Wednesday 18 November 2020

Rules & Regulations to be followed during OikoEssence Camps & Trails

Dear Participants,

Please read our rules and regulations before you register for any of our camps and trails.

Rules & Regulations to be followed during OikoEssence Camps & Trails

 1. Oikoessence Nature Camps and trails are educational camps and not luxury camps or picnics.

2. Basic necessities will be provided like rooms on double or triple shared basis, simple and wholesome vegetarian food (tea/coffee, breakfast, lunch, and dinner), clean accommodation and toilets. During visits to remote forest areas participants will have to use common washrooms or open air toilets and rough it out.
3. During multiple accommodation facilities at the camp site participants must adjust to them and no separate accommodation will be provided. The group leader will decide the room allotments and the participants in the room, no alterations will be done.
4. Participants must follow strict discipline and no misbehavior will be tolerated any participant found doing so may be requested to leave the camp.
5. Detailed program/itinerary of the following day will be briefed one day in advance.
6. Participants have to adhere to the given itinerary and no alterations by the participants will be entertained.
7. Participants should strictly follow the instructions of the group leader.
8. Smoking and consumption of alcoholic beverages is strictly prohibited.
9. Participants should take care of their belongings & valuable articles & will be solely responsible for them.
10. No portage will be provided.
11. Mineral water will not be provided unless mentioned.
12. OikoEssence will not be responsible for any mishap or catastrophe.
13. Wear comfortable walking shoes and never wear any high heels foot wear.
14. Please carry Water bottle, Cap, Torch, Mosquito repellents, Personal medicines and toiletries.
15. Do not wear any kind of perfume or deodorant while in the sanctuary.
16. Do not carry any music system or MP3, etc. in forest area.
17. Do not carry any inflammables and do not light fire in the forest area.
18. Do not tease any wild animal or destroy habitat of the Park or Sanctuary.
19. Carry clothes according to climate and season (do not wear red, white or any bright/fluorescent colours).
20. If a camp is canceled by OikoEssence for reasons such as lack of enough participation, unless any expense is incurred, a 100 % refund will be given. Participants who cancel their seats prior to cancellation of the camp will not get a complete refund. 50% of the total camp cost will be deducted for cancellation done 15 days prior to the commencement of camp. After that no refund will be given.

21. Vehicles/transport used for local sightseeing/safaris etc mentioned in the programme are Non-AC private vehicles.

Payment Details (For direct payemnts) : 

Payments are accepted by Cash/Cheque/NEFT (should in Favor of – ‘Oikoessence Edutours LLP’). Before transferring any amount, participants must inform us either by Email/phone. Our bank details are as follows:

 

State Bank of India
A/c name: Oikoessence Eduours LLP
A/c No.: 37485993230, Current Account
IFSC: SBIN0003428
Address: N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower parel, Mumbai: 400013

HDFC Bank
A/c name: Oikoessence Eduours LLP
A/c No.: 50200029911271, Current Account
IFSC: HDFC0009040
Address: N. M. Joshi Marg, Mumbai: 400011

If you are using any payment portal for registering for our camps and it shows -'Tickets over',  then we request you to please get in touch with us. 

CALL & WHATSAPP: 9969440476, 9869611810

CALL: 7700911180, 8433769487          EMAIL: oikoessence@gmail.com

Thursday 26 March 2020

Bhigwan camp Report


Bhigwan has always been a fruitful destination for nature lovers. OikoEssence conducted camp to Bhigwan on 12th -13th March, 2020. We were little disappointed this time as the number of  visitors that are not keenly interested in birding/nature is increasing with a great speed in this small place and disturbing the sustainable life of the village. No doubt local villagers are doing a great job by introducing the birds visiting to Ujjani dam water to nature lovers but they must think about keeping some rules and regulations with the help of forest department for sustainable tourism. We were in small group and managed to see following -

(Photographs courtesy- Shripad B. & Rupali G.)

