Pong lake gets 50,000 migratory birds
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, December 30
The Pong lake has received 50,000 migratory birds which include 25,000 bar-headed goose.
DFO DS Dadwal, who has been keeping an eye on the migratory birds coming to the Pong wetland for more than a decade, said the lake receives the biggest flock of bar-headed goose across the globe.
A few years ago, the Wildlife Department in collaboration with experts from the UK and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) had recorded around 71,000 bar-headed goose in the Pong wetland. This was the biggest-ever number of the birds found in one place anywhere in the world.
The DFO, wildlife, Hamirpur, Rahul Sharma who is in-charge of the Pong Dam lake said the number of migratory birds in the wetland was likely to increase to over one lakh by January-end. He said a single greater white-fronted goose, a rare bird, had been visiting the lake alone for the last two years. This year, it had been spotted on the Ranser island in the lake, he said.
Dadwal said the number of bar-headed goose had increased this year due to ideal conditions created for their habitat. The department also imposed restrictions on sowing of fields along the lake in certain areas. Due to it, a large number of birds that fed on grass and rest on the island stayed in the lake instead of migrating to other wetlands, he said.
He further said the birds that migrated in winters from Tibet, Mangolia and Russia were found at wetlands in South India. However, over the years, their population had increased in the wetland. This indicated that the birds were finding conditions ideal in winters.
A book on flora and fauna of the Pong Dam wetland “Avi Fauna of Pong” authored by DS Dadwal provides detailed data on the migratory bird species in the lake. Rare species that have been mentioned in the book include lesser white-fronted geese, greater white-fronted geese, whooper swan, great knot, ruddy turnstone, Indian skimmer, water rail, black-necked stork, water pipits, buff bellied pipit.
