A TRIP TO BHANDUP PUMPING STATION - the birdwatchers paradise

"A Picture from Bhandup Pumping Station"

I am a nature lover, and I often like to go birdwatching with my dad. We had read that "Bhandup Pumping station was  home to a lot of beautiful birds. So, recently on Christmas me and my dad visited it with my aunt and my cousin.

The night before when my dad proposed the trip I readily agreed since I liked birding and in general nature. I was pretty excited and had a tough time getting to sleep. The next morning we had a quick snack and left in our car. We had carried our binoculars and some water. Once we got to Bhandup we used Maps to get us to the right place. When we got onto the right track  the road started getting narrow. After a few minutes we decided to park the car and walk the rest of the way.

"Thousands of Flamingoes at Thane creek Flamingo Sanctuary in Bhandup"

After walking for a bit we came to a Flamingo Sanctuary. We didn't know it was there earlier but since there was nowhere else to go we decided to go there. So while my dad got the tickets we   watched a raptor perched on a near by gate. I looked it up but I couldn't find which bird it was but I think it was a eagle. It looked as if I was tame since it let us get pretty close to it.

Once dad got the tickets we entered the sanctuary. At first we could only hear

the birds, not see any, but the various bird calls gave us hope. After sometime as the road roughened a bit we saw some birds. Our first spotted a Blue Tailed Bee-eater perched on the top of a tree. At first we thought it was a Green Bee-Eater which we had seen quite a few times earlier but then we saw a sign board which said it was the Blue Tailed Bee-eater. We also saw a couple of other birds which I have listed below.

Blue Tailed Bee-Eater

This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green; its face has a narrow blue patch with a black eye stripe, and a yellow and brown throat; the tail is blue and the beak is black.This species probably takes bees and dragonflies in roughly equal numbers. The insects that are caught are beaten on the perch to kill and break the exoskeleton. This habit is seen in many other members of the order Coraciiformes. They call mainly in flight with a rolling chirping whistling teerp.

Painted Stork

This large stork has a heavy yellow beak with a down-curved tip that gives it a resemblance to an ibis. The head of the adult is bare and orange or reddish in colour. The long tertials are tipped in bright pink and at rest they extend over the back and rump. There is a distinctive black breast band with white scaly markings.Painted storks feed in groups in shallow wetlands, crop fields and irrigation canals. The maximum success of finding prey was at 7 cm of water depth at Keoladeo-Ghana National Park. They feed mainly on small fish which they sense by touch while slowly sweeping their half open bill from side to side while it held submerged.

Common Myna

A large, black-and-brown myna with white wing patches, yellow bill, and yellow legs. Gregarious and often found in noisy flocks. Aggressive, often driving away other birds. Can be found just about anywhere but the densest forests. Native to southern Asia, where it is among the most common species. Widely introduced elsewhere in the world, including Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii.

White - Eared Bulbul

Dull gray-brown bulbul with a black head and bright white cheek patch. Also note yellow vent and white tail tip. A lowland species of dry forests, scrub, forest edge, parks, and gardens; can be quite common in cities and towns in parts of its range. Song brief but pleasant and fluid. Gives low raspy “chuk” as well as mellower call notes similar to components of its song.

Red - Vented Bulbul

A dark, sleek, medium-sized bird with a black crest and a white rump. The red color under the tail is often difficult to see. Eats fruit, flower buds, and insects. Conspicuous and sometimes gregarious, often seen high in trees or perched on wires in urban and rural areas; generally prefers scrubby edge habitat instead of dense forest. Calls include a variety of chirps and whistles. Native to South and Southeast Asia. Introduced to Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Polynesian Islands, including Hawaii.

Long Tailed Shrike

A large, noisy shrike typical of open habitats across Asia. Adults have a dark mask and a lightgray upper back with a variable amount of orange on lower back and flanks. Eastern subspecies has complete black cap; melanistic form has more extensive dark mask and is darker overall. Smaller Bay-backed Shrike has thicker black mask; Gray-backed Shrike has darker gray back and lacks orange coloration and white in wings. Juveniles difficult to separate from other juvenile shrikes. Gives loud, screeching calls; also mimics other birds.

