pink flamingos in sewri

I heard about the Pink Flamingos in Sewri Mud Flats this morning and already I’ve experienced the sight of these birds from god-knows-where relaxing and enjoying the Mumbai Sun at Sewri Jetty - a location that would remind you of Dayavan/Nayakan, Agneepath, Hum and a lot of other Hindi movies.

We left from Andheri around noon and spent the next hour, navigating through different broken roads of Sewri west and east, through the smells of fish, passing through huge complexes of Bharat Petroleum (Prohibited – written in all their boundary walls) – before we reached the site of the action - Mumbai Port Trust and Sewri Jetty.

There was some kind of Annual Flamingo Festival organized by the Bombay Natural History Society yesterday – where binoculars were provided and a pick up was arranged from the station and I guess for novices like me – the birds would have been identified.

Based on what I read subsequently there were about 1500 flamingos in the area. It wouldn't be possible to get closer due to the marshy terrain. It would also affect the ecology of the area as on closer observation – we noticed that the marshy land was a large breeding ground for frogs, crabs, and fishes. 

You can view the sight of hundreds of tadpoles moving between water and soil – which must be like a feast to the winged beauties. Only the local kids got in the marsh on one side to fish and play there.

Apart from the pink flamingos with their black wings, there were smaller birds. I did see glimpses of a kingfisher – but then I am no expert.

This place is a good way to kill time and also enjoy nature. If you have good photography skills – then a fantastic place to experiment.

You can view the other docks at a distance. And if you have a good imagination – you can weave stories of smugglers and racketeers moving from Sewri to Mazgaon dock with opium and daru ki bhatti of Kancha Cheena from Mandwa coming in the trailers unloaded after a signal of a torch blinking thrice.

Of course – the flamingos might not appreciate the spotlights taken away from them.