 The drive to Velim Lake is about 1½
hours from Baga and Lloyd picked us up at 6.00 am. We initially stopped
on the western edge of the lake with rice paddies on the opposite side
of the road. Although our main target was vultures, we saw a total of
60 species in the area including all the usual waterbirds. In India
the vulture population has been decimated
during the last few years with the major cause now identified as diclofenac,
a drug used in the treatment of livestock. Velim is now the only reliable
roosting site in Goa with just a handful of birds. As the morning heated
up we had breakfast and then moved on to the opposite side of the lake
where we had seen numerous raptors circling in the thermals. Having
taken a small road at the eastern end of the lake we walked out across
dry fields trying to find  any shelter from the sweltering heat. We saw
3 Yellow-wattled Lapwing, our only Hoopoe of the trip and I found a
lifer for Lloyd – a single Common Starling. As we reached wetter
paddies we had to halt but still enjoyed good views of c6 White-rumped
Vultures with excellent close-ups of Black Kites and a White-bellied
Sea Eagle. Driving away from Velim we had excellent views of 11 Woolly-necked
Storks and 7 Asian Openbills feeding in fields by the roadside.
Bird
List 
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