Bird count shows an increase in migratory birds over last year
Dharamsala: In comparison to last year, wildlife wardens say there are more migratory birds in Pong Dam back waters this year.
Chief conservator (Wildlife) Ms Upasana Patial said that at an annual count that concluded on 31st January, 2023 the wildlife team involved had found that there were about 1,17,000 birds in the wetlands in comparison to the about 1,10,000 birds that were recorded last year.
Patial said, “The best part of the two days count was that our teams sighted Long Tail Duck for the first time at this Ramsar site. Northern pintail number showed an increase from about 4500 birds last year to about 15,700 this year. An increase of about 3000 Bar Headed Geese was also noticed this year.”
She said that the lake may have more birds in coming days as more Siberian bird start on their return journey from south India sites where they are known to migrate to for the winters. On their way back, many of them do stopover at Pong backwaters..
When asked about the reason for the increase in bird numbers, Patial responded that the birds were able to find plenty of food at Pong and and they feel more protected at this bird reserve sanctuary. She mentioned that there was no poaching incidence reported in the ongoing bird season.
Arvind Sharma is an award winning bi-lingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience.
He has worked with Divya Himachal, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasker, Vir Partap, Ajit and PTI.
In 2010, he was conferred the Himachal Kesri journalism award. He reports on the Tibetan Government in Exile, politics, sports, tourism and other topics. He lives in Dharamshala.