A.Insects
Butterflies

Plain tiger caterpillar on Rui plant Clicked by Rupali G
  1. Cabbage
  2. Plain tiger
  3. Striped tiger
  4. Emigrant
  5. Common crow

B.Birds
  1. Common Coot
  2. Little cormorant
  3. Grey heron
    Grey Heron Clicked by Rupali G
  4. Purple heron
  5. Little egret
  6. Intermediate egret
  7. Black headed ibis
  8. Glossy ibis
  9. Black winged stilt
  10. Asian Openbill 
  11. Little ringed plover 
  12. Pond heron 
  13. Yellow wagtail
  14. Long tailed shrike
  15. Red wattled lapwing
  16. Indian Robin
  17. White throated kingfisher 
    Grey Heron with Catch. Clicked by Swati M.
  18. Paddy field pipit
    Paddy field pipit Clicked by Shripad B.
  19. Ashy crown sparrow lark
  20. Wood sandpiper
  21. Black drongo
  22. House sparrow
  23. Rudy shell duck 
  24. Laughing dove
  25. Pied bushchat
  26. Eurasian marsh harrier 
  27. Osprey
  28. Peregrine falcon
  29. River tern 
  30. Whiskered tern
  31. Brown headed gull (?)
  32. Northern pintail (?)
    Brahminy Mynah Clicked by Swati M.
  33. Eurasian spoonbill
  34. Small pratincole
  35. Northern shoveller
  36. Purple sunbird
  37. Brahminy starling 
  38. Brahminy kite
  39. Green bee-eater
  40. Purple moorhen
  41. White breasted waterhen
  42. Citrine wagtail
  43. Black tailed godwit
  44. Greater flamingo
  45. House crow
  46. Indian nightjar
  47. Red vented bulbul
  48. Pallas's gull 
  49. Woolly necked stork
  50. Painted stork
  51. Western reef egret
  52. Black winged kite
  53. Black kite
  54. Asian Pied starling
  55. Garganey

C. Reptile
  1. West Indian leopard gecko




MORE PICS


Spoonbills Clicked by Swati M.


Brahminy duck Clicked by Swati M.
Common Coot  Clicked by Rupali G

Painted stork Clicked by Shripad B.
Pond Heron Clicked by Swati M.
Woolly necked stork Clicked by Rupali G

Gull Clicked by Shripad B.
Purple moorhen Clicked by Rupali G

Greater Flamingo Clicked by Shripad B.

Brown headed gull Clicked by Rupali G

Small Pratincole Clicked by Rupali G

Garganey Clicked by Rupali G
Bar-headed geese Clicked by Rupali G



Black kite Clicked by Rupali G

Marsh Harrier Clicked by Swati M.

Tamarix Spp. flowers Clicked by Shripad B.

Monday 2 March 2020

Bhigwan Camp 13-14 March, 2020

EVENT INFORMATION


This is a good season to observe migratory birds here in Maharashta. Ujani - A Man-made dam on Bhima river near Bhigwan attracts lots of migratory birds. To name a few - plovers, sandpipers, flamingos and the list goes on...
Grab this opportunity to observe and photograph these lovely feathered friends.
Our tentative itinerary is as follows
Day 1 - 13th March - Leave by bus at 6.30am from Swami Narayan temple, opposite Dadar Station (East). Breakfast on the way. Reach Home-stay in Kumbhargaon in afternoon. Lunch. Rest. Small walk followed by Boat ride. Come back in the evening tea. Discussion. Dinner.
Day 2 - 14rh March - Early morning boat ride. Breakfast. Leave for Mumbai. Lunch and evening tea on the way. Reach Dadar by 7.30pm depending upon the traffic.
Charges: Rs. 5500/-
Inclusions - Private vehicle travel from Mumbai to Mumbai (Non-AC).
                    Food - 2 breakfast, 2 lunch, 1 dinner, 2 evening tea.
                    Stay - one night at home stay. (Non-AC)
                    2 boat rides, Guides and expertise charges.
Exclusion - Anything that is not listed in 'Inclusions'. Please not we do not give or encourage packaged drinking/bottled water.
For Further details and booking call us on - 7700911182 / 8433769487.
Click on ticket URL to book your seat. Please give us a call before you buy a ticket/s. The number is restricted to 12 participants only.
Townscript URL for details and to book tickets: https://www.townscript.com/e/bird-watching-at-bhiwan-302124

Check out Last year's sightings her:

Monday 27 January 2020

Punjab - Lohri Celebrations and Dasuya Forest

India has a unique feature of 'Unity in Diversity'. She homes many religions that brings variety of festivals and it adds to her beauty. We at OikoEssence, decided to start our New year 2020 camping with celebration of 'Lohri' festival in Punjab. We got a nice homestay in Amritsar called 4N Homestay. We are thankful to this family who allowed us to be a part of their family's traditional Lohri celebration.

Next day after the celebrations we moved to Dasuya forest for Birding. There is Talwara Dam nearby  which is on the boundary of two states - Punjab & Himachal Pradesh. We are grateful to Dasuya Forest Department for helping us in conducting this camp.

