Navi Mumbai Mudflat Wetlands For Flamingo Watching in 2021

“Until 2008, Only 3 to 4 were known locations to watch flamingos in Mumbai, Photographers & Birding enthusiast explored major wetlands. As of 2021, about 14 to 15 wetlands in Navi Mumbai that can be explored during Monsoon & Winter (July to January) for all migratory waders including the famous pink head Flamingos in group of thousands. Below are the updated locations, Village names & nearest railway stations detailed to help reach enjoy birding in Navi Mumbai & Thane creek bird santcury..”

Flamingo Watching Location Mumbai
Flamingo Watching Location Mumbai

UPDATED 2021 : Latest updates on these birding wetlands locations, Specially for Flamingo lovers on where exactly one can sight them & which wetlands are drying up.

Updated 14 Birding Locations of Navi Mumbai

Below are the known wetlands in Navi Mumbai where Flamingos & other waders flocks in thousands. Some of the locations are drying up due to Industrial developments, Debri dumping and other reasons as detailed in article of Bird watching locations.

Along with Flamingos, Many other waders like Bristled Grassbird, Pied Avocet, Caspian plover, Northern Shoveler, Forest Owlet, Laggar Falcon, Spoonbill & Red-necked phalrope and about 80 to 100 other migratories are photographed by Birding enthusiasts and specialist studing the sco-system around.

  • Sewree Mud-flats : Still, One of the largest flocks seen in Winters. Main location is restricted to public as Mumbai Trans Harbour project is under construction.
  • Funde & Panje Village (Uran, Navi Mumbai) : ALERT !!! DRIED OUT WETLANDS, 30 Km Long stretch to sight pink head flamingos. Since last few years, The numbers have dropped and many locations have dried. Location is near Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP). Nhava is another location that can be explored in Uran.
  • TSC-NRI Wetlands (Seawoods, Palm Beach Road Belapur) : Located at Nri Complex, Near Phase 1 & 2, Sector 56, Seawoods, Navi Mumbai, 400706. Huge numbers are still seen. Along with Flamingoes, many other species seen. This location is owned by CIDCO and is at high risk of getting converted to Golf Course & Residential complexes as case pending in Mumbai High Court.
  • Bhendkhal (Near Uran) : ALERT !! Dried up wetlands and just for information that the location might not help much as of date.
  • Dastan Phata (Near Belpada) : ALERT !! Dried up wetlands and just for information that the location might not help much as of date.
  • TS Chanakya Birding Point (Nerul) : One of the best locations to explore. Flamingos and many other migratory birds are seen. Birding experts gave high ratings to this site.
  • DPS Lake (Nerul) : DPS Bypass road around the lake site & Seawoods flamingo point are to main locations around this wetland and is one of the most sighted and liked locations in Navi Mumbai.
  • Karave Village Flamingo Wetlands : Also known as Nerul Flamingo Point as adjacent on same belt is less explored yet one of the best to be visited with your lenses.
  • CBD Valley (Belapur) : Reach out at Sector 9 of Belapur forest area in Navi Mumbai, Deep inside the forest to see few groups of flamingo near small lakes and streams. A very beautiful green zone for nature lovers and bird watchers to get some awesome clicks.
  • Vastu Vihar (Kharghar) : Sector 16 of vastu Vihar in Navi Mumbai awaits many birds for your lenses. Adjacent to Kharghar lake, This Taloje river belt is a scenic location to be explored for this waders.
  • Gavli Devi Waterfalls & Bird Watching (Mahape) : Not exactly for Flamingos, But would like to list this location for all those who are unknow to this area, Enjoy monsoon waterfalls & few species of birds here too.

Sewri Mudflat

Updates : May 2018 The location from where the mesmerizing view of Sewri flamingos was seen has been restricted to public. Yes, for at least next 7 years no one will be able to reach mudflat seashore area as MMRDA has begun working on India’s longest Sea Bridge much in news called ‘MTHL’ (Mumbai Trans Harbour Link) that will connect Mumbai to Navi Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

Sewri mudflat is one of the highest visited with maximum flamingo’s flocking in between November and May. Same location is where BNHS use to conducts yearly festival every February. MMRDA has promised to open gates to public once the work gets completed, But about 7 years is too long a wait.

Flock of Flamingos has also taken a back foot of about 100 to 200 metres away from its regular locations to keep away from the disturbance of construction. We hope, mudflat of Sewri rolls back in much beautiful way once the work of 22 Km long sea link gets completed & government builds a special watching zone and eco-system is not disturbed by the developments.

Mumbai’s winter guest, those pink feathered flamingos are one of the main bird watching attractions between citizens, hobby and professional photographers. They were first been spotted in late 1980’s.

This is the special place at Sewri (Also pronounced as ‘Shivdi’) which is 10 square kilometre mudflat location not far from railway station. An ideal location for migratory birds, every year specially attracting this long legged pink spotted flamingos migrating from Gujarat’s Kutch and other locations in groups of thousands.

At a time about 7000 to 10000 flamingo can be seen in group at mudflat post November making sewri mudflat an awesome scenic location specially during sunrise and sunset. Flaying to Mumbai far from hundreds of Kilometres they are here to clean and eat out human and industry waste at those black dirty mudflats. They are unknowingly helping humans in a great way.

Their are many other species of migratory birds that can be spotted here in Sewri like Terns, Purple Heron, Green shanks, Kingfishers, Egrets, Sandpipers, Some varieties of sparrows and Pariah kites.

