Rajasthan: Winged friends bring tourists along with them

While the human activity has become restricted as a result of drop in temperature the state, the avian activity is on a surge now. With thousands of migratory birds making a beeline for the world renowned wetland of the state – Keoladeo Ghana National Park, tourist activity in the park has almost tripled in the past fortnight. As a result of this, the department officials are overjoyed while are also keeping a good eye out on the water availability in the dykes across the park.
During the three-month long monsoon this year, the rains did not provide with Bharatpur district with enough water to fill the dams providing water to Keoladeo, thus the park faced a major problem of water shortage. “There was little water available here and thus we had to take water from the Goverdhan drain. Although it wasn’t enough, we later had to lift water from Chambal as well to reach the optimum level required for the park,” officials said.
This proved to be a major boon as with enough water and feed, the resident birds stayed put and built nests to lay eggs. “While the heronries became abundant, the water started drawing migratory birds right after the monsoons ended. At first small groups arrived however off late, we have been receiving groups of hundreds of birds on a daily basis. Coots, showlers, geese and many other species of birds have been recorded so far in huge numbers. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of chicks in the heronries as well and thus the park is teeming with life right now,” said officials.
Ornithologists, who have been waiting for winter to visit the park, have thronged in huge numbers as well. “There are regular bird watchers, photographers, ornihtologists who have been visitng on regular basis for over a month now. There is also a surge in number of tourists – both domestic and foreign. During the weekend we have difficult time in handling the tourists as their number swells more than expected. Overall the situation in park is good,” officials said.
MIGRATORY BIRDS MAKING A BEELINE
With the drop in temperature across state, the avian activity is on a surge now. With thousands of migratory birds making a beeline for the world renowned wetland of the state – Keoladeo Ghana National Park, tourist activity in the park has almost tripled in the past fortnight. As a result of this, the department officials are overjoyed while are also keeping a good eye out on the water availability in the dykes across the park.