Bhubaneswar/Athagarh/Brahmagiri, Jan 5: Yesterday the Wildlife wing of the Odisha Forest department carried out simultaneous bird counting at the Ansupa Lake, Mahanadi river bed, Brahmagiri range and three forest divisions in Baripada. A total of 67 teams had been constituted that participated in the bird census at the Ansupa Lake and the Mahanadi river bed under the Athagarh range. Goura Gopal Singh, Athgarh Forest Range Officer stated that only 20 teams had participated in the bird counting in Munduli, Ansupa, Kantapara and Kandarpur. He further stated that three teams of wild life experts were also with the bird census teams. He added that the number of birds have decreased this year due to the fact that marsh has covered the water bodies. Prasant Choudhury, Athgarh DFO, who was part of the bird counting team, stated that at Ansupa, different species of birds including Red Crested Pochard could be seen but due to excess marsh deposits, there is a decline in number of birds at the lake.
In Brahmagiri range, from today 6 am four teams including bird expert and volunteers engaged themselves in bird counting. A total of 29 teams of Puri Forest Division conducted the bird census. Sahaji Charan Biswal, Range Officer, Brahmagiri said that the teams used GPS, camera and binoculars during the bird census.
In three divisions of Baripada in Mayurbhanj, the bird census was carried out at more than 100 water bodies. Arun Kumar Patra, Baripada ACF stated that like every year this year in mid-winter the bird census was conducted, where six new species were found. After collection detailed data, it will sent to the circle. He further stated that significant number of birds was spotted near Jharamata in Bangiriposi. Lesser whistling duck of 250-300, common pochard, pond heron, cattle egret and two types of kingfisher were found at the spot.
