Saswad Grassland - The Birds’ Paradise !

 

Being a newbie in the world of Bird watching and bird photography, I was always in search of good places for birding near Pune for the last 3-4 months. One such place which almost all the bird enthusiasts in the community talk about is the Saswad Grasslands. After hearing so much about it, I was also very curious and excited about this place and the variety of bird species found around this area.

Even after talking to a lot of birders and searching on the internet, no one was able to tell the exact spot or location of this place. Everyone just said it has spread across the area from Diveghat to Saswad, Jejuri, and Bhuleshwar. That's why I decided to go there and explore as much area as possible on my own.  Coincidentally, my friend Omkar Godbole (from Mumbai) was planning to visit Pune around the same time so we decided to go together for a full day birding tour at Saswad. Omkar is into bird watching for the last 8-10 years and has a very deep knowledge of different kinds of birds in India. He is also very good at bird identification and he has been my guide in this field since I started bird watching. So I was very happy to have him along with me on this tour. We finalized the date and rough plan for this tour and we were all set for the exciting day.

 

On Thursday morning (14th January 2021), we started our journey early in the morning at 6 AM so that we will be able to reach Saswad around a golden hour (just after sunrise) which is the best time to see bird activities and capture them. It was a chilly winter morning in Pune and it was very dark when we started our journey. As we reached near Dive ghat, the whole sky already started turning orange and we were able to witness the beautiful sunrise from the middle of the hills around. We stopped at a few places along the ghat road to capture some beautiful landscape shots. In all, It was a good 1 to 1.5 hours ride to reach Saswad and from there we took the left turn towards Waghapur road. (The same road further goes till Bhuleshwar temple).

Beautiful Sunrise on the way !

As we travelled just 2-3 Kms on this road, we started seeing lush green fields full of Jowar combs on both sides of the road and we could only hear a Remix of bird songs. We were so close to civilization but still, we felt like we were in a completely different world full of nature and birds. It was a very refreshing and beautiful experience. As we were driving through this area, we were welcomed by a singing pair of Pied Bushchats feeding on the Jowar fields. I am not sure about the purpose of those calls but it was melodious. Along with these Bushchats, there were few flocks of Munias (Red Avadavat) enjoying their breakfast and having a sunbath in this golden light. We stopped at a few places along this road to capture a few glimpses of these birds feeding on Jowar cobs with the lush green background.  We also got to see some Shrikes and Stonechats sitting on top of the bushes along the roadside looking to catch small insects for their breakfast. It was a perfect start to a birding day.

 

Siberian Stonechat Female

As we move further along this road, we saw a small water body just a few meters away from the main road and it was crowded with a variety of water birds like Painted Storks, Woolly-necked storks, Greater and Little Egrets, Black-headed ibis, Red-wattled Lapwings and few more enjoying their morning bath and searching for their food. We parked our bike and slowly started approaching them so that we could observe them closely and photograph. As we reached near the water body hiding behind the bushes, we found that there were few more species like Yellow and White Browed Wagtails, Green Shanks, and Sandpipers foraging around. We sat there for around 30-40 mins and observed them carefully and got a few excellent shots of birds along with their reflections in the water. I was amazed to see such a large variety of birds sharing the same habitat and enjoying their routine activities together. We did not expect to see so many water birds in this area as this is mainly famous for grasslands. I saw many of these species for the first time and Omkar briefed me about how to identify them and some of the specialities and habits about many of them. It was a great experience.

Wooley Necked Stork

After spending about an hour, we continued towards Vanpuri village in the search of some grassland residents. The area near Vanpuri village is a hilly area covered with grasslands and it's the home for a lot of birds as well as animals. There is no specific spot here where we can sit and watch the birds so we started taking some off-road routes between the fields looking for some bird activities. While going on one of such routes, we spotted a pair of Grey Francolin that came out from the bushes and ran quickly to the other side of the road. We could see them behind the bushes calling for some time but they did not come out so we could not get clear shots.

 

As it was already noon and there was bright sunlight around, the bird activity was already dried up. Looking around, we decided to take one of the off-road routes in the area. It was a typical village road going towards a small Shiva temple on the hilltop. We parked our bike near the temple and started walking around the grassland to look for some bird activity. In spite of the reduced activity, we were able to spot a few members like Malabar Lark, Paddyfield Pipit, and Rufous-tailed Lark. These birds were so camouflaged and were very hard to spot and photograph. After waiting there patiently for some time, a few of them were kind enough to come and sit on top of the rocks for some time scanning the area around, that's when we managed to get few good shots. After trying to spot a few more species in that area for some more time with no luck, we decided to head back towards Saswad and explore the road towards Jejuri (Saswad-jejuri road). 

