Last Sunday, Jan 18th 2015, I decided to go for my first photography out for 2015. My family and I had earlier decided to go to Owalekar wadi in Thane. I was all excited and thus had woken up very early on Sunday Morning. However we had to cancel that outing for some reason. Everyone else went back to sleep but I couldn't.
I called up Maharashtra nature park, also know as Mahim Nature Park which is located near Dharavi and asked them for the timings. They told me park opens at bout 7:30 AM. I decided to take a quick bath and reach the park as early as possible.
I travel from Chembur to Malad, daily for work and this park falls on the way. Each time I see the park I would say to myself, I have to visit this place soon. But lack of time and other plans never allowed me to make this visit. Well last Sunday, I finally managed. Leaving all my laze behind I drove to this park. Even though direct road to this park was closed due to the Marathon, I thought it was not a good idea to reach there and go back. I had to take the other way round from BKC and reach my destination. I reached there by 8:00 AM and thought I would just walk in after finishing the entry related formalities. For those who haven't been here, the entry fee is Rs. 10. You need to first enter your details at the main entrance. They'll give you a gate pass. You then need to go to the main building which has a door with library written on it. The lady present here will note down your details in a register and give you ticket for Rs. 10.
Regarding parking, on a normal day you can park your car on road outside. The official said it will not be towed for sure. However since I went there on the same day as the Marathon, the traffic police had instructed the officials to make it clear to the visitor that on that day, parking outside was not allowed. We were asked to get our cars in from the last gate of the park and park the car inside. Parking charges are Rs. 20.
While going in, I read the hoardings of an event that was scheduled for the same day later. It was an organic farmers market. I had heard about this event taking place here on Sundays but this is the first time I actually visited it. A big variety of organic fruits, vegetables, grains and other stuff are available here and you deal directly with the farmers :-)
There were quite a few food stalls and groups of musicians and singers performing live. All in all a really awesome experience. I stood there for quite some time, lost in the music.
Organic Farmers' Market
Initial hour was spent exploring the trails. I also met a disappointed looking photographer with one of those big lenses. He said, there's nothing to shoot here, did you get any photos? I had just begun so I just replied negative and continued exploring. Its then I saw a golden oriole cross the trail right in front of me. I kept an eye on the bird and followed it slowly and managed to get two shots. The bird didn't sit in the open and chose to hide behind the leaves.
Birds at Maharashtra Nature Park
This followed by sighting a Greater Coucal who on the other hand was not hiding and almost invited me to take a few shots. I also got a glimpse of a few Purple Rumped Sunbirds but couldn't manage to get good shots. There were a lot of Rose-Ringed Parakeets.
The only bad thing about the park, were the crows. They would caw constantly and even shoo away other birds. They troubled the Indian Golden Oriole a lot and thus I couldn't take enough shots.
Flowers at Maharashtra Nature Park
I then went to this huge open garden area with abundant flowers, where a lot of butterflies could be seen along with a Kingfisher (picture above) who again wanted to get pictured so didn't go too far despite there being an intruder.
Butterflies at Maharashtra Nature Park
Nice article
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