Migratory birds throng Kashmir Valley in winter
Srinagar, CNS, 08-Dec; Maintaining their centuries-old tryst with Kashmir, over four lakh migratory birds have arrived here from far off lands to spend the winter months in the relatively less harsh cold of the Valley. These hardy souls fly in from Siberia and China, as also the Philippines, Eastern Europe and Japan.
There are birds of passage that come to the Valley for a short period during their migration to the Indian plains. These include the cormorants and sandhill cranes.
People living in villages around the Valley’s wetland reserves witness hundreds of migratory birds landing and taking off each day as they leave the reserves for nocturnal feeding in different lakes and other water bodies in the evening and return in the morning.
The existence of the migratory birds is a pageant of colour and cackle which beckons humankind to preserve the delicate ecological balance of the planet.
Rashid Naqash, regional wildlife warden said, “We have over 4 lakh migratory birds of different species in our bird reserves and other wetlands at present.
The wetland reserves of Hokarsar, Shallabugh, Mirgund and Hygam are under “interventional management” to make them more comfortable for the migratory birds.
“At present, we have around a lakh migratory birds in Hokersar bird reserve, another lakh in Hygam and 50,000 in Shallabugh bird reserve.
“In addition, there are 20,000 birds in Chatlum, 30,000 in the Wular Lake, and over a lakh in the Dal Lake in Srinagar.” The wildlife warden said the migratory bird species that have arrived here so far include mainly geese, mallards, pochards, gadwals, pintails, waders, coots and the common teals.
During the extreme freeze inside the wetland reserves, when natural feeding becomes difficult, the wildlife department arranges large stocks of paddy for feeding these birds.
The flight of these birds from their summer homes to the Valley is a marvel of navigation. By instinct, these visitors fly in highly disciplined formations led by the eldest bird of each species.
However, the threat of poaching to these birds over the years is a major concern for these migratory birds as well as the Wildlife Department, which according to the concerned officials has been stopped to great extent.
“During surprise visits to such unprotected wetlands, whenever stray incidents of poaching have come to our knowledge, we have seized weapons of poachers and taken other legal actions against such offenders”, Naqash added.
Shooting of migratory birds became an offence under the local laws enacted in 1978 which were repealed and replaced by the Indian wildlife protection Act 1972 when Article 370 was abrogated and J&K downgraded into a union territory. (CNS)
