Thursday, February 7, 2013

Pongal at Goa - the trees at Bondla wildlife sanctuary

13th January 10: 30 am

Bondla sanctuary is tiny.  It is just eight sq kms in area! And no one knows about it, except the locals, it appears.

It is hard to get to, and tucked away, and has a little zoo(which we didnt go to) for rehabilitation of injured animals.

I didn't see much bird life - some saw the trogon - but we heard the hornbills call for the longest time, before we suddenly saw them, scooting away from us noisy lot.

For me, it was the trees and the vines that I admired.

Look at the artistic natural curve of the vine!

A sambar deer peeked curiously at our vehcle.

Gliricidia sepium was in bloom everywhere


As was the Terminalia paniculata

...more vines



...and roots, keeping the soill together


Amazing.  What was it though?  Unfortunately no tree expert around.  I missed the Nizhal people!
The peeling bark of the Lagerstroemia giving it away.  I have not seen such large specimens ever.  And as I admired this one, along the fringes of the resort, the Malabar Trogon gave me a wonderful "darshan"!


No, not a snake, just this massive vine!
We climbed up to a large laterite rock crop that evening, in search of a night jar.  The night jar sat looking like a rock, but we saw a most beautiful sunset. 


That eveningI wondered about the logic of a 8 sq km park.  Which self-respecting mammal or reptile would be restricted to 8 sq kms?

Isn't this a way of inviting animal-man conflict?

I wonder if there are any plans to make a corridor connecting it to the larger Bhagwan Mahaveer?

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