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Pahalgam’s bird festival: Celebrating Valley’s rich biodiversity
The tourism department asked bird lovers to take as much advantage of this festival as possible and assured them that the department will provide them with all possible assistance at every point while exploring the rich flora of Kashmir valley
The first-of-its-kind six-day bird festival started at Pahalgam in a bid to attract tourists and bird lovers from across the country on Thursday.
Secretary of Tourism, Sarmad Hafeez inaugurated the festival that is being organised by the J&K Tourism department in collaboration with Sanctuary Nature Foundation (SNF).
Hafeez said this will help in promoting tourism and will also bring to the fore those aspects of the tourism sector which are yet to be explored. “Kashmir valley is rich in biodiversity, and this festival will certainly play a key role in traversing this incredible biodiversity and making it one of the favourite destinations for bird lovers as well as nature enthusiasts,” he said
Hafeez urged the bird lovers to take as much advantage of this festival as possible and assured them that the department will provide them with all possible assistance at every point while exploring the rich flora of Kashmir valley.
The inaugural ceremony of the six-day bird festival was attended by a large number of nature enthusiasts and bird lovers from across the country as well as Jammu and Kashmir.
“A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Tourism Department and the Sanctuary Nature Foundation. The logo of the bird fest was also unveiled in presence of team members of SNF, local school students, local stakeholders, and various other aligned departments,” said Hafeez, who also gave brief highlights of this six-day festival.
“As part of the festival, a photo exhibition was held at the tourist reception centre (TRC) early this week by the department of tourism with over 300 school students attending it. The exhibition presented rare as well as common bird species found in Jammu & Kashmir. Some of the birds that were represented in the exhibition included the Tawny Owl, Ibisbill, Kashmir Flycatcher, Barn Owl, and Kalij Pheasant. The students were curious and eager to learn about the birds, along with their Kashmiri names,” he said.
Officials said that more bird sites in Kashmir will be opening soon, especially in the picturesque locations of Gulmarg, Dachigam, Wular lake and the Qazinag.
“These tourist spots have different species of birds, and bird watchers, tourists from across the country, could spend hours listening to the chirping and songs of different species of birds. Kashmir is full of different species of birds which can be found in forests, hillocks, parks, meadows, wetlands and lakes. The opening of places for bird watching is a unique idea,” said Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, a former wildlife officer, who served at Kazinag wildlife Sanctuary, which falls in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. The sanctuary, close to the Line of Control, has a variety of birds in its jurisdiction, besides Markhour, it’s home to 20 species of mammals, 120 birds and 17 butterflies.
As per official records, J&K and Ladakh have over 500 species of birds, including 32 endangered ones, and the opening of new sites will be an added attraction for tourists and bird watchers.
In Kashmir, varied species of birds are found in all four seasons, (spring, summer, autumn and winter), including avian migratory visitors that come to Kashmir during the cold season when the temperature drops to below zero. In winter, the water bodies and wetlands of Kashmir host lakhs of avian visitors, and many of these birds fly thousands of kilometres from central Asian and European countries.
Some of the bird species that visit or are found in Kashmir are Monal, Jungle Bush Quail, Shikra, Himalayan Bulbul, Tragapon, common Kingfisher, Blue Whistling Thrush, Common Moorhen, Koklass Pheasant, Little Grebe, Himalayan Woodpecker, Tundra Swan Great Tit, Black Kite, Mallards, Greylag Geese, Pochard, Shovelers, Pintails and Gharwals.
At many water bodies in the state, there are special spots earmarked for bird watching, and new spots are being established at J&K’s biggest freshwater lake, Wular.
