Birders noticed a minimum of 245 out of a complete of 436 fowl species discovered within the Inter-State Chandigarh Region (ISCR) throughout the 14th HSBC Chandigarh Bird Race 2024 held on Sunday. This is barely greater than final 12 months’s whole of 236 species.
While the Golden Bush Robin was declared the ‘Bird of the Day’, different species noticed embrace the Chestnut-headed Tesia, Scaly-breasted Cupwing, Long-legged Buzzard, Indian Spotted Eagle and the Collared Scops Owl.
Fifteen groups of birders combed the ISCR space comprising the Morni Hills, Chakki Mod, Kasauli Hills, Motemajra, Siswan and Sukhna Lake, spending almost 12 hours in making checklists.
The birders had been, nonetheless, frightened about recognizing fewer birds, particularly migratory species, in distinguished wetlands together with the Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh. “We observed that there was less presence of birds in ISCR this time. This could be attributed to many reasons, including habitat destruction, harsh climate, human disturbance around the wetlands, small water bodies etc,” mentioned Matinder Pal Sekhon, govt member of the Chandigarh Bird Club (CBC).
Sekhoh has guided many guests, particularly kids, on the strategy of fowl watching utilizing binoculars, digital cameras and different gear. In the areas round Sukhna Lake, Long-tailed Minivets, particularly females, had been in plentiful numbers in addition to Small Niltava, Lesser White-Throat, White Eye-Oriental, and many others. Among the water fowls noticed at Sukhna Lake had been Coot, Ruddy Shelduck and Indian Spot-billed Duck.
Chandigarh Bird Club president Rima Dhillon mentioned, “Fifteen teams of birders set out and managed to list 245, of the total 436 species on the ISCR bird list in a 12-hour period. It was marginally more than last year’s total of 236 species. Most of the teams managed over a hundred species with outstanding effort on the part of all the participants.”
“Team Black Baza led by Gurjit Virk along with Shruti, Aseem and Jaspreet managed an astounding 195 species. Team Kestrel comprising Mohit Kohli, Saiyyam Nagar, Sidharth Nagar and Rajive Das managed an equally great number of 171 species. Team Hariyal with Vikas Sharma, Praveen Nain, Preneet Shergill and Shilpi Sehgal spotted 161 species,” Dhillon added.
Birder Kulbhushan Kanwar says many participated with their common zeal and enthusiasm, “setting out at the crack of dawn to try and cover a maximum number of diverse habitats in and around Chandigarh and at dusk they still hadn’t had enough but wanted a few more minutes before submitting their checklists!”
Meanwhile, this 12 months the occasion included a crew of 4 personnel from the Air Force station. They had been all novices however had developed an curiosity within the winged beauties and began to determine them after being posted alongside runways to maintain them bird-free. One of them had even accomplished a basic ornithology course below the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
