It’s that time of year when migratory birds stop over in Pune district on their journey towards south. This year, however, the turnout of the number of winged visitors has been good according to bird watchers and Ornithologist from the city. Tundra Bean Goose, a new migratory bird was sighted at Bhigwan this year which is popular for its migratory bird visitors.
Ornithologist Dharmaraj Patil said that over 60 species of birds were sighted in January. “This year we spotted a new specie, the Tundra Bean Goose. This bird does not usually take this route; however, some birds lose their way and land here. Usually, there is a 10 per cent deviation in the path of the birds.” said Patil.
“We also sighted Black-winged stilt, Red-wattled lapwing, Little ringed plover and many other species. However, the Tundra Bean goose was sighted at one end of the wetland. Tourists were seen clicking photographs of this new specie. This resulted in scaring the bird, which may affect the number of this bird being sighted,” added Patil.
Tundra Bean Goose is not a regular visitor. Usually, the trend is that as there is more rainfall, there are more wetlands, and the number of birds seen are less. However, if the rainfall is scanty, the wetlands are limited and the birds can be seen in flocks at one wetland itself thus increasing their numbers!
Birds that were sighted:
Northern shoveler, Greater flamingo, Rock pigeon, Laughing dove, Black-winged stilt, Red-wattled lapwing, Little ringed plover, Common sandpiper, Wood sandpiper, Brown-headed gull, Whiskered tern, River tern, Painted stork, Little cormorant, Indian cormorant, Gray heron, Great egret, Indian pond-heron, Glossy ibis, Black-headed ibis, Eurasian marsh-harrier, Black kite, Eurasian hoopoe, White-throated kingfisher, Green bee-eater, Black drongo, Long-tailed shrike, House crow, Ashy prinia, Red-vented bulbul, Indian robin, Pied bushchat, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Western yellow wagtail.
News Source : Hindustan Times
