Over 12 L migratory birds visit Kmr this winter season

Srinagar: Keeping their tryst with Kashmir’s wetlands and water bodies, the Department of Wildlife, Wetland Division, said that more than twelve lakh migratory birds have visited the valley.
“The census of migratory birds for this year has been done, and more than 12 lakh migratory birds have arrived in the valley, of which some winged species have turned up after a gap of eighty years,” Afshan Dewan, Wildlife Warden (Wetlands) said
She said that for the first time after the management intervention at the Shalibugh wetland site, more than two lakh migratory birds visited the site. In the last few years, it had been extremely low, he added.
Dewan said that among the sites taken up for the census of migratory birds, Hokersar Wetland recorded more than five lakh migratory birds.
She said many people are now showing keen interest in bird watching and understanding their migration. “We carried out the census of migratory birds at 17 sites in the valley, which included eight wetland sites,” she said.
With the weather changes happening from March, the majority of the migratory birds have left the valley wetlands and other sites, the officer added.
Every year, migratory birds from colder regions including Russia, Europe, and Central Asia arrive in lakhs to the Kashmir Valley, of which major winged visitors stay in Hokersar Wetland, while others travel to several wetlands and water bodies.