Sharing the list of sightings (All the waders are from Talwara region of Dasuya forest)

Amritsar 
 1. Rose-ringed parakeet
2. Black drongo
3. Common myna
4. Black kite
5. Bank myna
6. Rock pigeon
7. White throated kingfisher
8. Large billed crow
9. House crow

 Dasuya
1. Great cormorant
2. Indian cormorant
3. Little cormorant
4. Grey heron
5. Little egrate
6. Intermediate egrete
7. White throated kingfisher
8. Black kite
9. Eurasian wigeon 
10. Common coot
11. Common shelduck
12. Ruddy shelduck
13. Spot-billed duck
14. Red wattled lapwing
15. Common moorhen
16. Purple swamphen
17. White-browed wagtail
18. Common sandpiper
19. Plumbeus water redstart
20. Indian robin
21. Little grebe
22. White wagtail
23. Common pochard
24. Brown headed gull
25. Crow phesant
26. Rose ringed parakeet
27. Jungle babbler
28. Eurasian marsh harrier
29. Little ringed plover
30. Palm swift

Dassua day 2
1. Red vented bulbul
2.Red whiskered bulbul
3. White eared bulbul
4. Plum-headed parakeet
5. Rufous treepie
6. Black rumped flameback
7. Long tailed shirke
8. Laughing dove
9. Spotted dove
10. Purple heron
11. Cattle egret
12. Barbary falcon
13. Red avadavat
14. Scaly breasted munia
15. Ashy prinia
16. Plain prinia
17. Great tit
18. Black redstart
19. Ferruginous duck
20. Red crested pochard
21. Northern pintail
22. Northern shoveler
23. Griffon vulture
24. Common teal
25. River tern
26. Red jungle fowl
27. Small button quail
28. Oriental white eye
29. Blue whistling thrush
30. Common myna
31. Indian grey hornbill
32. Asian pied starling
33. Red napped ibis
34. Gull billed tern
35. House sparrow
36. Black shouldered kite
37. Eurasian collared dove
38. Grey breasted prinia
39. Yellow crowned woodpecker
Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G


Desert National Park, Bikaner, Jodhpur - Rangilo Rajasthan camp

Pic by Gauri G


Rajasthan has always been favorite destination for many tourists. OikoEssence had a nature camp to Desert National Park. We got to see some awesome desert landscapes, flora and fauna.

The Group
Pic by Rupali G



Being in Rajasthan,one should not avoid visiting heritage sites and off-course enjoying local food and cultural dance!  We visited Desert NP, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Gajner, Jorbeed, Khichan, Jaisalmer and enjoyed every moment of it. Sharing some photographs and list of sightings of the camp. We are grateful to local guide Anwar and Researcher Dr. Ravikiran for introducing us to this wonderful sight of nature.
Below is the list of sightings noted during the camp


Pic by Rupali G
Birds

1.    Bank Myna (Acridotheres ginginianus)
2.    Bimaculated Lark (Melanocorypha bimaculata)
3.    Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)
4.    Cream-coloured Courser (Cursorius cursor)
5.    Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)
6.    Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti)
7.    Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)
8.    Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis)
9.    House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
10. Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis)
11. Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina)
12. Laggar Falcon (Falco jugger)
13. Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis)
14. Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax)
15. Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
16. Common Teal (Anas crecca)
17. Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides virgo)
18. Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
19. Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)
20. Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)
21. Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
22. Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
23. Variable Wheatear (Oenanthe picata)
24. Black Kite (Milvus migrans)
25. Common Coot (Fulica atra)
26. Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
27. Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)
28. House Crow (Corvus splendens)
29. Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis)
30. Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus)
31. Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)
32. Ruff (Calidris pugnax)
33. Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis)
34. White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)
35. Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)
36. Shikra (Accipiter badius)
37. Rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
38. Common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
39. Little egret (Egretta garzetta)
40. Rock pigeon (Columba livia)
41. Indian Pond heron (Ardeola grayii)
42. Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus)
43. Indian robin (Saxicoloides fulicatus)
44. Spotted Red shank (Triga tetanus)
45. Oriental magpie robin (Copsychus saularis)
46. Rufous Treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda)


Mammals

1.    Chinkara (Indian Gazell)
2.    Blackbuck
3.    Nilgai
4.    Indian Hare
5.    Hanuman Lagur
6.    Wild boar
7.    Desert Fox
Grey Mongoose


Photographs

Pic by Gauri G

Pic by Shreya B

Pic by Shreya B

Pic by Shreya B

Pic by Shreya B

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G
Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Rupali G

Pic by Gauri G

Pic by Gauri G
Pic by Rupali G


Pic by Rupali G


Pic by Rupali G