HAPPY BIRD DAY

HAPPY BIRD DAY

In its seventh year, Big Bird Day, started by the Delhi Bird Group, seems to have only grown bigger. Now a pan-India and international event, it's a day when bird enthusiasts and nature lovers gather early in the morning, to count the number of species they can spot around the city for the annual bird census. Last year, the number of bird species in Delhi/NCR was 237. This year the event is scheduled for February 24 and will begin at 6.30 am. Nikhil Devasar, one of the organisers says, "The programme is from dawn to dusk, and we'll end it with a meal and drinks, followed by a quiz. This year we're expecting 1,500 participants across the country." For registration, drop a mail to biks.grewal@gmail.com

A greater flamingo preened itself and a peregrine falcon had made an apperance. For birding enthusiasts, the warm Sunday morning expedition was already paying rich dividends. Over 200 people had gathered from different parts of Delhi to be part of the Big Bird Day. The Okhla Bird Sanctuary, the Sultanour Bird Sanctuary and the banks of the Yamuna were some of the places that had bird watchers, ready with their cameras and books, to document their sightings.

The team at Okhla, led by Atul Jain, a 47-year-old who works at a French IT company in the capital, comprised 35 to 40 bird enthusiasts from various walks of life -- army officials, IPS officers, IT professional and children with special abilities . Armed with binoculars, spotting scopes and birding books, the group had arrived at the venue at 6.30am. Says Jain, "We have the bird day every year in February or sometimes even twice a year in February and October. We were afraid that the weather might rain on our parade, but fortunately, we woke up to a glorious Sunday morning." They spotted around 80 to 85 different birds species including the colourful northern shoveler duck, the Eurasian Teal, the greylag goose, the magnificently large greater flamingo, the spotted owlet, the petite black redstart, the red-breasted flycatcher and the steppe gull. Says Jain, "The greater flamingos, which have migrated from Europe were a treat for all the bird-lovers."

Prof. John Kurakar