Over 15,000 birds flock to Okhla bird sanctuary, more to arrive if mercury dips

The drop in the temperatures over the past week has created a conducive environment for the arrival of more birds at the Okhla bird sanctuary with officials stating that about 15,000 birds, even of the migratory species, have been spotted in the area

The drop in the temperatures over the past week has created a conducive environment for the arrival of more birds at the Okhla bird sanctuary with officials stating that about 15,000 birds, even of the migratory species, have been spotted in the area.

Birds over a lake at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary in Noida. (Sunil Ghosh/HT photo)

Officials said the count of birds is increasing every day and it is expected that about 20,000 birds will be flocking to the water body in the next 10 days. Some of the visitors so far include herons, cormorants, terns, kingfishers, coots, gulls, painted stork, common porchard, Oriental darter, stork, greater flamingo, spoonbill, Indian black ibis, green sandpiper, pied avocet and pied stilt among several others. Over 20 migratory species have been spotted at the bird sanctuary so far.

“Winter started a bit late, so the migration of birds also got delayed. In a few more days, we are expecting more birds of different species to arrive here. As the temperature drops further, the water body will become a home to a myriad of birds,” said P K Srivastava, divisional forest officer.

T K Roy, an avid birder and ecologist, said, “Okhla bird sanctuary has one of the richest birding habitats but the routine maintenance has been poor. Because of the delayed winter, migration of birds has been slow but the authorities have been slower with upkeep with of the sanctuary. While the water hyacinth should have been cleared by September, it took all of October to do it. The bird population is slowly rising, but other habitats like Surajpur are in better condition. We’ll know about how many birds have come during the census.”

The bird sanctuary is open to visitors from 7.30am to 5pm daily. The bird sanctuary now also has golf carts, a canteen, and a new bamboo bridge to reach the watchtower for the convenience of visitors.

The footfall has increased in the past few days with about 200-odd people visiting the sanctuary daily. The footfall increases to about 500 on holidays and weekends. According to officials, the sanctuary had the maximum footfall of 800 visitors on Saturday, the day Christmas was observed.

Siddharth Arya, who recently paid a visit to the sanctuary, said, “We went a bit late but still managed to see many birds. It was great fun and a good place to spend time with children. My whole family liked the place as it was quiet. The authorities should probably have more golf carts or rickshaws to ferry people from one end to the other. It would be really helpful for even those who have difficulty walking.”

Meanwhile, the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) will also be held at three locations in Gautam Budh Nagar—Surajpur wetland (December 5) and Dhanauri wetland (December 4) in Greater Noida and Okhla bird sanctuary (December 7) in Noida.

AWC is the largest annual waterbird census in Asia of the Wetlands International conducted by the WI South Asia and Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). The AWC will be carried out throughout Asia between January 1 and 16. AWC in NCR-Delhi is being carried out at seven major wetlands, including the three in Gautam Budh Nagar.

“AWC is part of the global International Waterbird Census (IWC). AWC is carried out simultaneously across Asia and Australasia by a national network of volunteers in coordination with the AWC state coordinators to record the status of the wetland’s habitat, water bird species diversity and population estimates based on the international protocol and methodology,” said Roy, who is also the AWC Delhi state coordinator, Wetlands International.

In India, AWC is carried out at a few hundred listed important wetlands. AWC data helps to promote the designation and management of internationally important sites such as nationally and locally protected areas, Ramsar Sites, Central Asian Site Network for Siberian Cranes and other Waterbirds, World Heritage Sites, Import Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA).