PERCHED ON an anjan tree, piercing the flesh of ground gecko, totally ignorant to the human presence around, this was the predator of the sky – a serpent eagle. The horizons of Phansad, very close to the coast of Murund, was full of such surprises for me and my co-traveller friend Pradnyav.

We travelled for about nine hours through different public transport vehicles from Kalyan recently. By 8 am on Sunday, we reached at the main gate of Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary (PWLS). With a welcome note of Golden Chloropsis, we headed towards Chikalgan trail, which is approximately five kilometres away from main gate.

This was the basking time for butterflies, but poor lighting didn’t allow me to shoot the good shots of these winged creatures. This was my first distant outing with recently bought “Olympus SP-570 UZ” digital camera.

Danaid eggfly, common mormon, crimson rose, pansies, tigers and what not. At every other step, there were butterflies. But at one of the steps, there was something unusual, for which PWLS is famous. We were happy with a sighting of barking deer, whose rattling calls continue for a couple of minutes.

Anyways, we had to move ahead in search of such elusive sightings. My mind was floating with options of for such elusive sightings as of a Sambar or a Leopard. I was told by the forest guard that Nikhil Bhopale (Programme officer, BNHS) recently saw a leopard on the same trail at night. Hence, I was just optimistic, but during day time!

PWLS was full of bird calls throughout the day till we left. The most common sightings were green bee-eater, black drongo, kingfisher- white throated and red whiskered bulbul. The uncommon sightings were shikra, changeable hawk eagle, serpent eagle, paradise flycatcher, emerald dove and golden chlorposis (Gold fronted leafbird).

Under the leaf litter, there were skinks, lizards, beetles and bugs. And yes, I also saw a green vine snake for the very first time in my life. So far the flowers are in concern, I think, I was bit late. I am not sure, if Karvi bloomed in PWLS this season. But, there were no signs as such.

We ended our day at 06.30 pm at PWLS and drove back to Mumbai via Mazgaon (Murund). While driving, we saw a monitor lizard on the edge of the road.

There is Devrai – a sacred grove in PWLS. This means that the people (tribal and other forest dweller) worship the god of the forest, who protects the dwellers from any harm because these people respect it. I myself was witness to it when I saw a speeding vehicle literally stop when the driver (a local) saw a wild boar family crossing the road and heading towards the human settlements. After the boars disappeared in the darkness, the vehicle started for its destination.

Here in Mumbai on two different occasions in just within a year, two leopards were killed by a speeding vehicle at Nittie-Bhandup Road and Godhbunder Road, respectively.

Alibaug has good forest cover and good quantum of wild denizens and is also responsible for the protection of the wildlife. But how responsible is Mumbai? Two million people in the only national park of SGNP throw tons of Garbage. Is it the so called eco-tourism?