Coimbatore : The outskirts of Kalangal village, vast open thorny grassland – usually termed as barren land – has now become one of the important birding hotspots in Coimbatore for Birdwatchers since 2016 as it new species drop in a visit every year.
Coimbatore : The outskirts of Kalangal village, vast open thorny grassland – usually termed as barren land – has now become one of the important birding hotspots in Coimbatore for Birdwatchers since 2016 as it new species drop in a visit every year.
With the migration season beginning this year, members of Coimbatore Nature Society (CNS) including Gaja Mohanraj, Kishore Kumaran, P.B. Balaji, Srinivas Rav and G. Prakash who have been keeping a track on the avian visitors in the region, have recorded arrivals of Great-grey Shrike, Isabelline Shrike, Siberian Stonechat, Amur Falcon, Eurasian Wryneck and Grey-necked Bunting so far.
"Some of the species may be vagrants and may not visit every year here but for the Isabelline Wheatear and Amur Falcon this could be the second winter here as they have visited again", said Gaja Mohanraj.
P.B. Balaji, added saying that though there was a previous record of winter visitors like Grey-necked Bunting and Eurasian Wryneck in Coimbatore, the team was able to see them in good numbers this year. “They seem to be widespread as we heard about their presence through our fellow birders in different parts of the city", said Sarayu Ramakrishnan member of CNS.
Vijayakumar and Satish of CNS have recently photographed Grey-necked Bunting sitting on a stone, the sighting of which is rare. “During one of our recent visits to Kalangal when we were returning, our car was left behind and we took a wrong route. But to our surprise, Grey-necked Bunting showed up, sitting on a stone. Immediately, we started calling our group members to take a look at the new visitor which made the day memorable", said G. Prakash of CNS.
Prakash further added that apart from new visitors, the grassland held a bunch of resident birds including White-eyed Buzzard, Black-winged Kite, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Indian Eagle Owl, Indian Courser, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Black Drongo, Indian Roller, Spotted Owlet, Brahminy Starling, Large Grey Babbler, Pipits, Larks and regular migrant visitors like Booted Eagle, Common Kestrel, Lesser Kestrel, Eurasian Cuckoo, Hume's Whitethroat and Rosy Starling.
However, birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts worry that the recent unethical developments like liquor shop, quarrying and increased human disturbances and vehicular traffic may drive off these birds from this natural habitat in the near future.
With inputs from Ashika Arul.