Chennai, Aug 24 (BPNS)
Environmentalists and bird watchers are enthused at the presence of migratory birds flocking to Point Calimere before the monsoon season. The arrival of birds in large numbers at the Point Calimere is, according to environmentalists the abundance of water.
It is to be noted that Point Calimere in Nagapattinam is spread over 21 Square Kilometers and is one of the largest wetlands in the country as well as a Ramsar site.
Bhaskar Raghavan, an environmentalist based out of Tiruchi while speaking to IANS said, “ The arrival of birds at the Point Calimere is most probably due to the abundance of water present in the area mainly because of the unseasonal rains.”
He said that some of the migratory birds that have returned to their natural habitats would have come back earlier.
The migratory birds spotted in the sanctuary included Little Stint, Lesser Sand Plover, Marsh Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Ruddy Turnstone, and Eurasian Curlew.
The Divisional Forest Officer, Nagapattinam, Yogesh Kumar Meena while speaking to media persons said, “The birds may have arrived before the season due to the availability of water in the region. We are planning to set up bird watching towers for the benefit of the tourists and researchers.”
Ornithologist and Deputy Director of Bombay Natural History Society also said that the abundance of water in the bird sanctuary could be the reason for the migratory birds reaching Point Calimere before the monsoon season.