"A picture of the jetty at Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary"

At the end of the trail there was a jetty available to take us into the water on a tour to see                                                                                 some flamingoes and other water birds. Some of the birds we saw in the water are listed below.

Black Headed Ibis

A large wader with a white body and bare black head and neck. Males and females look similar 

and both have grayish tail feathers.It probes into mud and shallow water with its long, down 

curved black bill, sometimes submerging its entire head. Found primarilyaround wetlands 

including agricultural fields and occasionally around coastal areas, but also seen foraging in

 dry fields and human-modified landscapes.

Lesser Flamingo

The smallest flamingo in the world, with

 a dark bill and red legs. Note glowing 

red eyes in adults. Juveniles are 

gray-brown and darker than young Greater 

Flamingos. Found in alkaline lakes and coastal 

lagoons, where gathers in huge flocks to eat microscopic blue-green algae. Breeds on remote 

flats sheltered from predators. Migrates and breeds in response to changing environmental 

conditions. 

During the boat ride we a huge flock of flamingoes and their flight was spectacular. I am 

mentioning this as it was amazing and for me, one of the best moments of the whole trip.

Intermediate Egret

A stocky egret that is larger than Cattle and Little Egrets, but smaller than the Great Egret. 

Often confusing and difficult to identify, this bird is truly intermediate between potential 

confusion species. Things to look for include a yellow bill that is shorter than Great Egret but

 longer than Cattle Egret, a relatively rounded head, and shorter legs than Great Egret, 

approaching Cattle Egret. In Asian populations the bill becomes black during the breeding 

season; these birds can be distinguished from Little Egret by their completely black feet and 

shorter bills. Like most egret species, associates with all types of water bodies including wet 

fields and usually flocks with other egrets.

Though I got to see a lot of birds and thoroughly enjoyed the trip there was one thing that disturbed me a 

lot...the amount of trash. Not only the sewage, people had thrown garbage on the trails and even in the 

branches of some trees. I feel this is one of the major problems leading to the extinction of birds and that 

we should try to stop it or reduce it.

Nurture Nature

I love nature.However in cities with their concrete jungles we see less and less of nature.

In villages, like my native village in Nejar we still get to see and experience the beauty

of nature.Whenever I go to Nejar I get to see a lot of birds and animals

e.g   Common Golden Backs,Greater Racket Tailed Drongos,Black Drongos,Rufous Treepies,

Mongooses,Green Bee Eaters,White Throated Kingfishers,Grey Hornbills,Black Kites,

Red Whiskered Bulbuls, Brahminy Kites,Red Vented Bulbuls and Peacocks (Male/Female).

I cannot type the characteristics of all the birds, so I am just writing down my favourite ones.

Common  Golden  Back:

Medium sized woodpecker with golden mantle and wings; white face with malar stripes; black hindneck red lower back and rump.Male has a red crown while female has a black 

crown.

White underparts with strong black scaling; black tail and small bill.

Left : Male | Right : Female

Greater  Racket  tailed  Drongo:

Glossy blue-black plumage; prominent crest of longish feathers,curving backwards;

elongated wire-like outer- tail feathers, ending in 'rackets' diagnostic.

Distinguished from Lesser by larger size and wider rackets.Sexes alike.
Solitary,or in pairs,sometimes small gatherings;
arboreal,but often descends into low bushes; moves a lot in forests.

Black  Drongo:
Glossy black plumage;long, deeply forked tail. Diagnostic white spot at base of bill.
Sexes alike. Usually solitary, sometimes in small parties; keeps lookout from exposed perch; most common bird seen on rail and road travel in India; drops to the ground to capture prey; launches short aerial sallies; rides atop grazing cattle; follows cattle, tractors , grass cutters, fire; consumes vast number of insects; bold and aggressive species, with several birds nesting in same tree.

Rufous Treepie:
Sexes alike. Rufous above; sooty grey brown head and neck; black, white and grey on wings, best seen in flight; black tipped, grey tail. In pairs or in small parties; feeds up in trees, but also descends low into bushes and onto ground to pick up termites.

