Bhigwan (Marathi: भिगवन) is a town on the border of the Ahmednagar,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

and

Solapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, with a branch lin ...

districts in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Bhigwan is famous for

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

, especially

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...

and wildlife photography. It is also famous for its authentic Maharashtrian spicy fish dish.

Geography

It is located on the Pune-Solapur Highway around 100 km from Pune on the backwaters of the

Ujani Dam Ujjani Dam, also known as Bhima Dam or Bhima Irrigation Project, on the Bhima River, a tributary of the Krishna River, is an earthfill cum Masonry gravity dam located near Ujjani village of Madha Taluk in Solapur district of the state of Mahar ...

. The distance between Solapur and Bhigwan is 151 km. It is also known as mini Bharatpur. The Ujani Dam is constructed on the

Bhima River The Bhima River (also known as Chandrabhaga River) is a major river in Western India and South India. It flows southeast for through Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana states, before entering the Krishna River. After the first sixty-five k ...

. The water of the dam has created a shallow wetland and hosts many birds, which serves as an important hotspot for amateur and avid birders.

Fauna

At Bhigwan,

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

s, herons,

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

s, raptors and

wader 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s along with flocks of hundreds of flamingos are present. At times, 1,000-1,200

s are seen. Low rainfall and low water levels have reduced the birds' numbers. More than 230 species of migratory birds are found there, including

painted stork The painted stork (''Mycteria leucocephala'') is a large wader in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctiv ...

s, barheaded geese and demoiselle cranes. These birds are present in the winter season between December and March. The birds generally migrate via marine routes and adult females depart from the breeding grounds.Yazdani, G. and Singh, D., 2002. Zool. Surv. India. "Wetland Ecosystem Series No. 3 Fauna of Ujani" 143-156, 2002. FAUNA OF UJANI, p.14

/ref> Flamingos-in-Bhigwan

The backwaters of Ujjani Dam host the

greater flamingo The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe. Taxonomy The greater flamingo was desc ...

Eurasian spoonbill The Eurasian spoonbill (''Platalea leucorodia''), or common spoonbill, is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The genus name ''Platalea'' is from Latin and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the ...

, bar-headed goose,

collared pratincole The collared pratincole (''Glareola pratincola''), also known as the common pratincole or red-winged pratincole, is a wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae. As with other pratincoles, it is native to the Old World. Taxonomy The collared p ...

and

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

. Bhigwan hosts the fastest bird of the animal kingdom, the peregrine falcon. White Wagtail Bhigwan

The dry grasslands, woodlands, swamps, wetlands and backwaters of Bhigwan are the habitat for many species of fish, amphibians, lizards and

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

Transport

Visitors can either travel to Bhigwan by the State Transport Buses bound for Solapur and onwards from Pune, which takes approximately 3.5 hours or can travel in their own vehicles. The main birding spots are as far away as 5 to 10 km from Bhigwan's main town. One can also travel via train from Pune. There is a list of trains stop at Bhigwan such as ''Chennai Mail'' (11027), ''Pune Sur Demu'', ''Hyderabad Express'' (17031) and ''Shidheshwar Express'' (12115). The fastest way to reach Solapur from Bhigwan is via taxi, which takes approximately 2.5 hours. Bhigwan is approximately 25 km away from Baramati.

Best time to visit

The best time to visit Bhigwan is between the months of December and March. Flamingoes prefer the winter season as they require water-bodies of shallow depths for fishing. There are several village home-stays for tourists.

References

{{Reflist

External links