Siberian birds flock Sangam, other wetlands

ALLAHABAD: Winters witness an increased inflow of foreign tourists to India. These include our regular "visitors'' -- the Siberian birds. The arrival of these annual visitors at various water bodies heralds the onset of winters. This year too our visitors have kept their promise and flocked to Sangam and nearby wetlands.With the onset of winters, these Siberian birds spreadtheir wings to take flight of thousands of kilometres all the way from Siberia.The migratory maps show that they start their journey from Siberia, travelthrough Afghanistan and Central Asia before arriving at the famed bird sanctuaryat Bharatpur. These birds also travel to a number of other wetlands, includingSangam area, Bheerpur, Narayanpur Kalan, Dehraon and Sirsi. These wetlands areviewed as breeding grounds of these birds.Though a variety of birdsarrive here, the confluence of rivers Ganga and Yamuna mainly attracts `Larusridibundus ridibundus', commonly known as the Black Headed Gull, said ProfSandeep K Malhotra, who is managing the parasitology laboratory in the Zoologydepartment of Allahabad University.Various species of Siberian birdsmigrate to wetlands here during the winter season when their home grounds nearthe Arctic zone freeze. With the temperature and other weather conditions suitedfor their survival and breeding, these migratory birds have chosen these waterbodies as their winter abode, he added.Many beautiful species can besighted at Sangam which included Large Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), PondHeron (Ardeola grayii) followed by Large Egret (Ardea alba) and few Cattle Egret(Bubulcus ibis), Little Egret (Egretta gularis) and others. Black-headed gullwas sighted in good numbers and that too at each viewing at different timeperiods, which was not so with other birds, he added.These Siberianbirds present a mesmerising view at the Sangam throughout the winter season, asif waiting to take holy dip along with the lakhs of pilgrims who arrive hereespecially during the month of January for the month-long Magh mela. Bobbing upand down alongwith the ripples in the calm waters, these Siberian birds are anadded attraction for the pilgrims and tourists thronging here during the wintermonths. The whiteness of the birds is dazzling on the sparklingclear waters of Ganga and Yamuna. Sangam is thus a confluence not only of thethree holy rivers, but also of cultures and our foreign friends. "We reallyenjoyed feeding them,'' says ML Aggarwal, a tourist from Delhi. Cashing in onthis craze to feed these birds, numerous boatmen sell small packets of feed forthese birds. Ram Lal, a boatman, feels that the birds become greyishas time spent on water bodies here progresses. Surprisingly, they become darkerstaying here. As they have arrived recently they appear milky white inappearance with a black band. But within a month of stay here they startappearing greyish in tinge, which increases as months pass by here. Camouflage?Maybe, nature has its own unique ways for survival of species!Duringthe winter season, Sirsi in Mirzapur has a high number of Ruddy Shelduck(Tadorna ferruginea), Dehraon in Varanasi has a rich species of migratory birdsin large numbers which include Large Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), CottonTeal (Nettapus coromandelianus), Mallard (Anas platyrhyncha). Narayanpur Kalanin Allahabad has flocks of Little Grebe (Podiceps ruficollis), Gadwall (AnasStrepera) and Cattle Egret (Bulbulcus ibis) with Bheerpur flocked by Pond Heron(Ardeola grayii), Large Egrat, Cattle Egret and Large Cormorant in largenumbers. In Bheerpur a recent birdsurvey in 2006 showed that the numbers of each species had increased as comparedto the survey in 2002. Also certain new species too were sighted. This showsthat the quality of our wetlands has improved. A la Bharatpur, now wetlands ofUP too should be added in the world migratory route map of Siberian birds,declared Prof Malhotra smilingly. These birds map their route ofarrival like a magnetic compass needle and would follow the exact route on theirway back home. Until then they are our guests from faraway lands and let ustreat them with love and care as always -- afterall, `atithi devo bhava'.