Pong Dam Survey report from Team 12&13

Hi Folks!

The following report has been sent by Rima Dhillon an active member of Chandigarh Birds regarding survey. Her team spotted 66 species:

The Pong dam survey was held from 29-31 Jan 2011. The weather was overcast on the 30^th but bright and sunny on 31^st.

The Chandigarh Bird Group was represented at the Pong Dam Survey by Sarabjeet, Rima and prabhat Bhatti. It was a very well organised programme by Mr. Devinder Singh Dadwal. There were 21 teams covering the entire wetland. Our Team (Team 12&13) was beased at Dehra Gopipur which is at the narrowest point of the reservoir. The view from FRH is breathtaking. The huge expanse of water has a backdrop of low hills and snow peaks behind them.

The left bank where we were to do the counts had agricultural activity. The ploughed fields and the newly sprouting crop was providing a feast for the barheaded geese which could be seen grazing there! Much to the chagrin of the farmers. Infact counting the geese was a problem at times. Just as sarabjeet and I would creep up on a flock the caretakers of the crop would suddenly shoo them away and then the counting would have to be done all over again.

In all our team counted about 16000 water fowl over two days. We used boats and also walked along the banks to carry out this exercise. Our area mostly had a concentration of Pintails and pochards – common and tufted. But the other species well represented were Wigeons, Common Teals, Common Coots, River Terns and Brownheaded Gulls with a smattering of Mallards, Ruddy Shelduck, a small flock of Greylag Geese and even 6 spoonbills recorded by Prabhatji.

Sarabjeet and I had a view of couple of Ospreys as well.

The area around the FRH was teeming with Crimson Sunbirds and Blue Throated Barbets. Prabhatji got some lovely shots of both – wonder why he has not posted them? Sarabjeet was doing an equally great job with her new Canon 400mm lens!

A list of total species seen:

1. COMMON COOTS

2. BROWNHEADED GULLS

3. PALLAS' GULL

4. NORTHERN PINTAILS

5. COMMON POCHARDS

6. TUFTED DUCK

7. GREYLAG GEESE

8. BARHEADED GEESE

9. COMMON TEALS

10. RIVER TERN

11. BLACK BELLIED TERN

12. LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

13. WHITE WAGTAIL

14. CITRINE WAGTAIL

15. GREAT CORMORANT

16. CRESTED LARK

17. LITTLE CORMORANT

18. INDIAN CORMORANT

19. MEDIAN EGRET

20. LITTLE EGRET

21. OLIVE BACKED PIPIT

22. LITTLE GREBE

23. RUDDY SHELDUCK

24. RIVER LAPWING

25. PIED KINGFISHER

26. GREY HERON

27. COMMON SANDPIPER

28. GREEN SANDPIPER

29. COMMON REDSHANK

30. LITTLE TERN

31. WIGEON

32. WHITE THROATED KINGFISHER

33. MALLARD

34. NORTHERN SHOVELLER

35. GREAT CRESTED GREBE

36. BLACK WINGED STILT

37. SPOON BILLS

38. OSPREY

39. BLACK KITE

40. LARGE BILLED CROW

41. LONG TAILED SHRIKE

42. GREY BUSHCHAT

43. COMMON CHIFFCHAFF

44. DADK SIDED FLYCATCHER

45. REDVENTED BULBUL

46. HIMALAYAN BULBUL

47. JUNGLE BABBLER

48. PLUMHEADED PARAKEET

49. BLUE THROATED BARBET

50. BROWHEADED BARBET

51. BLACK REDSTART

52. RUFOUS TREEPIE

53. RIVER LAPWING

54. NORTHERN LAPWING

55. BWT

56. WHITE BREASTED WATERHEN

57. BLACK SHOULDERED KITE

58. SAND LARK

59. GREAT TIT

60. INDIAN ROBIN

61. MAGPIE ROBIN

62. ROCK PIGEON

63. BLACK RUMPED WOODPECKER

64. ROSE RINGED PARAKEET

65. CRIMSON SUNBIRD

66. ORIENTAL WHITEEYE

The fotos will be put up by Prabhat and Sarabjeet.

