Summers are here and so comes the dilemma, 'What to do/Where to visit on weekends?'. Well for a keeda lover like me...the answer isnt a mall or a movie...ideally it would be some open spaces amongst the nature. But with the mercury hitting high thirties and the nuisance of the unethical and deliberate burning of the open forests by the locals, its difficult to find any macro subjects, atleast none that would be alive.
So finally, after almost 4yrs since first planned to visit, I decided to check out the beautiful and interesting Butterfly garden that's set up just along the National park area, Ovalekarwadi Butterfly Garden.
Located near the Ovala village/Ovala naka, few meters off from Ghodbunder highway, this unique facility is an amazing set up to visit, not only just for the photographers but also for those who are curious, want to know about the nature, butterflies, their lifecycle, flowers, etc. With the guidance of Mr. Rajendra Ovalekar, one gets all the details about the butterflies, bugs and the variety of host plants that's preferred by the variety of butterflies and also some essential awareness about the nature and how one can act responsibly for the betterment of nature. A very good set up for the curious toddlers who can witness the various stages of the butterflies lifecycles and also enjoy a good time amongst the calm and vibrant, well maintained garden area filled with a range of flowering plants and trees.
Some essential details about the place
Location: Near Ovala naka/ Ovala signal
Timings: 8a.m. to 12:30 noon(Sundays only)
Entry fee: ₹100/person(Adult)
₹50/kid
2W and 4W Parking space available (Not sure about the charges)
How to reach:
Car: If coming from Borivali side, take a right, else left from Ovala naka signal and head straight for about 600m
Bus or Train: get down at Thane stn or Borivali stn and take any bus heading towards Borivali/ Thane, get off at Ovala naka bus stop and head towards a small road on to the left(if one is facing towards Borivali side on GB road)
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| A simple poster welcomes you into the amazing place |
Once in, one get some introduction session by the knowledgeable guide and later some interactive session with the live samples that are always growing around in the nature.
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| Visitors of all ages lining up to have a look at the sample of the Lifecycle, eggs-pupa-Butterfly |
Here are some samples of the beauties capture during my visit(Date Visited: 27th March, 2016). It was a hot day and I had reached around 9a.m. which meant most of the butterflies were up and hyper-active with the sun's heat, so though I had quite a lot of sightings, capturing them into a frame wasnt easy and hence ended up with very less butterfly shots. Shall start off with some beautiful flowers that was surrounded in the whole area:
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| A beautiful flower, seen in abundance |
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| A simple yet very fragrant flower |
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| Loved this beauty, the serene colour and the simple form of it |
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| Very tiny flowers in an array, had velvety feel to it |
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| Always my fav, this Krishnakamal/Passiflora, is not only very vibrant, but also huge, as compared with the normally seen passifloras |
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| Any guesses for the id of this tiny flower? The next frame is the resultant once this flower goes thru a healthy process |
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| A very rare sight in Mumbai, dont recall if I have seen it around in Mumbai. Its really astounding how a small flower turns such a huge fruit/nut. Check the flower on the top end of the frame |
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| A butterfly egg, probably already hatched, spotted amongst the network of spider's web |
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| A Plain tiger's Caterpillar? Spotted feeding on the Crown flower |
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| Probably a freshly emerged Plain tiger butterfly, was fresh and vibrant and hardly moved despite the heat |
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| Close up shot of the beauty |
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| Spotted several Red pierrots along the entrance area, but this one, spotted near the intro area, it was posing as if its laying an egg, kept on moving along the plant in similar pose. |
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Finally got the Right frame, one of the most common butterflies, but could never frame one until now.
Inflight pose of Common Mime |
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| The most beautiful Camouflaged angel, a Blue Oakleaf butterfly, couldnt manage to get a good frame with its wings opened up |
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The beauty of the day had to be this one, a lifer for me, a rare beauty, Silverstreak blue.
had a close encounter with it, but couldnt manage. After almost an hour long struggle to locate it, finally spotted it on a tip of the leaf high above. |
Few other snaps of the interesting creature
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| This lovely bug landed onto this interesting location |
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This interesting beauty, hardly 5-6mm long, was infested with some parastie eggs.
ID: Ichneumon wasp cocoon(Thanks to Madhuri Madam for the ID) |
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| This beauty was trying its level best to get onto a fellow photographer's shirt, loved the kinda transparent form of it |
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| A busy weaver ant looking out for the food |
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Well despite being a really hot and humid day and also that I had reached a bit late, I ended up spotting 25+ species of butterflies within an hour and half. A healthy count considering the seasonal cycle and what I loved about the place is the location, despite being few metres off the highway, its calm and fresh and a good way to spend some relaxing time and also would be interesting place for the toddlers to look around the interesting part of nature and learn new things.
