M A I N   N E W S

Winged visitors delight bird-watchers at Sultanpur
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service

Sultanpur (Gurgaon), Nov 24
The nip in the air here has been followed by winged visitors. Migratory birds have started descending on the Sultanpur National Park, providing a feast to the eyes. Thousands of domestic as well as foreign birds travel long distances every year to reach the wetland, situated 15 km from Gurgaon, which has been their winter abode for years. Some of them, say ornithologists, come from as far as Siberia.

Thanks to the arrival of the visitors - which include the Oriental Honey Buzzard, Eurasian Marsh Harrier, Rufy, Saras Cranes, Imperial Eagle, Indian Bush Lark and Tawny Pipit among others, the air around the Sultanpur lake is filled with chirping and twitters.

Bird-watchers are delighted as nearly 10,000 birds of 35 foreign species, including many exquisite ones from Siberia, Europe and Central Asia, have flocked to Sultanpur this year.

Common Cranes, Common Pochard, Mallard, Grey-leg Goose are among the most visible species at the lake. Many more are expected to arrive during the peak season between December and January, when their numbers are expected to cross 50,000 this year.

The wetland has visitors like Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Black-necked Crane, Coot, Common Crane and Curlew, while the grassland birds include Bay-backed Shrike, Black Drongo, Black Patridge and others.

Bird-watchers and nature-lovers have also started thronging the park and seem happy with what they see here.

“Though the season has just begun, we already have a good number and variety of birds at the lake…The attendance is likely to swell and we plan to come back by mid-December with a professional camera, tele-lenses and binoculars,” say Kalpana and Rachit, a Delhi-based couple.

With a view to attracting more birds as well as bird-watchers, the authorities have taken several measures, which include ensuring adequate supply of water to the wetland, addition of fish and plantation and removal of weeds.