Brahminy Kite:
White head, neck, throat, upper belly and flanks diagnostic. Chestnut wing coverts, thighs and tail; black outer flight feathers; white tipped tail. Sexes similar in appearance; female tends to be slightly larger. Juvenile various shades of brown, with darker upper parts and lighter head and underparts and rounder tail. Solitary or in pairs, scavenging; also hunts for live food including crabs, crustaceans, amphibians, small reptiles, fish, insects, small mammals and birds.

Besides the birds there is a lot of natural beauty around my village with It's flowing rivers, 
beautiful beaches, pretty flowers and the lovely trees which give us so many tasty fruits.

"Thanks to nature for all the beautiful colours and places."

Ragas Sagas

Rahul Gandhi 2019 Election campaign this picture sums it all.

Creating charts with groups of stacked bars in Excel 2007

Suppose you have some data for sales of some 4 products (A, B, C, D) for the 4 quarters of a year & for 5 regions in the country, an interesting way to represent it in a graphical format may be a column graph, columns (each presenting a product stacked by location & grouped by quarters…
Here is a step by step guide about how to do it in excel 2007…

1. Arrange the data in the below pattern (this is the most important step :-) ):

   	Mumbai	Hyderabad	Delhi	Kolkata	Chennai
   Q1	20	13				A
   	25	11	0	1	1	B
   	2	1		20	3	C
   	1	1	5	7	4	D
   Q2	31	13				A
   	15	11	0	1	1	B
   	8	1				C
   	4	1		8		D
   Q3	16		10	15	5	A
   		12				B
   	5	2	10			C
   	7	5			12	D
   Q4	30		5	5	5	A
   		13				B
   	10	12	18			C
   				5	5	D

   2. Select the whole data table & go to “Insert” tab & insert a “Stacked Column” graph.
   3. On the design tab go to option “Select Data”, or choose “Select Data” from the right click option menu by clicking on the chart.
   
   
   “Edit” the horizontal Axis Labels and drag & select the last column of your data, i.e. the product names. The legend entries should show the locations, do NOT change that. Click “OK”.
   4. Click on any of the data series (any of the bars) on the graph. Right click & choose the format data series option. Set the gap width to “No Gap” & Close.
   5. Insert blank rows between each quarter in your data table. This will create the gap between each group (each quarter).
   6. The legend will also show an extra color without any text, just select & delete that color.
   7. The chart is ready, additional formatting like adding borders, or adding the quarter numbers can be done selecting options from the layout & design tabs.

Rajnikant Reloaded

1. Recently china airports were closed due to heavy fog....... later it was discovered that rajanikanth was smoking in india!!!!!!!!!!
2. Rajanikanth did his kg from seven different places..today those places are known as iits!!!!!!
3. The government of india pays tax to Rajanikanth for living in india!!!!!!!
4. Definition of solar eclipse : when Rajanikanth stares at sun with anger, sun hides behind the moon. this greatest phenomena is called solar eclipse.........!!!!!
5. Rajanikanth woke up one day and decided he should share atleast one percent of his knowledge with the world......thus....................... the google was born!!!!
6. Think what would have happened if Rajani would have born 150 years ago..????? british would have fought for independance....
7. Best Rajani joke!!!!!!---even ghajini remembers rajani!!!!
8. Why do earthquakes occurs????? because at that time Rajanikanth's mobile is on vibration mode!!!!!!!!!
9. Once Rajanikanth bunked a whole day in school.....! since then that day is known as...........................sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10. Breaking news: isro does not exists anymore.....!! Rajanikanth purchased all the rockets for diwali celebration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11. Why did Rajani buy an acre of land wth 4 wells on each corner?????...................... to play carrom!!!!!!
12. Before Tom cruise, Rajani was approached for the movie mission impossible, but rajani refused as he found the title insulting..

The pyramids in egypt are actually......................................Rajanikanths primary school craft projects!!!!!!!!!!!!

UNIX : The difference between [ ... ] and [[ ... ]] (The extended test operator)

The [[...]] is processed as part of the shell grammar whereas [...] is processed like any other command.
Operators and operands are detected when the command is read, not after expansions are performed. 

1. The shell does not do word splitting or path-name generation inside [[...]].This allows patterns to be specified for 
   string matching purposes.
   
