Flocks of lesser flamingos, pintail ducks, pied avocets welcome birders

At 3.30 pm, the team comprising Gani Sama (35), a casual labourer with the Gujarat forest department in Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Anika Tere (42), a birdwatcher from Vadodara who has studied biology of flamingos as part of her doctoral research, Kiran Shah (74), a retired automobile engineer with interest in birding, and Nirupa Dudhat (34), a maths and science teacher at a government primary school who holds a masters degree in zoology, get down at the Vindhyavasini temple.

They start trekking in the south, on a dyke built by the state irrigation department as salinity ingress prevention measure that also acts as a kuchcha road from Vindhyavasini to Keshod (Lushala) village.

In around 100 metres, they spot huge flocks of birds. “Lakho ben (sister you note down), 400 lesser flamingos, 150 pintail ducks, 200 pied avocets, four dalmatian pelicans, four greater cormorants, one grey heron, two spoon bills, 50 garganey, 150 bar-headed geese, 100 common cranes,” Sama directs Dudhat, scanning the area with a spotting scope.

The team was among the 15 that conducted population estimation in Gosabara, Porbandar Bird Sanctuary, Chhaya Rann, Kuchhadi-Javar, Medha creek and Amipur and Barda Sagar dams on Saturday and Sunday. The bird count was jointly oraganised by the Gujarat forest department, Bird Conservation Society of Gujarat (BCSG) and Saurashtra Chemicals Limited.

As they move along the four-km dyke, shrubland on the east gives way to what looks like a reed-land with patches of water. Sama directs, “Lakho ben, 100 bar-tailed ducks, 4 wigeons, 40 common coots, two ruddy shelducks, two spot-billed ducks, six common teals, six rosy pelicans, six purple swamp hens.”

Unable to keep pace in finding names of species and enter their population numbers in the checklist of birds given by BCSG, Dudhat pleads, “Khamo (hold on, please)”.

Focusing on the western side, Tere says, “Nirupa, you write 400 lesser flamingos, add 200 to that, then 200 more… This is quite huge. I haven’t seen so many flamingos at one place in recent years.”

Far east of the dyke, Sama spots three large flocks of demoiselle and common cranes and estimates their numbers to be 1,200 and 400 respectively. Dudhat, who was also part of voulnteers’ group that conducted the biennial bird census in Nal Sarovar on February 5 and 6, expresses her reservations about the number but Sama makes her assess the number with the spotting scope.

The team records one black-necked stork, which is considered a rare bird, little stints, marsh harriers, gulls, river terns and scores of other birds. After trekking around 3.5 km, the team takes a short break. “Counting in such a huge wetland with so many species is exhausting,” Tere says. But Sama urges her to hurry up, saying, “We have a sizeable area left to cover.”

As dusk sets in, calls of cranes become louder and huge flocks emerge from south and south-west. Gani tries to teach the team to identify common cranes and demoiselle cranes on the basis of difference in their calls. “Enter this in the list: 6,000 unidentified cranes,” Sama tells Dudhat as the birders wind up the four-hour long preliminary count.

On Sunday morning, the second and final day of the bird count, Mayur Rathod (53), a wildlifer who organises nature education camps in Polo forest in Sabarkantha, Dhaval Shukal (29), a restaurant owner from Ahmedabad who holds a masters degree in zoology, and Nitin Vyas (71), a retired office superintendent of Gujarat forest department from Gandhinagar, reach Kuchhadi wetland on Porbandar outskirts.

As the sun emerges over the skyline of Porbandar town, Shukal starts scanning the wetland. “Wow! A flock of pied avocets; 400 of them,” he exclaims and starts entering his counts in e-bird portal. Shukal, has participated in bird counts in Thol, Nal Sarovar as well as in states like Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

While the three were identifying species of ducks, waders, pelicans, gulls etc, K Nityanandam, the IPS officer who retired as director general of police of Gujarat in 2011, climbs the watchtower and starts clicking photos. “I’ve been doing bird photography for two years,” tells the retired top cop.

BSCG said results of the two-day census that ended Sunday will be declared soon. “This (census) is an attempt to understand Gosabara and put it on track for Ramsar listing,” said Dr Bakul Trivedi, BCSG honourary secretary.