Birds flatter to deceive, watchers on wings of despair (Times of India 06 February 2012)

NEW DELHI: It was a day that began with much anticipation but ended in disappointment for the city's birdwatchers. The annual Big Bird Day on Sunday recorded just 226 species of the winged visitors unlike last year's 240.
Bikram Grewal, the official score keeper, said it is an ill omen as the drop in count indicates a drop in the number species along the Yamuna. "The two places along the Yamuna where we monitor birds are the Okhla Bird Sanctuary and the Yamuna Biodiversity Park. Both places recorded a fall in the number of species. Okhla went down from 95 species in 2011 to 78 this year while at the Yamuna park, the count dropped from 84 last year to 65 this year," he said.
Once again, the most number of species were spotted at Bhindawas. However, a fall in numbers was seen here, too -151 against last year's count of 179.
"But the situation wasn't uniform everywhere; some places also recorded an increase, so we cannot say that the situation is altogether hopeless. Sultanpur went up from 95 last year to 141 this year. Surajpur, which is being developed by WWF, recorded a total of 101 this time as compared to 79 last year. Both these areas are protected and this shows that with proper management, the bird count can actually go up," Grewal added.
Sunday was slightly cloudy but pleasantly warm - an excellent day for spotting birds. Dr Surya Prakash, who led a team to JNU, Shankar Vihar and Bhatti Mines, was not quite happy with their tally of 115. "It was difficult getting a good number. Shankar Vihar, an area we discovered behind Vasant Kunj last year, has practically dried up. We had trouble spotting some of the commonest birds that we usually see," he said.
The team wound its way through thorny shrubs and a filthy marshland for about 10 minutes to hunt for birds and was thrilled when they managed to add two precious numbers to their existing tally.
Anand Arya, who visited the Dadri wetlands with his team, saw 120 birds and was quite excited at having spotted about 60% of the over 200 that have been recorded by him personally in the area over the years. Faiyaz Khudsar, scientist at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park, said that the fall in the number of species this year is not alarming yet and could be attributed to various reasons.
"At the park, the number of wetland birds is the same. The number of Red Crested Pochards is actually higher this year. The tree canopy has become higher because of which it was more difficult to spot terrestrial birds.
Secondly, Rajasthan received good rain last year and there is a possibility that many migratory birds stopped there," he said.