Rima Dhillon

Chandigarh
(91)9876151090

Annual Waterfowl Census Results of Pong Lake Wildlife Sanctuary

Hi Folks!

Annual Waterfowl Estimation exercise was carried out on 30^th & 31^st January 2011 for monitoring the numerical size of visitor migratory birds’ population during the year 2010-11 in Pong Dam Lake Wildlife Sanctuary. Experts from various institutes & organizations viz. Bombay Natural History Society, Zoological Survey of India, WWF, Delhi Bird Club, Chandigarh Bird Club, Pong Birding Society and many wildlife enthusiasts, bird watchers, volunteers along with officials & officers from Forest Department , participated in this mega exercise. Entire Pong Dam Lake Wildlife Sanctuary was divided in to 20 Sections. About 90 persons participated in this exercise. Each section was thoroughly traversed on land and water by a team of 4-6 members headed by an expert. After two day long exercise, it has been concluded that 1,32,000 waterfowls of 95 different species have visited Pong Dam Lake this year. Dominant species are:

Common Pochard (41200),

Bar Headed Goose (23800),

Northern Pintail (13900),

Common Coot (12200),

Great Cormorant (9400) and

Common Teal (6400).

Pied Avocet (10) has been noticed for the first time. Common Shelduck (25), rarely seen in Indian wetlands, was also observed. Other noticeable species are Great Crested Grebe, Black Necked Grebe, Greylag Goose, Red Crested Pochard, Ferruginous Pochard, Common Merganser, Eurasian Spoonbill, Greater White Fronted Goose, Western Reef Egret, Garganey, Black Bittern, Sarus Crane, and Osprey.

Most of these birds migrate from their breeding places in trans-Himalaya region in Tibet, Central Asia, Russia and Siberia. Over the last few years Pong Dam Lake, also a Ramsar site, has become an ideal destination for winter sojourn for many species of Migratory birds.

Last year, 1.45 lakh birds visited the lake. The reduction in the count was mainly due to the high-water level in the reservoir as it reduced the shallow water area preferred by the waterfowls.Most of these birds migrate from their breeding places in the trans-Himalaya region in Tibet, Central Asia, Russia and Siberia.

The figures were released by Mr. Ashwani Gulati, PCCF(Wildlife) Himachal Pradesh. Will share complete figures with you soon.

World Wetlands Day

2 February each year is World Wetlands Day. It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. WWD was celebrated for the first time in 1997 and made an encouraging beginning. Each year, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and groups of citizens at all levels of the community have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular.

In Himachal Pradesh functions are being organised at Pong, Renuka and Rewalsar wetlands to spread awareness among general population and also among youth especially school and college students.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Pictures of Birds of Himachal

Hi Folks!

For your convenience I have created a Group called Birds of Himachal Pradesh on Flickr. You can click the link below to register as members and start posting your pics. A link to this Group will be available on the blog also.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1619911@N21/

Happy birding!

Birding on Parwanoo - Kasauli Section

Hi Folks!

Mr Narbir Kahlon, a keen birder, visited Kasauli on 29 Jan. His trip report may be seen by clicking on the link below:

http://groups.google.com/group/birds-chandigarh/browse_thread/thread/8c889d600d508837?hl=en-GB

Cheers

Wildlife Fact Sheet in Himachal

Ø Area under Protected Area Network
National Parks (2) : 1440 km²
Wildlife Sanctuaries (32) : 5562 km²
Ø Recorded taxa of higher plants : >3500
Ø Recorded species of mammals : 77
Ø Recorded species of birds : 463
Ø Recorded species of reptiles : 44
Ø Recorded species of fishes : 80
Ø Recorded species of aquatic fauna : 436

(Courtesy : Himachal Wildlife Department)