2. Parameter expansion and command substitution is allowed.
3. Prevents many logic errors in scripts. e.g [ "$x" = "TEST" ] can be written as [[ $x = "TEST" ]] the variables don't need to be quoted.
4. The &&, ||, <, and > operators work within a [[ ]] test, despite giving an error within a [ ] construct.
   

Some Rajnikant Facts

With Robot (Endhiran) Southern Superstar Rajnikant has shown his box-office might. Here are some fun facts that make him folk lore.
  1. Rajinikanth has counted to infinity, twice
   2. When Rajinikanth does push-ups, he isn't lifting himself up. He is pushing the earth
       down.
   3. Rajinikanth can slam a revolving door.
   4. Rajinikanth knows Victoria's secret.
   5. Rajinikanth leaves messages before the beep
   6. Rajnikanth makes onions cry.
   7. Rajnikanth can delete the Recycle Bin.
   8. Rajnikanth can drown a fish.
   9. When Rajnikanth enters a room, he doesn't turn the lights on,..............
        he turns the dark off.
  10. When Rajnikanth looks in a mirror the mirror shatters, because not even glass is
        stupid enough to get in between Rajnikanth and Rajnikanth.
  11. Rajnikanth' calendar goes straight from March 31st to April 2nd, no one
        fools Rajnikanth.
  12. Rajnikanth can do a wheelie on a unicycle.
  13. Rajnikanth was once on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and was the first to spin.
        The next 29 minutes of the show consisted of everyone standing around
        awkwardly, waiting for the wheel to stop.
  14. There is no such thing as global warming. Rajnikanth was cold,
        so he turned the sun up.
  15. In an average living room there are 1,242 objects Rajnikanth could
       use to kill you, including the room itself.
  16. Rajnikanth destroyed the periodic table, because Rajnikanth only
        recognizes the element of surprise.
  17. Outer space exists because its afraid to be on the same planet
        with Rajnikanth
  18. Rajnikanth once ate an entire bottle of sleeping pills.
        They made him blink
  19. If you google search "Rajnikanth getting kicked"your search will
        generate 0 results. It just doesn't
        happen.
  20. The Bermuda Triangle used to be the Bermuda Square, until Rajnikanth
        kicked one of the corners off.

Some more
  21. Once Rajnikant issued a cheque and there was no balance...........................
       The bank bounced
 22. Its on Breaking news..............
       Rajni ate the missing peice in the Apple Logo
 23. Rajnikant once entered a race, he came... first, second and third.........


Tell me about your favorite one.  :-)

Why Peepli Live for me is a horror movie?

I saw the movie Peepli Live yesterday and it scared me.

Do not mis-understand me, I liked the the movie. It is a well made movie. The first time director Anusha Rizvi has done an admirable job she has her heart in the right place. It has a good script, well supported by actors rather than stars. It was good to see Raghubir Yadav again. For the thinking person Peepli Live is a movie which makes you think. Kudos to Aamir Khan for producing such a movie.

The reason Peepli Live scare me was because it was so real. For me journalism is one of the main pillars of a functioning democracy. It is a profession as noble as that of a doctor or a teacher and carries as much responsibility.  A good and conscientious press will lead to  a mature democratic society.

The way the movie has depicted the state of journalism in our society today is dis-comfortingly close to reality.

We are now living in an age of sponsored news,  where personalities are created and destroyed by the media. News items are created , real issues thrown aside. Viewership and readership numbers are mantras of the new age media Gods.

The common man is being bombarded with deluge after deluge of useless information, often misleading and filled with half truths or worse devoid of truths.

I fervently hope it did prick some consciences in the world of Indian journalism.

The other thought that struck me was the divide between the two Indias.

More on this later

Goa on Bicyles?? ... U guys must be crazy!!!

Disclaimer : We are the kind of travellers or rather I would prefer the term drifters who like to wander about. The count of places covered does not matter to us. We like to go slow absorb the flavour and culture of the places we visit . We like to replay history in out minds. We like being close to nature .

There are some places where time stands still for us...and at those places we too like to stand still and just enjoy the beauty of those places.

Goa - The day before.
On the 7th of May 2010 12:01 AM, a time when our house is generally peaceful. There was a flurry of activity, it looked like some primitive ritual from the dark ages with two people gesturing wildly, arms flaying about and strange noises made in front of a black box emitting strange light and sounds.

