ARMED WITH binoculars and cameras, several bird watching teams started out early, last Sunday (Feb 24) morning, from different parts of Delhi, spotting and then ‘shooting’ down the different bird species in the city. The idea was to record as many number of bird species from the city as possible for the day. The included locations were the Yamuna biodiversity park, Aravali biodiversity park, Tughlakabad, Yamuna bank, Delhi zoo, Lodhi gardens, Kamla Nehru ridge, Bhalaswa lake, University of Delhi’s (DU) north campus, Jawahalal Nehru University (JNU) campus and even the neighbouring Okhla bird park, Sultanpur bird sanctuary, Dadri Wetlands, KG Wetlands, among others.

 

People from all over the city kept phoning the entire day, some to ask where they could join the teams while others to report unusual sightings of birds from different parts of the city. Still, others called up to learn more about birding, to find out how they could join the regular Sunday bird watching walks, invite to a part of the city near to their houses where a large number of birds could be found, and to even gain information about places where they could get their sick pet birds treated.

 

Lima Rosalind of WWF-India led a large team of school children and visited places such as the Lodhi garden, Delhi zoo and the banks of river Yamuna.

 

Professor Mihir Deb, director, School of Environmental Studies (SES) led a team of some 20 odd people to the Kamla Nehru ridge, comprising students of MA/MSc environmental studies, BSc (Hons) zoology and BA (Hons) English from Hindu college, a few residents from around the campus and two French girls. His team visited three sites, viz the Kamla Nehru ridge, university campus and the Bhalaswa lake.

 

Sudeshna Dey, pursuing her MSc in environmental studies at SES, DU and writing a dissertation on the birds of Delhi, explained to the team about the technicalities of bird watching and the tremendous amount of patience that this hobby requires and the immense satisfaction one derives out of it. She also suggested Bhalaswa lake as the third site that the team should visit for the day. It was a good suggestion, as a lot of water birds were reported from the area. The sighting of over ten painted storks, all walking in a queue towards the lake was amazing. The team recorded some 65 odd species of birds.

 

A few kilometers away, the Yamuna biodiversity park was another location where the birders started early in the morning and carried out their birding activities for about two hours. They recorded some 70 species of birds.