By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 10 Nov: The oldest continuing bird census of the country involving common citizens, organised by “Action & Research for Conservation in Himalayas” since 2008, the ‘12th Great Himalayan Bird Count 2024 (7 to 10 November) concluded successfully, this evening, covering 75 plus trails of roughly +/- 10 Kms.
GHBC is the biggest and the longest running annual repeat survey of birds covering all representative bird habitats falling in the Garhwal region from Banganga wetlands in the east to Asan conservation reserve in the west, and climbing up to Arakot-Cheewan bordering Himachal in the north-west, covering alpine snowlines of Har-ki-Doon; Dayara; Yamnotri; Devaria Taal; Chopta-Tungnath-Pung bugyal to meadows of Bedni & Ali and Pauri-Khirsu landscape in the east covering all river valleys of Tons; Rupin-Supin, Yamuna; Pabbar; Kamal Nadi; Aglar; Bhagirithi; Bhilangna; Mandakini, Ganga, Pindar, Alaknanda, Bandal, Song, Koh and Nayar rivers in Garhwal including Asan & Jhilmil Jheel conservation reserves in Dehradun & Haridwar districts, respectively.
Trails combine birding in-and-around the world famous national parks and wildlife sanctuaries (Rajaji National Park, Benog Wildlife Sanctuary, Gangotri National Park, Govind Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanchula Kharak Musk Deer Sanctuary, Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Nandadevi Biosphere, sacred religious shrines of Mahasu Temple-Hanol, Yamnotri, Surkunda Devi, Kedarnath, Triyuginarayain, Rudranath, Tungnath, Gopi Nath-Gopeshwar, Nanda Devi of Nauti, world famous archaeological sites of Mahabhartha Laakshayghray – Lakhamandal & Ashvamedh Yagya-Purola).
Uttarakhand is home to more than half the bird species diversity of India (1305 species). Around 724 species of birds have been reported from the state so far. The high diversity of birds in Uttarakhand is attributed to the habitat diversity that exists in the state, from tropical foothills and terai to alpine zone in the high Himalayas.
This year, a total of 108 participants travelled from all parts of the country at their own cost to contribute with their bird identification skills in quantifying the bird diversity of our State. The 9 & 10-year-olds Suyash and Aditi being the youngest and Kishore Babu and Dr Nazir Seakh, the senior most among the participants. Arvind Kumar like always came this year too along with his birding friends like he has been participating every year regularly since 2008. Among the many regulars were Subin Sudheendran, Anand Gupta, Dr Barnali Chaudhary, Jaity Mitra, Manan Tuli, Nutan Raj, Kamal Krishnani and Ravi Gopalkrishnan drove in their own car all the way from Bangalore, while Parin & Shweta Seth, Parth Doshi and Shefali Modi drove in their Mercedes all the way from Ahmedabad.
Small groups of 4-6 people formed a team and went in a particular valley covering all representative bird habitats there. On a rough estimate, around 340 plus bird species were sighted this year along with many mammal species like Leopard, Yellow-throated Martins, Leopard Cat, Wild Boars, Barking Deer and Mountain Goats by some of the teams.
A surprising highlight was the Tiger sighting just before Mandal, last night.
It was a common observation this year again, that though the species count was still ok but the populations sizes are declining quite alarmingly as flock sizes are thinning at a faster rate when compared with observations of yester years. The common topic of discussion among the participants was only this, that is this population thinning is happening due to global warming and climate change. The Yamuna Valley was the least productive valley this year as far as species number is concerned and Rudraprayag district being the most productive. This year new trails were designed in Nayar Valley for the very first time.
The species like Monal, Koklass, Golden Eagle, Lammergeier and Himalayan Griffon being the most sought after did not disappoint the seekers on their lookout. Other species were the Winter Wren, Himalayan Buzzard, Cheer Pheasant, Collared Falconet, Great & Blue-throated Barbet, Peregrine Falcon, Red-billed & Alpine Chough, Lesser Fish Eagle, Rosefinch, Cinereous and Red-headed Vulture, Snow Pigeons, Hen Harrier, Alpine Accentor, Nuthatches and Tree-creepers, Wagtails, Steppe Eagle, Brown Dipper, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Golden Bush Robin, Redstarts and Forktails, Speckled Wood Pigeon, Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon, Grosbeak and Bunting, Slaty-headed Parakeet, Barn Owl, Sunbirds, Mountain & Collared Scops Owl, Crested Kingfisher, Green Bee-eater, Honeyguide, Speckled Piculet, Rufous-bellied Woodpecker, Cuckooshrike, Minivets, Maroon Oriole, Nutcracker, Jays, Hill partridge, Tits and Warblers, Ashy & Black Bulbuls, Prinias, Chestnut-headed Tesia, Babbler & Laughing-thrushes, Bar-throated Shiva, Sibias and Yuhinas, Blackbirds, flycatcher species.
A team was sent to an undisclosed area to reconfirm sighting with photo record of the Tragopan species but luck did not favour the team this year. Like all past bird counts the teams were also placed in the presumed habitat of the elusive Himalayan Quail and ARCH will keep on looking for the rediscovery of this extinct bird which was last sighted in 1879 near Mussoorie. As the bird migration this year is much delayed so the wetland areas will be surveyed at a later date in the month of December for migratory waterfowl and wader species.
This pioneering bird conservation initiative involving citizen science is the brain child of now famous as the “Birdman of Uttarakhand” Prateek Panwar belonging to the last border village in the western-most corner of Uttarkashi district bordering Himachal, who said goodbye to his bright corporate career way back in year 2001 after working with some top business houses and returned to his home state to work fulltime for the conservation of birds and their habitats of our state, creating replicable and practical conservation models like his pioneering “The Great Himalayan Bird Count and the House Sparrow Nest Box Adoption Programmes” which are copied and replicated in all parts of our country. Today, it is just not birds alone that are being counted but other species like butterflies, moths, insects, frogs and reptiles are also being counted across the length and breath of the country.
This bird conservation initiative would not have been possible without the support of Prof Durgesh Pant, DG, UCOST. Other than Prateek Panwar, the organising team consisted of Arvind Kumar, Sanjay Bhatnagar, Megha Rawat, Suman Hatwal, Deena Ramola, Dinesh Rawat, Yogesh Kumar, Pushkar Singh, Dr PC Banerjee, Satyadev Uniyal, Vinod Rawat, Swaroop Tiwari, Sandeep Agarwal, Saisha Panwar, Suyash Panwar and Praveen Pokhriyal.
