KOCHI,
The Hindu, November 18, 2014
Annually, thousands of these small raptors take the long flight from
Siberia to Mongolia, Nagaland and from there to South Africa and back to
Mongolia. The birds usually breed in Mongolia. They fly all this
distance back when weather conditions become conducive. During these
transnational journeys, some may fly over the skies of Kerala, too.
Birders of Kochi were lucky to spot one on Sunday, the day on which the 8 edition of the Bird Race was conducted.
A group of birders led by K.G. Dileep of the Cochin Natural History
Society spotted a female bird of the species at near Nedumbassery. It
was located at near a swamp in Nedumbassery. It could be the third
instance of spotting the bird in Kerala, said Dr. Dileep.
During its migration to South Africa, these birds are known to be flying
over the West Coast. Some might be opting to flying over Kerala to
reach its destination. But, precious little is known about the journey
of the birds over Kerala, said P.O. Nameer, the State coordinator,
Indian Bird Conservation Network and Important Bird Area Programme.
They need not be considered as accidental visitors to Kerala. It must be
those individuals that take the different routes that were located in
Kerala, he said.
Besides Kochi, one Amur Falcon was spotted in Thiruvananthapuram also.
They are classified as vagrant as the species has not been studied in
detail including its presence and stay in the State, he said.
Students of the College of Forestry, Thrissur, had sighted some
individuals of Asian Fairy Bluebird and Velvet Fronted Nuthatch from the
campus of the Kerala Agriculture University.
While around 1,500 Glossy Ibis were found from Kole wetlands, a Mountain
Hawk Eagle was spotted from Idamalayar area by a group led by Ginu
George, said Vishnupriyan Kartha, secretary of the Cochin Natural
History Society.
In the central Kerala region, around 100 participants in 22 teams, drawn
from Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kottayam and Alapuzha districts participated.
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