Hi Birders wish you all a very Happy & Prosperous New Year 2014!
Like every year I take this opportunity to sum up all important bird sightings of the bygone year from Delhi. It reminds me of 'Binaka Geet Mala', which used to be anchored by Ameen Sayani every Wednesday. Every year end he would compile & play all the hit songs of the year on the New Year Eve .I am here to compile all hit birds of year that went.
This retrospective compilation of birds in NCR gives an idea about the status of all the habitats, their degradation and improvements, along with the involvement of more and more nature enthusiasts. Well! It was a fantastic year for birds .Rarities started showing up right from the February BBD-2013 itself. White Capped Buntings & Red Headed Vultures in Bhatti Mines by team JNU ,followed by sighting of Marbled Teal, Black Stork and recently reported Greater White Fronted Goose & Kashmir Flycatcher by Rakesh Ahlawat & Yogesh Parasher respectively from Dighal. Long billed Dowitcher and Baikal Teal in Sultanpur National Park by American & Indian birders .In the beginning of March Verditer Flycatcher from Sanjay Van, by Thejus & I, were few important highlights from southern ridge ,which was again reported from SNP by Anand Arya & Wingco in November. Indian Pitta also reported in SNP in Sept-Oct by a group of Indian Bird.
March proved to be more productive month as Praduyt reported Greater Adjutant Stork from Najafgarh with photographs posted on IB. Brahmany Kite (Sub-Adult) also found its entry in Najafgarh which caught attention of Pankaj Gupta.
Summer was not less exciting as Great Pied Hornbill was sighted at Aravalli Biodiversity Park by Yasir Arafat followed by Dr. Rajeeve Khanna's sighting and photography of Great Bitten from Najafgarh during monsoon. Bristle Grass Birds (5, nests, 2+3) and Indian Night Jar from Dadri & Surajpur by delhibird and IB group were also highlights of the bygone year during July-August.
On the opening of SNP in the middle of October Savitri Singh & Ramgopal reported Ultramarine & Rusty Tail Flycatchers from SNP. Eurasian Hobby also marked its presence from Najafgarh areas recently.
Jack Snipe was recorded during March & September by Nikhil Devaser and later by M.Srinivas from Basai respectively. While December was full of election excitement, Chandra, Manish & I were obliged by sightings of Grey Bushchat & Dark Throated Thrush from JNU on 4th & 8th December incidentally Anand Arya also recorded Grey Bushchat from Surajpur Bird Sanctuary on 4th December.
In 2013 Asian Paradise Flycatchers & European Rollars obliged almost every photographer of Delhibird. Water Rail, Water Pipit and the Moustached Warbler from Basai, Haryana & Great Tit from Hauz Khas by Chandra Maurya in Dec 2013. An untamed wild Leopard form Manger Bani ridge was caught at last in camera trap by Dr. Koustub Sharma.
Over all 2013 was very good for birding which could have been better had we scanned Mohamadabad Marshes, KJ, MJ wet lands and Rajokari. Delhibird also missed couple of prominent delhibirders who were always a great help in identifying birds.
Painted Snipes gave a big miss in 2013 except couple of sightings from Basai which is an indication of dying wetlands in NCR. Jagatpur Khadar ( YBDP) was an excellent place for Red Crested Poachard. We spotted 60-70 RCP in January 2013 & same number at same place on 25th December as well..
The reason for good birding and more rare birds in my opinion could be attributed to 'more number of bird watchers' in NCR with 'more expert guidance involving locals' who were always there in the fields to see the birds for 365 days, especially Rakesh Ahlawat and Sanjay Sharma.
Second reason which can be attributed here IMO that there used to be only one birdgroup earlier and now there are '4 groups like Delhibird, Indian Bird, BNHS & one private group' therefore, on an average 9-10 birders explore 4 different places on every weekend (barring individual walks) which has proved more productive.
It would be unfair if credit is not given to 'modern technology (Bird Watching Gears)' that includes digital cameras, better spotting scopes and various electronic gadgets, groups and social networking that spread awareness, share photographs and information related to birds & conservation issues.
But to conclude with, the annual sightings of the birds, the count is going down with each passing year despite new sighting records with an alarming rate because of habitat loss & development activities in NCR.
Wish you all once again a very happy new year!
Happy Birding
SP
--
Surya Prakash, Ph.D. ( Zoology)
Room # 219 C.C.I.F.
School of Life Sciences
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi 110067
INDIA
Phone (Work) 26704184
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "delhibirdpix" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to delhibirdpix+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to delhibirdpix@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/delhibirdpix.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
No comments:
Post a Comment