Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station

Saturday 13th of May 2017 and, well, the driver was 10 minutes late. I was not happy with him. Holiday Inn open their breakfast at 6 thirty so they had made a pick nick breakfast for me. I had brought a few bottles of Pepsi Max and I enjoyed my breakfast in the car. We were soon on the highway in the outskirts of Mumbai

I asked the driver to turn on the window wipers as they were a wee bit dirty. I had removed the neck cushion from the front seat so I can take pictures. But the windshield need a quick wipe. Service minded as he is he stopped and he went out to give the windshield a proper wash.

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
We're leaving Bombay behind

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
We're leaving Bombay behind

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
We recognise the yellow building and no need to look around today

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
We recognise the yellow building and no need to look around today

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
We leave the highway and drive pass the yellow building

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
We drive by the Salt Pans so we know we're on the right track

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
We turn left to drive pass the green house when we see the closed gate

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
We are at the end of the road. And we can see the branch blocking the last 100m of the road


To view the map in a separate window, click HERE

Yes, we made it in 25 minutes. I don't know any other city in the world where you have this wonder available 25 minutes form the city. A huge mangrove area with an exceptional bird life. Of course, should have been a whole different story if it wasn't for all the garbage.

Same here as in Thailand, the people coming here should be nature lovers, and still, the just throw the garbage where they stand or sit. I was alone with my driver at the boat jetty, and there were no sign off any people working there.

But it was easy to understand as the whole area was dry. Obviously it was low water and the whole wetland was dry, or muddy. And no flamingos or shore birds, well, a few Black-winged stilts. I understood that there must have been a misunderstanding when they had told my driver that the boat would leave at 7. Maybe if we used wheels or the old Viking technique with the logs.

Looking for flamingos

The flamingos are on the mudflats at low water. During high water they are sleeping in the mangroves, like in the pond. So the only time you see them here is when it is high water.

The best way to see the flamingos is with the boat, but the boat cannot operate during low water. So the boat leaves just before high water and you have an hour or so to watch the flamingos along the river.

When you are back it is high water and the pond is full of flamingos again. So as you understand the birding here is dependent on the tide water, as on all the other mudflats around the world


Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
This was a lake yesterday

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
This was a lake yesterday

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
This was a lake yesterday

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Boat jetty in low water

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Boat jetty in low water

It was low water and we could see how the wetland was drained out in the ocean via. Among other places the creek between the road and the basins. We met 4 other bird watchers and they told us that the boat would leave at 11. OK, so we will have to kill time here until then.

No problem, you can spend weeks here in this huge wetland/ mangrove area. I got in to the car and the driver was driving slowly along the creek while I was looking for birds. We saw a Common Kingfisher that disappeared as soon as we stopped the car. There were also a White-breasted Waterhen and several other birds. I was happy to see the Greater Coucal. But I never got any good pictures.

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - Cattle Egret
Plenty birds in the creek

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - Cattle Egret
Cattle Egret

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - Greater Coucal
Greater Coucal

I saw a very strange Egret in the creek, but when it took off I saw that it was a Cattle Egret. I have NEVER seen a Cattle Egret in the water before. This time it was wearing its breeding plumage or I would have been sure it would have been a Little Egret

We parked the car and I started to walk along the dirt road/ path on the Eastern side of the lake/ pond. I had the information sign fresh in mind. Golden Jackals and snakes. So I really didn't want to walk in the grass. The dirt path is nice, but sometimes I had to get in to the grass.

Making noise to scare the snakes, as I did when I was birding along the river in Sasan Gir. It is tricky as you don't want to scare the birds. The pond was empty, except for a very few Black-winged stilts.

It was a beautiful morning and I was really happy that I had decided to come here instead of Yet another Smiley on www.aladdin.stspending the day waiting for my flight in my hotel room, or worse, spent the day eating in the restaurant. It had been raining in the morning and now the horizon turned black. Thunder, but I was really enjoying my morning.

The birds was really hard to get on pictures as they were jumping around, and of course taking shelter from the slight rain. But it was not much rain to talk about.


Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Plenty birds along the dust road

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Plenty birds along the dust road

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Old bridge/ sluice I didn't dare to cross

White-eared bulbul, White-cheeked Bulbul, Pycnonotus leucotis
White-eared bulbul

White-eared bulbul, White-cheeked Bulbul, Pycnonotus leucotis
White-eared bulbul

White-eared bulbul, White-cheeked Bulbul, Pycnonotus leucotis
White-eared bulbul

White-eared bulbul, White-cheeked Bulbul, Pycnonotus leucotis
White-eared bulbul

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station

Ashy prinia, Ashy wren-warbler, Prinia socialis
Ashy prinia or Ashy wren-warbler - Prinia socialis

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Black-winged stilts

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Black-winged stilts

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - Baya Weaver, Ploceus philippinus, นกกระจาบธรรมดา

I also spotted an Ashy prinia or Ashy wren-warbler. Well, actually, there were many of them and that made it the second new bird today, which I managed to identify that is. There were several other birds that I never got a good picture of and thus I wasn't able to identify them

I was soon back on the road and we drove down to the west side of the pond. I walked along the pond but I never discovered anything. I heard a lot of birds but I saw nothing.

