We arrived at Bandolim Airport in Goa around seven thirty in the morning, after a long twelve hour flight from Gatwick. After all the arrival formalities and the fun of baggage reclaim we were greeted by our holiday rep who informed us which of the waiting coaches we should board. We left our luggage at the rear of our designated coach and climbed aboard. As we sat on the coach we noticed that luggage was being manhandled onto the roofs of the other coaches, this proved quite entertaining. That is until you realised the very same thing was happening to your luggage! With everyone on board and the luggage lashed down, securely hopefully, the coach pulled out of the airport and headed off to our resort. The traffic was complete mayhem, you have probably seen the images of Indian traffic on the television and in films, well take it from us it is every bit like that!

As the coach made it way through the Indian traffic and was passing other vehicles or was negotiating its way through narrow streets or gaps, often at speed. It became obvious that those adjacent to a window, no matter how tempting the cooling effect may be, should keep all parts of their body inside the coach. As otherwise they would probably be minus that part on arriving at the resort! We found the journey was less nerve racking if you looked out the side window as this meant you avoided seeing all the near misses. In fact by doing this we saw our first lifer of the holiday a White-Breasted Kingfisher. They use the overhead wires as convenient perches and we saw many of them on the trip to our hotel.

We arrived at our hotel the Royal Ronil Beach Hotel and checked in, which was blissfully efficient. Our room was quite large with a huge double bed, an en suite shower plus toilet and a balcony.

By early afternoon we had recovered from the flight and so changed into some more appropriate clothing and decided to go for a walk. Our guide book to birding in Goa showed a circular walk which we decided to try. This took us along the road to the Baga river where there is, what can only be described as, the worlds ugliest bridge. A hideous box construction made out of concrete.

This was our first introduction to Indian Birds with such species as; Pied Bushchat, Indian Myna, Long-Tailed Shrike, Black Drongo and then some more familiar birds. Little Egret, Red-Rumped Swallow, Little-Green Bee-Eater, Kentish Plover, Common Sandpiper and a Grey Heron. Crossing over the bridge we turned right and followed the river where Red-Rumped Swallows were swooping low over the water. Above us Black Kites circled high overhead, then what would become the familiar chestnut and white of a Brahimny Kite would soar above us. We became aware of some noisy birds in a tree, initially we thought we were looking at two birds. As one was glossy black all over with a brilliant red eye and a lime green bill while the other was brown and spotted. They were in fact a male and female Koel a member of the cuckoo family, having a bit of a argument.

We followed the river until we reached a cross roads where we turned right again, here we entered an area of rice paddies. Asian-Palm Swifts passed overhead while standing in the paddies were Indian-Pond Heron or Paddy Bird. Quite a ubiquitous bird this, with any open water having its own resident flock peering intently into the water.

We were so carried away with all the new birds and everything that we failed to notice the advancing time. We only became aware of it as it started to get darker. Which is does far quicker here than with our more leisurely sunsets back home. By the time we returned to our hotel it was quite dark, on the plus side the twilight did allow us to add a Spotted Owlet to our list.

Later that evening we decided it was time to try out Goan food at one of the many restaurants in Baga, we opted for one recommended in the Rough Guide to Goa the Indian Impact Restaurant. This was located down a side road a little walk from the hotel. The food was excellent and very cheap, costing 450 Rupees or approximately £6.50 this included drinks for both of us as well.

Our hotel seemed ideally situated, with just a five minute stroll you could walk out into an amazing patchwork of paddy fields and small lakes which lie behind the hotel. This was ideal for early morning or evening walks. When we saw such birds as Small-Green Barbet, Coppersmith Barbet a bit of a stunner this was. Grey Headed Myna, Tree Pie, a small family group of Spotted Owlets, Marsh Sandpipers, Red-Wattled Plover, Stork-Billed Kingfisher, Great-White Egrets, Golden Oriole and of course many many Paddy Birds. It was a bird watching heaven and each visit turned up new birds for us.