It was me and my better half having an animated discussion , with the laptop being the object of attention. Ticket prices, modes of transport and budget Hotels were being thrown about. New theories were presented, previous vacations referred to and individual knowledge was being tested and challenged. The above was the result of a last minute decision to go to Goa for the weekend. Finally after much discussion bus tickets were booked to Goa for a 21:15 departure from Chembur, our preferred mode of travel (train) not being available we opted for the Volvo's. We had short listed a few hotels but couldn't decide on any. Finally we slept at around 2:00 AM.

In the morning after an early rise. The few bare essentials were flung into our rucksacks. The camera batteries charged. We left for our respective offices.

The day in office went by in a haze. Friday deliverables were forgotten. Some additional research on the hotels were done, for which the outcome was that we decided to not book online, since it being an off-season we would get an hotel room quite easily. We did call up a couple of places and were assured of the same. Further time in office was spent taking a couple of prints from google maps.

Reaching Goa

We left Powai at 6.30 PM and hired an auto to take us to Chembur.


Chembur - after a couple of wrong turns we reached Yogi Hotel at Chembur, which is the major boarding point for all private buses plying to myriad destinations. There was a huge crowd of people at the bus stop waiting for buses which were just not turning up.

We grabbed a quick dinner at Lamba's opposite to the bus stand and began our wait. Our promised time of 9.15 PM came and went by without the bus arriving. At last at 10.35 PM the bus arrived and we were on our way to Goa.

Exploring Goa

We reached Panjim, Goa at 11:20 AM. We alighted at the Kadamba (Goa Government) bus station. This was the first major landmark in our Google maps. Thus assured full of energy and enthusiasm we set out to discover the land of beaches.

Our first target was the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC). So with our maps in hand and picturing ourselves as the new age explorers we set out in our quest of the GTDC office. Following the Google Map print outs was a piece of cake for us or so we thought. So taking in the sights and sounds of Panjim, crossing pretty little bridges and admiring the beautiful old style shops and cottages , occasionally being jarred by the glass and concrete modern monstrosities that are now appearing; we were fast closing in onto our target.

After a couple of wrong turns we discovered quite early in our sojourn that Goa in May is really HOT and HUMID. This forced us to switch to plan B and we resorted to the time tested method of asking for directions. We finally reached GTDC. The print outs were quietly pocketed.

Quest for the elusive cycle rental shop.

We had decided to bicycle about Goa. Our enquiry at GTDC was met with reactions ranging from amazement, astonishment, astoundment, bewilderment to ridicule. However our resolve was strong we ditched the GTDC people and continued in our search for what was proving to be an elusive "Bicycle Rental Shop".
We ventured further into Panjim to find a bicycle rental shop. The weather necessitated an additional budgetary outlay towards 2 caps. The better half selects two commando style caps in all their camouflaged revelry.

Another enquiry at the cap shop, still results in a negative response. The shop keeper offers bikes he has for rent.We exit the shop in our soldier caps our resolves strengthened. "Mushkil Waqt Commando Sakt".
Next encounter is with a couple of touts trying to rent of their bikes or offering their chauffeured bike services. Inspite of all the ridicule we faced I again ask them about bicycle rentals. The response is the now familiar disbelieving grin, "I mean bicycles in this age and day in India a global superpower." It all seemed like it was because of people like us that India's status as a global superpower was being undermined. However there was a twist they did mention availability of bicycle rentals near National Cinema Panjim and offered us to take us for Rs.40 on their bikes. We opted to an auto which took us there for Rs.50. (We later realized we were quite close to that place and we could have walked down). It is not far from the Kadamba bus stand.

Renting the bicycle
The first shop we went had only 1 cycle for rent. The next one we went had the bicycles but no ladies cycles and partner needed a ladies cycle (without the horizontal cross bar) as she was getting on a bike after a long time. Luckily there was another shop nearby which had just 2 cycles left.

The cycles looked ancient one the classic Atlas Goldline type you would see on Indian roads which the milkmen use to carry their milk cans. The other the ladies cycle whose handle had been welded and was off-center. The front brakes on the ladies cycle just had two screws with the brake pads completely worn out.