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
West side of the pond

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
West side of the pond

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Reaching the end, I don't want to walk out in the “jungle”

When I came out from the “jungle” I saw 2 girls and a guy sitting on the dust road. They were having a binocular and they were out looking for bird. They had never seen any flamingos here. But they told me that they were down at the river looking for food on the mudflats.

There was a bridge crossing the river and you can see the flamingos from the bridge. They gave directions to my driver and we went to investigate. We crossed the bridge on the Mulund - Airoli Road and there was of course no wat to stop. There was platforms where you could walk but nowhere to stop.

And it was a huge bridge so the flamingos was far away so I would be better off back at Sewri Flamingo Point. Even though the flamingos are far away they are closer than looking at them from the bridge. But my Driver got lunch on the other side of the river before we drove back to Bhandup Pumping Station.

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Going to check out the bridge over the river

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Going to check out the bridge over the river

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Going to check out the bridge over the river - It was pretty pointless

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Going to check out the bridge over the river - It was pretty pointless

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Going to check out the bridge over the river - It was pretty pointless

White-throated Kingfisher, White-breasted Kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis, นกกะเต็นอกขาว
White-throated Kingfisher at the electrical plant coming back from the bridge

White-throated Kingfisher, White-breasted Kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis, นกกะเต็นอกขาว
White-throated Kingfisher at the electrical plant coming back from the bridge

White-throated Kingfisher, White-breasted Kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis, นกกะเต็นอกขาว
White-throated Kingfisher at the electrical plant coming back from the bridge

The only good thing coming out from the visit to the bridge was that the Driver got his lunch. And we saw a White-throated Kingfisher at the electrical plant coming back to Bhandup Pumping Station. I got out of the car and I told the driver to drive down to the boat jetty. I would walk Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Stationdown there while looking for birds along the creek.

I had been walking for 200 meters when 2 guys came on a motor cycle. They were from the boat. I had given up all hopes about getting on the river on a boat. But it was 11 o'clock and as my new friends had said this morning. The boat tour is at 11. But now they had already left as I could not see them at the boat jetty.

There were around 10 people at the jetty (flimsy bamboo construction) and it looked like two different companies running the boat as there were 2 boats. The two guys that had picked me up had their own boat. And while walking to the jetty (flimsy bamboo construction) they wanted me to take their number for future expeditions.

I took a picture of his back with the phone number, can come in handy next time in Bombay.

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Now we can see that it is a lake again

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Time to board the boat

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Time to board the boat

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Time to leave

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
We leave the jetty behind

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Beautiful, but full of garbage

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
My third new identified bird for today

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
A swallow I working on to identify

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
A swallow I working on to identify

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
A swallow I working on to identify

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - Brahminy kite
Brahminy kite

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - Brahminy kite
Brahminy kite

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - Brahminy kite
Brahminy kite

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station - Brahminy kite
Brahminy kite

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Flamingos

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Flamingos

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Flamingos

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Flamingos

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Here it is easy to see the difference between the Greater and the Lesser flamingo

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Flamingos

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Flamingos

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Flamingos

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Greater and Lesser flamingo

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Flamingos

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Flamingos

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Flamingos

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Egret in the tree

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Pond Heron in the tree

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
A beautiful place destroyed by garbage

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
A beautiful place destroyed by garbage and only God knows what else

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Back at the jetty (flimsy bamboo construction)
And we can see that it is almost high water

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
Getting off the boat

Birding/ Bird watching in Mumbai/ Bombay - Bhandup Pumping Station
And as it is high water the flamingos is back in the pond

What to say? It had been a fantastic day! I WILL BE BACK! Again, I had said it before, Bombay could easily have been the most beautiful city in the world. But clean up the place!

I was soon back at my hotel and I had lunch before returning to my room. The car will take me to the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at 8 o'clock tonight s I have a few hours to kill. No problems, I have plenty pictures to look at. You just need to click HERE to find out if I make it to my flight in time.

Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport


Love Wildlife


       
                  
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? NJET PROBLEMA! Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Flag of Skåne / Skånska flaggan Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.


                                       

BirdforumTV

You are visitor no.
To www.aladdin.st since December 2005

Visitors from different countries since 26th of September 2011



Send me an e-mail My web page directory