Spend a day of your Republic Day weekend break at the Bird Festival of Goa in the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary. Nestled in the Western Ghats and hemmed in by the Arabian Sea, the state of Goa is replete with amazing bio-diversity. Its avian fauna, resident and migratory, is celebrated annually at the Bird Festival. This year is the sixth edition of the much-awaited event, which the Goa Forest Department and Goa Tourism are hosting. The festival is a major draw for bird lovers who arrive in droves from far and near to explore, spot and photograph the birds, as well as the other inhabitants of the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary.
Location Is Everything
The north-to-south coastline of Goa is about 105 kilometres long and is part of the Western Ghats, which constitute one of the 25 mega biodiversity hot spots in the world. Therefore, its location affords Goa to represent a unique confluence of two diverse ecosystems, marine and terrestrial. The Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary is located in northeast Goa, in the Ponda taluka, and is one of the smallest protected areas in Goa. The total area of the park is 7.98 square kilometres.
Birds Of A Kind
You can spot the Ruby Throated Yellow Bulbul at the sanctuary, the state bird, and among many other species, the Indian Gray Hornbill and the Golden Backed woodpecker. The park rangers are always ready to help visitors and point out the vantage points to spot and photograph birds.
Talk And Learn
Apart from the many activities lined up for the visitors, such as workshops, field trips, and film shows, you can also attend seminars. These will feature speakers such as Dr Ashwin Viswanathan, a trained ecologist, and his talk is themed "State Of Indian Birds How Are Goa's Birds Doing" Then, there will be Surender Mehra, IFS, and ex- Field Director of Rajaji National Park, Corbett Tiger Reserve, and Deputy Inspector General at National Tiger Conservation Authority, and he will speak about "Developing local capacities for Avian Tourism in and around Protected Areas". You can attend the talk "In Search Of Sep The Oriental Pratincole" by Dr S Subramanya, who is well-known in ornithology circles as Subbu or Subbi. Then there are talks on "Bird Art And Conservation Education" by Abhisheka Krishnagopa, who has been a part of ATREE and BHNS there is also the talk "Confessions of a crazy birder" by Dr P Jeganathan, a scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore.
The Bird Festival of Goa is part of the proactive strategy of Goa Tourism and the forest department in showcasing the state's bio-diversity and encouraging investment via time, and effort, of all those interested in ecology and related fields.
The Information
What The 6th Bird Festival of Goa.
When 27th, 28th and 29th January.
Where Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Bondla-Goa.
How to get there
The sanctuary is easily accessible from Panjim and Margao, at 50 and 38 kilometres, respectively. There is public and private transport available to commute to the sanctuary.
Goa is well linked to the rest of the country via road, rail, and air transport.
