Migratory birds give Alwar water bodies a miss this year

ALWAR: Due to scanty rainfall in monsoon, the number of migratory birds visiting the water bodies in Alwar are relatively less this year.

The number has declined from more than 10,000 in the last few years to only about 2,000, said Nishant Singh, bird expert. These birds flying thousands of kilometres start arriving in Alwar in January and stay there till March.

Assistant conservator of forest, Sariska Tiger Reserve ( STR), Anand Kumar, said with low water level in the ponds and lakes, the number of migratory birds have dropped this year.

Singh said that in the last few years, more than 10,000 migratory birds used to visit various water bodies of Alwar.

But this year, only about 2,000 birds arrived, which was discovered during the counting of migratory birds from January 5 to 10 in eight water bodies in the district.

Sariska lake has been famous as a wintering ground for migratory and local birds in the district.

Dams were constructed at various places in Alwar for storage of water for agricultural and drinking purposes, which later led to wetlands for conservation of aquatic flora and fauna.

The lakes Siliserh, Mansarovar, Mangalwar and Somsagar are habitats for a wide range of birds, especially during winter.

Singh said that migratory birds like Greylag goose, Woollynecked Stork, Black-necked stork, Sarus Crane and Great crested grebe were not seen during counting this season. The other migratory birds that were spotted this year are Bar-headed Goose, Great Cormorants, Little Cormorants, Oriental Heron, Grey Heron, Indian Pond Heron, Coot, Painted Stork, Spot-billed duck, Common pochard, Northern Pintail, Flamingo, Grey White Pelican, Common sandpiper and Little grebe, which migrate from European coun- tries. In 2015, Been Goose was reported for the first time at Mansarovar lake.

Many birds fly over three to five thousands to reach the lakes every year.the lakes around Sariska are paradise for bird watchers. To promote bird watching, Alwar Bird Fair was organised in 2011 in Siliserh Lake with the help of World Wide Fund for Nature.