Foxy has a cunning plan onwards and upwards.

[Dave Williams]

Was this to be the order of the day?

Much bigger but equally distant, one of only two 554)Indian Grey Hornbills I saw.Straight in to the early morning light too.

Indian Grey Hornbill.  554 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

Was this to be another trip like the one to the Bollywood Housing Estate?

There had been taken there too.( Cleverly brought back as I'd forgotten them!)

555)Chestnut-tailed Starling

Chestnut-tailed Starling.  555 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

556)Grey-headed Bulbul

Grey-headed Bulbul.  556 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

and a tad closer, 557)Yellow-throated Sparrow

Yellow-throated Sparrow.  557 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

570)Plain Flowerpecker

Plain Flowerpecker.    570 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

571)Green Bee-eater

Green Bee-eater.    571 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited March 31, 2023 by Dave Williams

[Dave Williams]

Well, maybe it wasn't all bad.

A small flock of arrived in a near bush 558)Jungle Babblers

Jungle Babbler.  558 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

and as the sun came out, a couple of 559)Tawny-bellied Babblers passed through nearby too

Tawny-bellied Babbler. 559 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

A 560)Common Iora was also in the same place

Common Iora.    560 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

Lloyd spotted a distant 561)Forest Wagtail which I was able to tack down closer using my amazing fieldcraft skills. They are always on the move and not the easiest subjects but if you saw the number of deleted shots you'd realise my photographic skills are not that good!

 

Forest Wagtail.   561 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

Next up another lifer, and my second of the day 562)Black-headed Cuckoo Shrike

Black-headed Cuckoo-Shrike.    562 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

Just after this another car pulled up and out of it appeared two camera toting individuals. One local one not. They walked past us the tourist totally blanked us, the guide merely asked if there was anything good about to which Lloyd replied "Nothing of note" . Two lifers was pretty good in my book.

As the guide walked away Lloyd mentioned he always wore Wellington Boots as he was afraid of getting bitten by a snake. He also mentioned that, new to guiding, he had once posted a shot on the internet of a bird that had its appearance altered by decreasing the colour to claim it as something it wasn't. Lloyd had corrected it to which the said guide had asked who did he think he was questioning a professional guide.When he later found out that Lloyd is considered one of the very best he has accepted the correction quickly!

"Who is this guide?" I asked.

"Savio Fonseca" came the reply. Take note @xelas and @Soukous, it was your mate!!

 

Anyway  Lloyd and I continued to wander locally. I got some excellent views of 563)Purple-rumped Sunbird

Purple-rumped Sunbird.  563 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

Savio and his client got in the car and drove off heading away from Bondala altogether .

 

[Dave Williams]

We'd had a 6.00am start as it was bit further to travel to Bondala and by 9.30 I was getting hungry and thirsty. Que Lloyd's picnic!

While we were stopped for that I was able to add another to my photo list.

564)Jungle Crow

Jungle Crow.   564 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

Whilst having breakfast Savio had driven past us again. He'd taken his client to a local cafe for their breakfast spot, bet they din't get any additions while they were there!

Once again we passed them as we headed in to the wooded area leading to the Bondala Zoo entrance. Again there was little interaction.

Lloyd stopped just short of the entrance to the zoo and we scanned the trees finding

565)Western Crowned Warbler

Western Crowned Warbler.   565 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

[Dave Williams]

566)Yellow-browed Bulbul

Yellow-browed Bulbul.    566 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

and this pair of 568) Grey-headed Green Pigeon. Hang on a minute, according to my guide book they were Pompadour Green Pigeon. Why change such an imperious sounding name to something drab and boring.

Grey-headed Green Pigeon.   568 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

We stopped at the park entrance and Lloyd went and purchased the tickets. Whilst I was stood there Savio's client walked straight past me heading to buy theirs ( bet he paid for breakfast too!) Once again I was totally ignored. What was it with his arrogance, maybe because I was wearing swim shots and a t-shirt. By now he was wearing leech protectors even though it was drought conditions and probably thought me a fool!

Anyway we were off first and headed to a spot where Lloyd announced there was a possibility of my target, the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher. 

We searched the area thoroughly, looking in to an overgrown deep gully which was now bone dry.

