The tide timing was just right on the 25th and 26th Jan 2021. Four of us had planned to hit Akshi but as work pressures continued, two dropped out leaving just two of us. Go we had to. Sitting at home for long was getting to us and, a beach was a most welcome change, even if only for one day.
The route
Our stay was at Samudradarshan, a small home stay right at the entrance of Akshi beach. Contact them on +91 976 44 26708 . The location cant be beat and , the stay is spartan but nice and clean. The food, not too bad but not the greatest either. But for birding and access to the beach, the location is perfect. Also, the owner is birder friendly and you can get a cuppa chai very early in the morning, much earlier than when the kitchen opens.
The room
It took a good part of 3.5 hours for us to reach. Ideally you want to take the ro-ro ferry and drive from the jetty to the home stay. For me, the ferry timings didnt suit so we drove both ways. We reached around 1400H and had a lunch of Surmai and chicken. Post lunch a short snooze and we hit the beach at 1700H
The beach towards the north is where the fishing village is. Towards the south lesser hotels and resorts so the crowds are also lesser. As we were walking north we were warned by a local that there were people sitting ahead for “toilet”. The light was dropping and we were mostly looking out to the sea we had noticed them. We saw many men haunching out in the open near the waterline. Maan, so much for swatcch bharat. I bet there are enough toilets around. Why would they want to take a dump on the beach ? That was a damper and we turned 180 and retraced our steps.
The sunset was gorgeous and we saw the usual birds. Mostly sand plovers and kentish plovers. Also saw a white bellied sea eagle flying lazily back to its roost for the night. I didn’t take my big camera and took only a small camera for general pics. But I think I managed a decent shot of these flying birds almost at dusk.
Evening dinner was a on order and we had more of starters and hence ordered a bit of dal and some veges for a “top up”. No “bar” here, so get your own booze or you can request one of the boys there to get you what you want.
The next morn I was set with my skimmer ground pod and fixed my gimbal on it. Cant be beat for low shots. The frisbee like skimmer plate is easy to slide over the sand.
The bird flock was further south of the main beach entrance. I didnt count how many but a few hundred birds easily. Mainly all sand plovers, sanderlings, kentish plovers, Curlew sandpiper, Dunlin, and some ruddy turnstones.
There were also some common terns. I didn’t see many gulls and did see a few gull billed terns. While there a bunch of birders from Dombivili pointed out to us a “tagged bird” . A sand plover perhaps BNHS tagged ? X31 . We didn’t have to move much as the flock stayed pretty much in the same area.
The money shot of the trip
By around 0930H the light was getting harsh and we decided to call it a day. Breakfast was calling and my stomach was rumbling in anticipation. An easy birding morning overall. On the way back we took the small trail through a green patch and saw green bee eaters, grey hornbills, Long tailed shrike, yellow footed green pigeon and an ashy drongo.
That green patch has a few birds that one can watch out for. This green patch is bang in front of the homestay.
After breakfast, Mr Raut the owner who is also interested in birds was asking me where to set up a bird bath. Seems he sees many birds from his window and, many are quite regular.
Tide Nuances: What were looking for is, for high tide around 0900-1000h. This is because as the tide comes in , the waders follow the edge of the water. And all one needs to do is to wait and the rising tide keeps walking the waders closer and closer to us. The other reason is that, for eye level shots, you get less wet !
Photo Tips: Need a long lens. My setup was a 600mm + TC14 giving me 850mm reach. A bean bag would be better than a tripod here. Go low and with for the birds to approach you. Or get a Skimmer ground pod 🙂
Shooting at Akshi
The arty pics gallery
And the complete gallery here
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Great shots !! Good to see someone using the Skimmer Ground pod. I used mine at Lonavala.
I like your relaxed, easy writing style – it is both interesting and informative.
Man, I’ve got to do Akshi beach !
Relaxed and nice….kind of languid. The arty one are jazz, the rest are soul ?