI – A TRIP TO BIRDING PARADISE

Date: December 20^th 2015

Are you a nature lover? Would you like to spend a winter day in a crystal clear lake with loads of beautiful migratory birds? If yes, then purbosthali is the place. A small place in Kalna subdivision of Burdwan district, Purbosthali will surely be the paradise for you if you are in love with the winged species.

 

View of the Purbosthali lake

Purbosthali was in my wish list for quite some times. But somehow I always used to miss the peak season of birding for various reasons. One of the major reasons probably, not having companion with good knowledge about the place and contacts who can guide me for the trip.
This time I got a friend, guide and fellow nature lover Soumya Kundu (from ZigZag India Tours & Travels) who has plenty of experience to sail around the lake for birding and hence didn’t miss the chance.
 

Our journey started 5AM in the morning (from Karunamoyee, Salt Lake) as we target to reach Purbasthali by 9AM. The objective was to spend the whole day in a boat and sail around the lake. Cover different corners and capture as many species as possible. But it was not easy at all until you have a specialist guide with you. Thanks to Soumya & ZigZag India Tours for the specialized guidance without which it wouldn’t have possible to cover the beautiful oxbow lake that is created by the River Ganga.
 

Boating in the marsh land

We reach Purbosthali around 8:45 AM after a 3.5 hours’ drive from Kolkata. We had our quick breakfast with cakes, Patty’s and first tea of the morning from a tea shop near Purbosthali. We drove through Purbosthali Bazar and Purbosthali station. Then a short drive down a track took us to the lake side where row boats were available. Soumya being an experienced campaigner has already talked to one of the finest rower and he was ready with his boat to on-board us.

Flying wings in the beautiful lake

We started at around 9:15 AM and then next few hours had amazing experience of birding. The boat silently hovered across each corner of the lake through the hyacinths and fleeting close by the wetlands. 




As we gradually moved around the lake, huge variety of both migratory and resident birds, outspread before our eyes. The water was crystal clear and I could see the underwater vegetation very clearly and found the lake contains unimaginable beautiful submerged aquatic plants.

Group of lesser whistling ducks

The advantage of being on a rowing boat is that we could often get very close to the birds without making any noise. Campaigning over the years has brought down poaching in this area. The local community has turned into conservators thus ensuring a healthy population of birds.
Great to see all the boatmen are aware of most of the bird species and understand the need of conserving wetlands.


Below are some glimpses of my captures. The credit of spotting these feathered guests and bringing near to them is entirely goes to my friend Soumya and our boatman.

  

Grey Heron on flight

Colour riots with king fisher

Osprey wings

Jacana walk in hyacinth

Marsh Harrier look

Green Bee Eater with its catch

Osprey

Our custodian in the lake - Our boatman

   The combination of my friend/guide Soumya & the boatman was just icing on the cake. Soumya is an experienced birdwatcher and well versed with the bird species and identifies birds quite well. On the other hand our boatman knew exactly where the birds are, understood light which was essential for good photography and routed his boat accordingly.

Soumya busy capturing

Time flew like magic and we spend around 7.5 hours in the boat.
 

We came back to our starting point of the lake by 4:45 PM after a great birding session and started our return journey with tired body but a contented soul.

list of our feathered guests recorded:

1. Common Pochard

2. Red Crested Pochard

3. Common Sandpiper

4. Green Shank

5. Terrek Sandpiper

6. Little Ringed Plover

7. Kentish Plover

8. Stork Billed Kingfisher

9. Small blue kingfisher

10. White breasted common kingfisher

11. Barn Swallow

12. Osprey

13. Marsh Harrier

14. White Wagtail

15. Yellow Wagtail

16. Grey Heron

17. Purple Heron

18. Indian pond heron

19. Open Bill stork

20. Asian Pied Starling

21. Black Drongo, 

22. Common coot, 

23. Bronze winged Jacana, 

24. Black headed Ibis, 

25. Asian openbill stork

26. Purple moorhens, 

27. Red-wattled lapwing

28. Green bee eater

29. Indian Cormorant

30. Great Egret
31. Lesser whistling duck
32. Shoveler
33. Grey Wagtail

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Information:

·       

     Best time to visit:  December to February

     
     Good to Carry:

o   Binoculars and camera.

o   Notebook and pen if you would like to note down the names of the birds.

o   Dry food and water bottle

·         Travel Guide / Touring Partner:

o ZigZag India Tours

    IA 24, Sector 3, Salt Lake

    Kolkata, India

    Pincode: 700097

    mobile: +919830769196

    email: info@zigzagindia.com

    website: http://www.zigzagindia.com

All Photos © Prabuddha Samaddar