No sign of the Kingfisher but further down the road I spotted a 567)Grey Junglefowl, another lifer. 

I went off down the road for a closer look but a jeep got there first and a guy with a camera jumped out. Damn it, the bird was gone he'd scared it deep in to the forest. it turned out he wasn't interested in the bird but he explained he worked as a forestry guide and would I mind if he took a picture of me taking pictures. I smiled, posed nicely and wondered if my bright green swim shorts would be made famous in their next publication of how not to dress to go birding! 

Grey Junglefowl.   567 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

What seemed like an age of fruitless search of the dry gully was starting to make me think we were not going to see the Kingfisher. Ah well, Lloyd was really trying hard for me but it was starting to get a bit boring. Savio and client turned up and wandered over. Savio asked if we'd seen the bird and Lloyd said "No". When asked if he'd seen it recently he added "a fortnight ago". I wandered off some 10m away not wanting to get involved with them.

That's when I saw it.

Deep in the gulley, a tiny little burst of colour was sat on a branch.

I beckoned Lloyd over and when they realised I was on to something Savio and client followed quickly.

Lloyd got there just in time to see it fly.

Savio demanded I show him my shot to prove what I'd seen!!

When he saw it I could tell he was envious. They had missed it altogether.

Lloyd meanwhile had headed back from where he'd been and to where he saw the bird fly.

Sure enough he located it and everyone got to see this very special sight.

574)Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher.    574 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Savio and client left but I played around for some time with different settings trying to get a decent shot. The bird just sat there. 

Wow!

For once I wished I'd taken my big heavy lens and tripod as they would have coped far better with the poor light and size of the subject. That said, I haven't done too badly and besides, the bird should be shown true to size rather than full in the frame . It's not a Turkey after all.

Even in this one it's pretty huge!

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher.   574 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

Like the Pompadour Green Pigeon it now appears that in some circles the name of the bird has changed, it's now called a Black-backed Kingfisher. How unexciting is that! And why would you do that? Is it a woke?

Edited March 31, 2023 by Dave Williams

[Dave Williams]

So that was it, objective achieved and an hour well spent searching for it.

We headed up the road and stopped to take a look from the viewing platform overlooking a lake.

Savio was already there and as we approached he pointed out the spot where two birds were to be seen as he left.

572)Puff-throated Babbler

Puff-throated Babbler.     572 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

and 573)White-headed Starling

White-headed Starling.    573 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Both were "lifers" for me.

Lloyd said he'd probably only told us to even the score on the Kingfisher . Oh well, thank you Savio but I'll stick with Lloyd thank you very much.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Dave Williams

[Dave Williams]

One last sighting for the day and that concluded what had been an outstanding trip.

569)White-cheeked Barbet

White-browed Bulbul.     569 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Edited April 3, 2023 by Dave Williams

[Kitsafari]

it'll always be oriental dwarf kingfisher to me, that tiny bob of flashy colours!

pleased it finally showed for you!

[Galana]

A great day out indeed. OK so folks play games with names. I am convinced it is to sell more books for 'train spotters'. You see the bird and call the shots. Nothing else really matters.

[PeterHG]

Great story and I’m glad to got to see the dwarf kingfisher! With excellent photos in less than ideal circumstances.

[BRACQUENE]

I am impressed Dave by the quality of your pictures ; amazing White-headed Starling !

[Peter Connan]

Wonderful stuff Dave!

[Dave Williams]

Thanks all, nearly done with Goa then I can start looking to see what everyone else has been top to!

[xelas]

On 3/31/2023 at 4:25 PM, Dave Williams said:

"Savio Fonseca" came the reply.

I would recognise his attitude even without this last line !

 

Congratulations on finding the Dwarf. It is not easy for me to find my phone in the dark room let alone a tiny bird down in the equally dark gully. BTW we have not even entered to zoo. All our birding was done outside of its entrance. Well, we have saved money  ... to spend it later for the lunch .

 

Why all small birds love to seat on top of tall trees?!

[Dave Williams]

To conclude my Goa trip, here are some of the birds seen locally to our hotel and in some instances on my trips out too. .

575)Black-headed Ibis

Black-headed Ibis.  575 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Dave Williams]

576)Black-rumped Flameback

Black-rumped Flameback.   576 by Dave Williams, on Flickr