NAGAPATTINAM: With the migratory season at Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary set to peak, the forest department is preparing to augment waterbodies to attract more birds in the coming weeks. For the past two months, few migratory birds have been spotted at the district’s Kodiyakarai wetlands due to the dry period without much rainfall compared to previous years. With rain expected to intensify in the coming weeks, the forest department is taking measures to attract more birds.
At the sanctuary, there are about 60 ponds and 20 artificial water troughs under the Vedaranyam forest range. Of these, 10 ponds, in and around the sanctuary, have been desilted and deepened.“It will help birds to wade through the water and also increase the storage capacity of the water body. We have also filled the water troughs to improve their sighting for migratory birds,” says District Forest Range Officer B Ayub Khan.
Besides, salt production season is coming to a close in villages in Vedaranyam block. Once the salt producers leave their salterns after extraction, it becomes wading ground for water birds for the next two months. The salterns will be filled with water as the northeast monsoon is expected to intensify during this period.
Some of the migratory birds spotted include Little Stint, Lesser Sand Plover, Marsh Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Wood Sandpiper, Eurasian Curlew, Painted Stork and Oriental Pratincole. However, the count, for the past month, is low compared to the yearly average. Officials believe the bird count will increase around mid-November.
“We are currently seeing a very modest number of migratory birds in the sanctuary which we believe is due to less rainfall in the region over the past few months. If there is considerable rainfall in the next few weeks, the water bodies will also prosper with water,” Nagapattinam District Forest Officer Abhishek Tomar told TNIE.