Malabar Lark

This road was not as beautiful as the Waghapur road which was full of fields on both sides but there were many small factories and other buildings along this road. Still, there were few Off-road routes going into small villages which had the possibility of good birding activity. We saw another water body along one such route and we went there to try our luck and we were surprised to see it full of different types of Ducks and other water birds. We went a little more closer to the water and found a perfect spot from where we could see all these bird activities from a decent distance without disturbing the birds. When we carefully observed for some time we found that there are almost 5 different species of ducks present here(Omkar was able to identify all these species). Few of them were just resting on the rocks on the edges and few were moving from one part of the water to another. Along with the ducks, few Black Winged Stilts were also seen along the edges. As we were looking around the water body for other activities, I spotted a pair of beautiful bird foraging on the edge of the water body. And guess what, it was a pair of Hoopoes !! It is one of the birds that always fascinates me and I was dreaming to see and capture them for a long time. We waited there for some more time allowing them to come a bit more close and we were able to capture some decent shots with their Crest up. This place was really a pleasant surprise for us and a special experience. After spending around 30-40 mins here, we decided to leave them alone and take a lunch break at some Dhaba on the main road.

Common Hoopoe

After having lunch and resting there for some time, we decided to look for Raptor's activity which is likely to increase during the afternoon. This whole area is also very famous for different kinds of Eagles, Kites, Harriers, and other raptors. One good thing about raptors is you can spot them hovering in the sky and then follow them to go closer. We also spotted one such raptor hovering in the sky at some distance. Even after following him for some distance, we were not able to identify the species. While following him through our binoculars, we spotted another raptor sitting on the nearby treetop. We parked our bike and rushed to the spot through a very narrow road between two farms. As we had a closer look at the bird, we got to know that it was the famous Short-toed Snake Eagle. He was sitting on the top of the tree like a king, scanning part of the territory. His small crest was adding special charm to his beauty. Within a few minutes, he took off from the tree spreading his vast wings and took a couple of circular rounds flying over our heads and went deep into the treeline. As he was very close to us,  we were able to capture some great shots of him in flight. It was an absolute pleasure to see an eagle this close and capture him. This was undoubtedly the best moment of the day. We spent some more time in this area looking for more activity of raptors but ended up seeing only Black-shouldered kites, black kites and Shikra at a far distance.

 

Short-toed Snake Eagle

After witnessing all this action, it was time to head back towards Saswad and start our return journey. But that was not the end, another surprise was waiting for us. On our way back, we came across a small pond and we spotted a pair of Spot-billed ducks. As we reached near the pond we realized that there was a lot more than we expected. There was also a family of Little Grebes swimming around and few cormorants basking on the nearby trees. It was a perfect location to shoot the ducks because we were able to go close to them and shoot from their eye levels. It was a very scenic location with a few small village houses, trees, and lush green fields surrounding the pond. After a few minutes, White-Throated Kingfisher also joined the party. After sitting on a tree on the edge for a few minutes, he took a quick dip into the water,  flew away with a catch. We could spot a water snake also in this pond. This place was really full of surprises and we thought we could spend a whole day just sitting here and observing how amazing the Pond Life is. 

Little Greebs

Unfortunately, we were running out of time so we decided to call it a day and head back to Pune with the promise that we will come back to this place soon and explore the remaining parts of this heavenly area and hope to find many such hidden gems. Just after starting the return journey from this place, we spotted one such Gem, the Yellow Wattled Lapwing which was cherry on the top. After another 2 hours of drive through evening traffic, we reached home at around 7 PM. Overall it was a memorable birding experience and I would like to tell you that this place is the real Bird Paradise and I would highly recommend this place to all the birders near Pune. It's a Must visit place for birders and if you have not been here, It should be on top of your checklist.

 

We are now planning to go to Bhuleshwar temple and Mayureshwar national park for our next birding tour, which is around 30 more km from here. This area offers great chances to spot more bird species like Indian courser, White-bellied Minivets along with some other animals like Chinkara, Indian grey wolf, Bengal fox, etc. stay tuned for more ... See you soon.

 

Happy Birding!

 

 

 

 - Summary -

Location: Saswad Waghapur road

 

The route followed: Pune - Dive Ghat - Saswad - Vanpuri - Waghapur - Jejuri road 

Map Link

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Time: Start early in the morning such that you reach Saswad by 7 -7.30 AM

 

Bird Species spotted:                                                                            Click here to view all photos