Then of course there was the much longer circular walk which we had done on our first day. Here we saw such species as; Purple-Rumped Sunbird another stunner, Wood Sandpiper, Magpie Robin, Black Drongo, House Crow, Common Babbler, White-Browed Bulbul, Laughing Dove, Marsh Harrier, Jungle Myna, Indian Myna, Scaly-Breasted Munia, Cattle Egret, Large-Pied Wagtail, Malabar-Crested Lark, Paddyfield Pipit, Greater Coucal, Little Swift, White-Browed Bulbul, Marsh Harrier and Ashy Prinia to name just a few. A small detour to this route would take you up Baga Hill, where it tended to get rather warm as it was well wooded. This site gave us Black-Hooded Oriole, Golden Oriole, Common Iora and some very very large spiders which spin huge webs several feet across strung between trees. Apparently they are quite harmless but we decided we would not put this to the test and gave them a very wide birth. There were some fantastic views across Baga from the top of this hill. Just down the road from our hotel was a real gem of a bird watching site, the Beira Mar Hotel. Here in the evening you could set up your telescope by the pool side get a drink from the bar and look out over the paddies. Which were host to Cinnamon Bittern, Painted Snipe, Watercock, White-Breasted Waterhen and Black-Capped Kingfisher. We spent a couple of evenings at this site as it was an excellent site. Where else can you watch a stalking Cinnamon Bittern with Painted Snipe feeding in the background while your enjoying an ice cold beer? It was a very popular site for bird watchers with a number of us in evidence most evenings.

To get to the other sites recommended for birding required the service of a taxi and driver, and there are plenty of these outside each hotel. A taxi for the day would cost around £11:00 which we thought was very reasonable, while trips of shorter durations being cheaper.

Carambolin Lake was our first trip out by taxi, this is a large body of water primarily used as a reservoir for the paddy fields to the south. It is almost completely covered in water lilies and birds! With Purple Swamphen, Pheasant-Tailed Jacana, Bronze-Winged Jacana, Cotton-Pygmy Goose, Darter and Lesser-Whistling Duck on the water. While, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Little Egret, Intermediate Egret and Paddy Bird populated the shores and shallows. The lightly wooded areas supplied perches for White-Breasted and Stork-Billed Kingfisher and the overhead wires proved useful for the Little-Green and Blue-Tailed Bee-Eaters to sit on. There were several vantage points to view this lake from with the platform of the railway station being the most unusual, costing 4 Rupees for a platform ticket for two, this allowed you to look down onto the lake.

A little further along the road from Carambolin Lake is the Ciba Geigy factory where they have created a wetland site to show how harmless their effluent is! After signing-in at the gate-house you are free to wander around the site. The two main reasons for visiting this site were sat in the trees, Openbill Stork and Lesser Adjutant. On our visit we were treated to a rarity for this area, at first we dismissed it as another Purple Heron as there were a number at Carambolin. But it was not until we saw it alongside a Grey Heron that we realised it was a Goliath Heron. As we were about to leave a chance glance up and I caught site of an Indian Roller sat in the top of a tree. Setting up the scope we had some splendid views of this lovely bird. Our taxi driver was quite interested so we showed him the bird through our scope. He had not realised how beautiful birds could be.

Our first organised trip out was primarily a trip to see crocodiles, these had been introduced by the Portuguese to deter people from swimming across the river. The trip would mean cruising in a boat along the mangrove fringed waterways, this should prove to be as good for birds as it would be for crocodiles we hoped. The boat was very comfortable and allowed for good views as we cruised along. Here we saw Osprey, Large-Crested Tern, Caspian Tern, many waders and a crocodile. Which did not seem very impressed with us and appeared to stare back at us with a look of ådisdain. In fact apart from the flick of an eyelid it could have been stuffed!

There were two rather notable birds seen while on the boat trip. The first was spotted by another birder on the boat who had been coming to India bird watching for sixteen years and it was his first! It was a Collared Kingfisher which is a beautiful blue-green colour on the wings and head with a brilliant white breast and collar, stunning. They managed to manoeuvre the boat to within a few feet of this bird and one lucky chap managed to get some video footage of it.

The second bird was a Slaty-Breasted Rail which like all rails can prove very illusive. Luckily our boat trip coincided with a high tide, so as the trip progressed the water level went down. In view of this I trained my bins on any likely looking area of recently exposed mangrove roots as the boat sailed along. This paid off with a wonderful view of this rail as it searched for food amongst the roots of the mangrove. The boat had a prearranged stop for lunch at a farm which gave us another excellent bird. A fully mature male Asian-Paradise Flycatcher. This one was the white morph male with its very long tail, which only the fully mature birds have. On the trip back we had a good view of a White-Bellied-Sea Eagle as it flew low over the water.

The following day we took a taxi to Morji beach which is a good site for gulls and terns. The beach was almost devoid of people. Above the high water mark resting on the sand were hundreds of small waders, these were Lesser-Sand Plover and Kentish Plover. A bird caught our attention in the grassy area, a Tawny Pipit. Then scanning the masses of Kentish and Lesser-Sand Plovers that were resting on the sand I came across quite a different outline. It was a Little Pratincole roosting with the waders.