Our polite enquiries for any alternatives resulted in the old battle worn owner launching into a tirade against students who ran off with the bicycles. The folks there though were trusting folks who did not take any deposit just copies of our identification and our phone numbers. The rent they charge for a day was 60 Rs which was probably more than what the cycles cost.

Ride to Miramar

After a few tentative pedals, none of which looked reassuring from behind, partner was wobbling along on the streets of Goa. A closer inspection of the bi-cycle revealed that the handle probably broken in the days bygone had been welded off-center making it difficult to ride in a straight line.
It resulted in me having to carry all the load, at least the Atlas Goldline could live up to its name.
And we set off in the direction of Miramar in the hot sun. The ride was as pleasant as it could be in the HOT sun. My jeans were soaked with sweat and further weighed me down. Still the freedom that cycling provides and feeling the wind against my face ,far out weighed everything else, even the 3 bags that I was now carrying.

Much of the ride is along the Mandovi river and some along the sea.

We picked up tickets for the evening River Boat cruise which are available at the GTDC's Miramar Residency. We crossed the Goa science center on the way. After a distress call to the receptionist at the Hotel Miramar, to pinpoint its location we reached Hotel Miramar.

By now we were used to the looks passersby were giving us, so the arched eye brows of the receptionist was like water of the proverbial duck's back. We even asked her if it was OK to park our cycles there. (As if someone would steal our rusted beauties.)

The Hotel and Miramar Beach

The hotel is decent enough, basic in its amenities, but then we weren't planning to stay in the room for long. We parked our bags in the room changed into our shorts and dashed out to the beach asking the hotel people to pack our lunch for us.

That's right no wasting time for us. The beach while not one of the best beaches of Goa was good enough for us. The water was warm and inviting, not that we needed any invitation. A couple of hours in the water in the hot afternoon sun. (It must have been 13:30 when we went to the beach)Splashing about enjoying the waves, we were lucky enough to see some flying fish. We also saw an eagle swoop down to catch one.Which reminded us that we had not yet had lunch.

We had ordered

• 1 Miramar special prawn curry and rice.
• 1 Fish fingers

So we reluctantly dragged ourselves back to the hotel along with a lot of sand. We collected our lunch , had a cool refreshing bath and settled down to devour the food.

The quantity we got was enormous. Inspite of all the physical activity described above the two of us could not finish the rice and curry. We did finish the huge tiger prawns and the fish though. Sea food throughout our stay was yummy wherever we went.

River Cruise

A short nap and we were pedalling back for the river cruise. The crowd and traffic had increased making it more difficult for my partner to navigate . We were hard pressed for time, the goan heat and cuisine had extended our short nap a bit. By now the hard , cracked and crooked plastic seats of our bicycles were starting to make hteir prescence felt.

The cruise we were taking was named "Santa Monica". We made it in time grabbed out seats. The cruise was pleasant we were treated to some dances depicting the local culture as we floated down the river.

If you are interested in watching the dances you can grab a seat close to the stage. We grabbed one at the front of the boat behind the stage.
After the cruise we roamed about a bit on foot. We debated about buying the famous Goa Cashew and wine and due to my insistence pushed it of for the next day. (Who's going to carry all that load around). We mounted our cycles and off we were. Dinner was a quiet affair at our hotel and we hit the sack.

Dona Paula

The next day was an early start and we pedalled our way to "Dona Paula". Early morning was nice just us, some dogs frolicking about and a lone fisherman.

There are lots of stories associated to Dona Paula which can be found on the Internet. You get a nice view of the sea.

Saw some people canoeing there. After spending some nice moments we were off back to the hotel. Parked our cycles and headed for another dip in the sea.

...and the rest
The receptionist widened her eyes on our return mentioned something about us being crazy, going to the beach so early in the morning , all in good fun. We checked out from the hotel. Before leaving had some omelet pav and bhurji pav for breakfast. The cycles were returned and we headed to Margao to attend a family function.

Disaster strikes us in Margao We discover it being a Sunday all shops are closed there, so no cashews and no wine. We did mange to pick up some cashews at the bus stand though.

So finally at the end of 2 days we returned from Goa with lots of pleasant memories and two sore behinds.