With rainy season couple of months away and summer at its peak, we decided to explore yet another place in Konkan region – Dapoli. One reason to select Dapoli was that it is at an altitude of 800 ft and also known as “Mini Mahableshwar”. We had booked a room at Serene Ravine Homestay in Kolbandre village; which was around 8 KMs away from the Dapoli town nestled in the dense jungle.. and it was indeed a lovely stay there. As always we started at around 6 AM and drove through the Tamhini ghats. The roads are pretty good now except at some patches. It was a journey of around 6 hours till we reached our destination. We checked-in by 12 PM and after having some delicious lunch, I decided to explore the place a bit for birds. I could see a lot of Red-whiskered bulbuls, white-cheeked barbets and also spotted a Vigors Sunbird. As it was too hot, I decided not to spend too much time and returned back to the resort.
We had planned to visit Ladghar beach on Day 1; hence we started by 5 PM. The beach is around 18 KMs from the resort and it took us almost an hour due to some really narrow roads; however we did manage to reach just in time for the sunset though. This beach is also known as “Tamas Teertha” and has grainier reddish colour sands in patches. There was quite some crowd on the beach with lot of people swimming in the water; hence we walked towards right which was relatively less crowded. Next couple of hours we spent enjoying the lovely sunset and yes, we did manage to spot around 7 Ruddy Turnstones and a couple of Lesser Sandplovers in breeding plumage. We returned back to the resort by 8:30 PM and after a sumptuous dinner dozed off to sleep in no time..!
Here is short video of a Lesser Sandplover at Ladghar beach:
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Day two started with an early morning trail at 6 AM. We could hear a lot of Grey Junglefowls. There are multiple trails around the resort and even walking along the main road is very beneficial for bird-watching. We saw an Orange-headed thrush, Gold-fronted Leafbirds, Malabar-Pied Hornbill, White-cheeked Barbets, Indian Blackbirds, Sirkeer Malkoha, Black-hooded Oriole, Golden Oriole, Jerdons Leafbird, Blue-eared Kingfisher, Common Kingfishers, Stork-billed Kingfishers, Emerald Doves, White-rumped Munias, Red-vented and Red-whiskered Bulbuls.
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One of the best parts of our stay was the calmness of the place… When we had nothing to do, we could just relax outside our rooms and it was very pleasant and calm, even at noon with nice breeze. In evening, we had planned to visit two places, Harne beach and Anjarle. Harne beach is famous for the fish auction that takes place everyday, 7:30 AM in morning and 4 PM in evening. We reached there pretty much on time and were surprised to see how buzzing the place was; filled with huge quantities of different types of fishes. I also managed to click a Western Reef Egret at this beach.
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Next, we started our journey to Anjarle by 5:00 PM, where in we specifically wanted to visit Kadyavarcha Ganapati temple. It was beautiful drive with lot of twists and turns up and down the hill. We also took a stop in between when we spotted lot of woodpeckers at a particular turn up the hill. We saw the Lesser Flameback, as well as the Yellow-crowned Woodpecker. Also, we got to see a sight were a single jungle crow was mobbing a pair of Bonelli’s Eagle and also a White-bellied Sea Eagle.
We reached our destination by 6:00 PM. The Ganesh temple is built on a cliff and offers some beautiful views. There are lot of places when you drive along the coastal highway where you can just park your car and enjoy the sunset. We were back to resort by 8:30 PM, had our dinner and spent sometime relaxing before we went off to bed.
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Final day and we again went for some bird watching early morning. This time I decided to spend the entire session at a nearby stream and it did turn out very fruitful. I observed a pair of Common Kingfisher busy hunting for their breakfast from a pretty close distance. I also got to click the Stork-billed Kingfisher. Other key sightings included the Oriental Honey buzzard, White-browed Bulbul, Jungle Babbler, White-throated Kingfisher and White-browed Wagtail. It was 10 AM already and we were back to the resort and ready to start our return journey.
Here is short video of the Common Kingfisher:
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Coming to Serene Ravine Homestay, this is a must visit place for nature lovers. The location of the resort, the delicious home-made Konkan food or just the pleasant weather; we loved every bit of our stay. And yes, a special mention for the hospitality of Shekhar, Kalyani and their team. Any request and they will go out of their way to ensure it is fulfilled. We couldn’t have asked for a better stay..!
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To sum it up, Dapoli did stood up by our expectations of being a cool and calm place.. We have already decided to visit again in the winter season :-).
How to reach
From Pune, take the Paud road and drive via Tamhini Ghats. Continue till you join the Goa-Mumbai highway by turning left at Mangaon. After driving for around 10 KMs, you need to turn right from where Dapoli is around 67 KMs and there are sign-boards along this road. Google maps are pretty accurate and we followed the instructions all along.
Tips
1. For breakfast, Orchid resort after Tamhini Ghat is a good place for breakfast with clean washrooms. This resort is just before the MIDC.
2. Do not litter and keep the place clean.
Thanks for reading. Let us know in-case of any queries, suggestions, critics and we will be happy to respond.
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– Rudraksha & Shraddha
Here is the list key bird species sighted:
Stork-billed Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, Blue-eared Kingfisher, Emerald Dove, White-rumped Munias, Bonellis Eagle, Western Reef Egret, Ruddy Turnstones, Lesser Sandplovers, Sirkeer Malkoha, Indian Blackbirds, Lesser Flameback, Jerdons Leafbird, Gold-fronted Leafbird, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Vigors Sunbird, White-browed Bulbul
Beautiful bird shots!!
Thanks Mitesh 🙂