We then trained our scope on the gulls and terns to see what was about. First up was a Great-Black-Headed Gull seemingly standing head and shoulders above the many Brown-Headed Gulls. It sported a partial hood and was standing aloof from the smaller gulls. The Brown-Headed Gulls look almost identical to our Black-Headed except when they fly, they then show much more black on the wing tips. There were two types of Yellow-Legged Gull plus Large-Crested Tern and Sandwich Tern.

As the tide fell more sand bars were exposed attracting more waders. A look through the scope showed many Common Sandpipers had joined the Lesser-Sand and Kentish Plovers which had now flown out to these sand bars. There was a wader which initially you could dismiss amongst the masses as being another Common Sandpiper except it was in fact a Terek Sandpiper. We spent some time relaxing in one of the beach huts enjoying a drink and watching the birds and sea before returning to our hotel, it is a very lovely and quiet beach. On a second visit to this site we had Gull-Billed Tern and a roosting White-Bellied Sea-Eagle whos presence made all the gulls and terns very flighty. Our second organised trip was a sightseeing tour of Old Goa and a visit to a spice plantation. The spice plantation proved rather interesting as not only did we get to see how many of the spices we use are grown but we also saw some excellent birds. It was intriguing to see that the plant that gives us the black pepper corn is almost classed as a weed and climbs up any suitable support. There was nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, cardamom's, chilies plus bananas, papaya and jack fruit all growing in well cultivated rows. Fresh cinnamon leaves when crushed have an unbelievably gorgeous smell when you have only been used to the cinnamon bark. The chilies were picked when they were very small as otherwise the birds eat them. How they managed this was beyond us as they used these chilies to flavour the local poppodums and they nearly blow your head off!

The plantation was run on organic lines and uses a lot of water, this is supplied by a natural spring and a manmade lake which fills up during the monsoon season. All the work is carried out by hand and seemed quite labour intensive.

While waiting for our lunch which was supplied by the plantation, we looked out for some birds. First up was a Crimson Sunbird another very colourful bird. Next a White-Bellied Flycatcher which when Beverley tried to find discovered instead a real cracker of a bird, a Malabar-Whistling Thrush. This has a cobalt blue forehead and shoulder patches, black on the rest of head and breast and a glistening blue black on the rest of the body. It produces a haunting song of slow clear whistles meandering up and down the scale. We added another drongo the Ashy-Backed Drongo and a White-Backed Munia. Lunch was served and very good it was too, there was quite a selection to choose from. With many vegetable dishes on offer, while the traditional Goan dish of fish curry and rice being especially good. All in all a very pleasurable day with some superb birds.

The following day it was up at the crack of dawn for a trip to Maem Lake, which we had arranged the day before with a taxi driver. It took about an hour and a half to get to the lake which included having to wake up the crew of the ferry boat in order to cross the river. Leaving the taxi we made our way around the lakes edge, there was a mist hanging just above the water. We stopped near a dead tree as we could hear a bird calling. Sat in the top of a tree was a Changable-Hawke Eagle which was being mobbed by Plum-Headed Parakeets, it was a fairly surreal sight. Lower down there was a Black-Naped Monarch in the company of Little-Green Barbet's, Coppersmith Barbet's and several species of Bulbul's. The lake itself was devoid of bird life, other than a lone Little Cormorant. A particularly dense area of undergrowth gave us Puff-Throated Babbler, then when we emerged from this undergrowth we saw a Black-Rumped Flameback, which is a member of the woodpecker family, and an Oriental White-Eye. The foot path was quite overgrown in areas and we nearly walked into one of those large spiders web, as they are quite difficult to see. So anybody catching sight of us as we made our way around the lake must have wondered what we were doing. Because as neither of us wished to walk into one of these spider webs, whoever was in front would wave a stick in front of them to detect any webs.

We returned to our hotel in the middle of the afternoon and decided to give it one more go at the site recommended for Indian Pitta, which we had visited earlier in the holiday. The best time to visit this site is for the last couple of hours before sunset. On our previous visit we had not seen hide nor hair of a pitta but I did get to see, although fleetingly, an Oriental-Dwarf Kingfisher. It was like a large orange coloured bumble bee, and shot through the undergrowth at quite a speed, amazing!

