I was spending a rather boring vacation this year. Most of my friends had gone to their native places for spending the holidays. But I could not go anywhere because my brother was having his examinations. Seeing my plight, my father offered to take me to watch flamingos at Karave, Nerul.

I was not much fascinated by his offer because he had taken me for flamingo watch at Sewri last year. Flamingo watch at Sewri is a very popular event attracting a lot of ornithologists including many foreigners. But our experience was disappointing. We were able to see these flamingos only at a distance. Moreover, the journey to that spot was very tiresome.

My father explained to me that Karave is near Nerul and is much closer to Anushaktinagar. He promised me that it would really be an exciting experience. Half-heartedly I agreed.

We started our journey by Mumbai – Panvel highway. We travelled straight till Vashi. Then followed Palm Beach road and took a right turn at INS Chanakya. There my father’s friend Ravi Uncle and his son Arun were waiting for us who later guided us in our exploration.

As we proceeded further, the scenario changed drastically. The road became a less travelled one. Quiet, lonely and full of greenery, unlike the busy and noisy roads of Mumbai. We reached a picturesque spot of mangrove trees, marshy land and thick vegetation. There was also a natural lake with a lot of birds. We did not feel that we were in Mumbai!

Being a Sunday morning, the place had quite a few visitors. By seeing the cameras and binoculars they carried, it was evident that they were serious bird lovers. The way they behaved also was different from normal picnickers.

We ventured further north by the side of INS Chanakya, where there was a long narrow bridge leading to a quay. We had a nice walk by this 200 m bridge which took us to a boat jetty, opening to the creek. We could see BARC on the other side of the creek. On the south, the Nhava- Sheva port and Uran were clearly visible.

As soon as we reached, a huge flock of flamingoes came flying from Uran side and landed on the shallow water just in front of us. It was a really wonderful sight! Standing there, we got a rare opportunity to watch them very closely.

Flamingoes travel all the way from Rann of Kutch to Mumbai’s mudflats to escape from the harsh winter there. Every year these winter guests reach Mumbai and make our city their home till the onset of monsoon. The relatively calmer surroundings make Karave mudflats a preferred location for them. Besides, the shallow waters of Karave provide them sufficient food - fish, algae and small insects.

Around Mumbai, mainly two varieties of flamingoes are found – greater and lesser. At Karave, we spotted plenty of greater flamingoes. They are large birds with cream coloured beaks. Greater flamingoes are about 120 to 150 cm tall and weigh around 3.5 kg. Their close cousins, lesser flamingoes are smaller in size with a height upto 80 cm and weight 2.5 kg. They have red coloured beaks. Flamingoes have flexible necks that help them to bend downwards to eat.

We spent hours watching these marvelous creatures. Their majestic gait, graceful look and swift movements filled our hearts.

It was 1’o clock in the afternoon. The sun was blazing and we were hungry. Reluctantly, we decided to return. Coming home, my father suggested me to gather some more information about flamingos and write an article about them in the forthcoming issue of Aksharam.