Every year BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) keeps a day called ‘Flamingo Festival’ dedicated to this special bird. Usually the schedule and perfect time for flamingo watching is between March and April as declared on their website. One of the contact numbers hope not outdated is +91-22-22821811 to inquire about the same if you want to join the watchers group.

The basic motive and theme of this Flamingo festival is to educate citizens about importance of these birds to our life, how this wetlands (mudflats), mangroves forest are part of our life and are constantly working as life savers and why encroachment and dumping debris at such sensitive coastal area is dangerous to human as well as these bird species.

Bird watching brings citizens of Mumbai near to nature to understand importance of Eco-system and how to stay balanced in Eco-friendly way. Various articles in leading newspapers also tries their best to educate the importance of such wet zones and how the industrial waste, oil splits and sewerage is dangering our human life and not just those beautiful birds.

Bird watching destinations like the newly opened Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary are now protected by forest department from some cruel activities like flamingo hunting and are already been taken care of. You might also be interesting in knowing about Annual bird race in Mumbai, An events organized annually for those bird watchers and lovers.

How to reach Sweri Mudflat : Sewri is one of the railway stations in Mumbai located on Harbour Railway Route (See Station Names). Bandra is the ideal railway station for those travelling from Western Railway Route.

Flamingo at Mahul Creek, Near Chembur

Another famous creek for flamingo watching is at Chembur, a station on Harbour Railway Route. The exact location where these pink birds are spotted is at ‘Mahul creek’ inside Mahul Village, near/connected to Chembur.

Take guidance from map and help from villagers on how to reach Mahul creek. Once their you can see a small muddy road reaching the creek which has boats of fisherman at coastal, Fishing nets and lots of Mangroves. After Sewri, this is another peaceful location that attracts this migratory species in groups. Feel free to take photographs, enjoy the view and great if carrying a binocular.

How to Reach Mahul Creek : Reach Chembur via Road or Local Trains and head to Mahul Village. Little help may be required from Local villagers or best is the navigation app.

Sewri Chembur Map
Sewri Chembur Map

Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary

Opened to public on 1st May 2017, This is a secured location and a preferred location to get along with family and friends as Thake Creek that Connects to Sewri and Airoli has been declared as Flamingo Sanctuary which has Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Centre for education and flamingo watching.

For More details See Sanctuary article.

Details on NRI Complex Talawe Wetlands, Navi Mumbai

Talawe Nerul Flamingos
Talawe Nerul Flamingos

*Picture Courtesy : Pranab Das

Exact location being, NRI Complex Phase-II, Seawoods Estates Road, Sector 58, Seawoods, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra 400706. This is a beautiful location connecting the wide open sea behind and welcomes flamingoes since many years between November and June. Talawe mud flat as it is known is owned by CIDCO and has problems like debri dumping, fishing, alcohol consumption and dumping etc.

As owned by CIDCO, they plan to develop another residential complex here with a huge golf course which is highly opposed by local residents, activists and bird lovers. This wetland attracts about 100 to 200 flamingoes between winter and monsoon, But this year 2018 was a no show and in May they arrived in groups of hundreds. People are happy looking at the spectacular view of huge groups of migratory flamingos and rushing to get glance of same.

Between Naigaon Vasai Green Belt

Flamingos at Naigaon
Flamingos at Naigaon (Full Size Image)

Not many knows about Flamingo spotting at a wet land between Vasai and Naigaon station in Western Railway Suburban location, North of Mumbai. Wide open plots and wetlands are seen from local trains and small group of Flamingoes are seen year after year till today.

It is not a huge mudflat, But a ideal location enough to attract few hundreds in group. So if you stay between Bhayandar and Dahanu Road and travel via local trains, Spot these feathers group of flamingo at Naigaon fields along the railway tracks, Just before Naigaon railway station when towards Mumbai.



See More in    Adventures

Greetings, I am Deven, the founder of Mumbai77. With immense passion, I have dedicated my full-time efforts to continuously learn and update important information about Mumbai city. Currently, I am a full-time blogger residing in Mumbai. Since its establishment on July 7, 2007, Mumbai77 has attracted millions of pageviews. Our website aims to provide valuable information, including my personal reviews and experiences, to assist individuals worldwide in their search for updated information about Mumbai city.

Mumbai77.com
Mumbai77.com
329 Google reviews
Milind Sonar
Milind Sonar
2024-01-10
It was helpful
mahendra mehta
mahendra mehta
2024-01-04
Give us 2024 bus timing for all rout .remove old time table
Suneeta Mestry
Suneeta Mestry
2023-12-19
Good information about all stops. Thank you so much
Sachin Mistry
Sachin Mistry
2023-06-11
Extremely helpful

2 Replies to “Navi Mumbai Mudflat Wetlands For Flamingo Watching in 2021

  1. Hi Deven,
    Kindly suggest the time of day when to visit these spots. I visited Nerul Flamingo spot @ 8.30 am but unfortunately, no Single Flamingo was there, however, while passing through on Saturday @ 10:30 am there were a lot of flamingos. So suggest the best time to bring family along with so that they can enjoy.
    Regards,
    Amar

    1. Hello Amar,
      I am glad you spot so many in the morning time. But, I am really sorry as I don’t have that kind of information. I believe, season & location are important and we need to give/spend some time with nature in the vicinity to get this view. Hope your family trip is a 100% successful.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *