January - December 2016

18th December 2016: Gift a home- An animal home workshop; Bird homes

On 18th December we organised a free do-it yourself birdhouse workshop in Mumbai. Total 20 people participated in this workshop and learned simple methods of making nest house using waste plastic. The materials and tools required were provided by us. It was a fun activity where young bird watchers and nature lovers build beautiful bird house by themselves.

4th December 2016: Bird watching at Kharghar Hills

On 4th December 2016 we conducted free bird walk at Kharghar hill Mumbai. The walk was attended by 20 enthusiast participants including children. we spotted around 30 species of birds like the Painted stork , Common Maina, Green Bee eater etc.

1st December 2016: Online Course on Birds for beginners

This course received an immense response and was conducted in two batches. We had 15 participants enrolling from all over India and have received positive feedback from all of them. Two renowned ornithology experts Dr. Asad Rahmani and Dr. Parvish Pandya acted as experts for the course. Besides, for the chat session we have experts like Dr. Balachandran, Neha Sinha and Dr. Ketki Marthak.

13th November 2016: Be a Bird Citizen Scientist Program

In memory of Dr.Salim Ali, today's Sunday morning was dedicated to bird watching. We conducted the Be a Bird Scientist program at Talawe wetlands in Nerul, which was attended by 25 enthusiastic bird watchers. The group was guided by Dr. Ketki Marthak & we spotted around 26 species of birds like the Painted stork , Moorhen, Green Beeeater etc. These sightings will be added to our database of birds using iNaturewatch Birds app.

12th November 2016: Bird Camp for young Birders

Today we conducted our first bird camp of the season titled ‘Bird camp for Young birders’ as a tribute to Dr. Salim Ali. It was attended by a small group of inquisitive children, who vow to become birders. We spanned three bird habitats throughout the day including a forest (Green Valley Park), an urban garden (Urban Haat) & grassland (Kharghar Valley). The bird camp was led by our expert Priti Choghale. The children learnt basics of bird-watching giving clues to identify a bird like the size, color, beak, feet type, habitat etc, how to record birds using the iNaturewatch birds app & participated in a mini bird count race. The children were very enthusiastic throughout the day & tried to identify every bird that we could set our eyes on.

28-30th October 2016: Bheemashankar Insect Camp

Our first camp under Insect Tourism was held between 28-30 October 2016 at Bheemashankar Wildlife Sanctuary. During the camp we explored various trails of the sanctuary and sighted 30 species of insects while at light sheet we recorded close to 35 species of moths. We also demonstrated field activities such as pond dipping, quadrant study, beating of branch and baiting. It was observed that the habitat has been thoroughly disturbed due to increased temple tourism and development activities by Forest Department at their forest guest house. We were disappointed with the poor insect diversity. Nevertheless the Giant Squirrel filled our days with their frequent appearances.We intend to write to the concerned officials for the sorry state of the sanctuary surroundings.

23rd October 2016: Butterfly watch at Green Valley Park,CBD

We conducted Mangrove Walk for 100 students(Grade 5) of the Vishwjyot School. This was a free walk sponsored by the United Way, Mumbai. The students were divided into two batches. The 1st batch visited mangroves behind T. S. Chankya, while the 2nd Batch were taken to Talawe wetland. Several mangrove species like Mangrove apple, Sea holly, Gray mangrove, and Meswak were seen along during the walk. Students collected specimens of various shells and dead crabs. Say something interesting about your business here.

1st October 2016: Online Course on bugs for beginners

It was one of the first from our online courses series. We received a great response from enthusiastic insect lovers from all over India & got 8 students enrolled into the course. We had Dr. Shubhalaxmi, Mr. Isaac Kehimkar, Dr. Unniyal, Dr. George Mathew and Dr. Kakkassery as experts in this course.

1st October 2016 : Gardening for Wildlife

We had two batches of this course that teaches participants to transforms their garden to wildlife havens. We had 3 students enrolled into the course. Dr. Urmila Rajadhyaksha and Mr.Isaac Kehimkar guide the students as experts.

18th september 2016: Karvi Flowers Trail to Nagla Block, SGNP

A mangrove walk was conducted for two schools. This was a free walk sponsored by United Way Mumbai. Children had a great time learning about wetland ecosystem. 50 students (grade 7) of Sacred heart school, Vashi, and later 47 Students (grade 7) of Euro School, Airoli participated in the walk. The walk was led by Mr. Isaac Kehimkar and Preeti Dalvi.

27th August 2016: Mothing at Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary

A free lake safari at Kaikondrahalli Lake as a part of the 'Kere Habba Lake Festival' was conducted. The walk was attended by more than 30 participants. We started at 7.30 am in the morning and ended at 9.30 am. The walk was led by Mr. Madhusudhan Shukla. The walk was interesting, and participants could learn about the flora and fauna.

21st August 2016; Insect walk at Valley Park

A mangrove walk for students sponsored by KPMG corporate was conducted. There were 37 participants including students and corporates employees. We spotted around 35 bird species, 8 butterfly species, spiders, garden lizard and insects. The butterfly spotting comprised of the Blue Tiger, Plain Tiger, Common Crow, Rounded Pierrot, Salmon Arab, Wanderer, Bluebottle and Emigrant. The show stealer were the school of fingerlings and the cast of crabs.

13th August 2016: Naturalist Training Programe

We conducted ‘Mangrove Walk’ at Talawe to show the support to the residents of the NRI complex to save the creek and mangrove which are going to be destroyed under the name of development. The walk was led by Mr. Isaac Kehimkar for 30 enthusiast participants. The walk was sponsored by United Way. Participants enjoyed the walk. Highlights of walk: Mangroves like Grey Mangrove, Sea Holly, Meswak, Mangrove apple, and other trees seen.

31st July 2016: Monsoon Flora Walk at Khaghar Valley

The early morning 'Wetland Trail' at Casa Rio Gold, Palava was indeed one full of surprises. The trail started with 5 nature admirers and ended with double the number of people. The unique landscape of Casa Rio Gold garden offers the wildlife lovers a blend of birding, butterfly watching, tree identification and more. The river ecosystem stretching alongside the garden was filled with a lot of bird activity

24th April 2016: Earth Day Seed Collection Drive

A group of 10 Khargharites participated in our Earthday Walk which was led by Mr. Suraj Das. The group went on a tree walk among the kharghar hills wherein they collected seeds of wild species from the forest floor, these included Pongam and Red Silk Cotton seeds. The participants will plant these seeds into sapling bags and which will sprout once the monsoon comes.

22nd March 2016 : Wader watch at Talawe wetland

Royal College of Arts, Science and Commerce invited Mr. Isaac Kehimkar to give a talk on butterflies and butterfly walk.

20th March 2016: Sparrow Walk

We celebrated another green birthday for Mr. and Mrs. Goyal’s family, for their son Eshaan. All the youngsters participated in the secrets of the natural world with nature trail, wildlife Quiz, Treasure hunt and animal footprints on the forest floor and many more.

24th January 2016: Trees for Birds Walk @CBD Valley Park

A group of 30 nature enthusiasts gathered to learn about mangrove ecosystem. The walk was led by Mr. Isaac Kehimkar and Dr. Shubhalaxmi. We saw different mangrove species like, Meswak, Red Mangrove (Rare Species of mangrove), Nipa (Mangrove Palm), and Gray Mangrove (Dominant), Agalocha etc. Besides mangrove we also got to see reptiles, butterflies and insects.