So here we were again crouched down peering into the undergrowth expectantly hoping for a glimpse of a pitta. Some rustling off to the right had both of us straining to see anything through our bins in the partial gloom. Some branches moved, was this it? Some more rustling and slowly into view came the snout of a pig. It then came fully out and peered back at us before slowly turning around and disappearing back into the undergrowth, ah well. We continued our vigil and our hopes were raised again when we saw some movement well back in the tangle of bushes. This time it was a bird a White-Throated Fantail. With the light failing fast, and our knees having given out from all the crouching, we decided to call it a day and head off back to the hotel. The pitta had not shown on either of our visits and we decided to leave it for now on this holiday.

Another crack of dawn start this time to visit one of Goas forest sanctuaries Bondla. We arrived at eight thirty in the morning which gave us half an hour before they opened. We spent this time birding the approach road where we found Lotens Sunbird, Crimson-Backed Sunbird and Pale-Billed Flowerpecker.

When they opened we paid the various fees and drove to the centre of the sanctuary and left the taxi and driver there. Working our way along the road we scanned and listened for any signs of birds. Overhead came the unmistakable metallic calls of sunbird's, scanning the top of the trees we caught some movement. Lotens Sunbird and Crimson-Backed Sunbird again but wait there was another one. It looked a little like Lotens Sunbird but was in fact a Purple Sunbird. Then another bird came into view like a sunbird but without any of the metallic colouring, quite a long de-curved bill and predominantly yellow coloured below a Little Spiderhunter. Then lower down a much larger bird was feeding, a bulbul, it had a black head, bright yellow breast and belly and a ruby red throat it was a Black-Crested Bulbul. Except this race with the red throat does not have a crest, confused? Then as suddenly as they arrived they disappeared flying off overhead and lost to sight. As we were looking up at the sky a small swift shaped bird came into view, it was mainly grey in colour, a Crested Treeswift.

We made our way back to the centre of the reserve doing a detour through the workers cottage area. There were some very noisy Large-Billed Crows around a leaking water tap. We hung around in case any other birds were attracted to the water. None came but a Heart-Spotted Woodpecker flew overhead and landed in a tree allowing for some great views. Back at the centre we sat on a small bridge over a stream and had our lunch. Movement caught our eye, a small bird was fly-catching upstream of the bridge it was an Asian-Brown Flycatcher. A local bird guide who was taking some people around brought to our attention another flycatcher downstream of the bridge. At first we thought it was another Asian-Brown, then the guide pointed out that it was slightly warmer coloured and had pale legs and a bigger bill it was a Brown-Breasted Flycatcher. I am not sure we would have spotted the difference between these two if they had not been pointed out to us. The guide ran a company called Wild Woods who did birding trips in Goa.

After lunch we continued on our way, it was now very warm which probably accounted for it being very quiet and with very few birds in evidence. I caught sight of some movement, it was an Asian-Paradise Flycatcher flicking its very long tail which almost goes over its head. Nearby a bird landed on the trunk of a tree, it was a woodpecker, a Common Flameback. We continued on our walk stopping every now and then to see if anything was about. It was during one of these pauses in our walk that we saw a thrush sized bird shovelling through the leaf litter. It had an orange head and underparts with a blue grey mantle and a white slightly streaked throat, an Orange-Headed Thrush.

With time getting on it would soon be time to head back to our taxi and make the return trip to our hotel. So I had resigned myself to the fact that the one bird I had wanted to see at this forest was going to elude me. When I noticed something move, training my bins on it I could not believe my luck it was the very bird I had been hoping for. It was sat on a small curved branch swinging back and forth as if on a swing. When it would suddenly take off and catch something in mid air and then return to its perch / swing. It was a Greater-Racket-Tailed Drongo which has very long extensions to its tail which end in årackets magnificent. It is funny how we all seem to latch onto particular birds and really want to see them, I was well chuffed. I did not mind having to climb back into the taxi and face the horrors of the Indian roads and traffic.

The next three days saw us make return visits to Carambolin Lake and Morji Beach plus visiting the sites right on our hotels doorstep.</P>

It had been a wonderful holiday and Goa was a lovely place to visit. The food excelled all our expectations and was incredible cheap. The people were very friendly and the taxi drivers were great with amazing patience waiting in their taxis as we wandered around looking at the birds. But this has become a way of life for them when taking people out birding.

We would thoroughly recommend Goa for a birding holiday, there are plenty of birds to see plus plenty of places to visit and sights to see if you fancy a change from birding.

Philip & Beverley Tyler.