Rare bird sightings at Rabindra Sarobar excite Kolkata birdwatchers
Times of India | 2 November 2024
Rabindra Sarobar KOLKATA: The sighting of rare migratory birds at Rabindra Sarobar has created a stir in the birding community, with bird lovers arriving in droves to catch a glimpse of the Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoo, Blyth's Paradise Flycatcher, and Emerald Dove that have been spotted at the lake since mid-October.
Several other birds, including the Grey Heron, Painted Stork, Forest Wagtail, and Blue-throated Flycatcher, have been sighted in recent days. The Painted Storks usually nest on trees in the islands of Rabindra Sarobar and stay until February.
This is the first time that the Blyth's Paradise Flycatcher and Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoo have been sighted at the lake. Local birders said the Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoo, first sighted at the lake a couple of days ago, became a star, attracting a large number of birders not only from Kolkata but from the districts as well.
Birder Samar Jana, who teaches at a primary school in Kolaghat, took an early morning train to Howrah and reached Rabindra Sarobar by 7 to photograph the bird. "I was thrilled when I saw a photograph of the bird at Rabindra Sarobar and could not resist going down to try and get a shot," he said.
The bird was sighted twice before in south Bengal, once in 2018 and again in 2021. On both occasions, it was spotted at the Chintamani Kar Bird Sanctuary in Narendrapur. "The bird, whose habitat is along the Himalayas extending east into South-East Asia, is difficult to sight even in the hills. Hence, the excitement over its sighting in Rabindra Sarobar," explained birder Mitali Deb, who is also the medical officer at Jadavpur University.
The Blyth's Paradise Flycatcher, the other bird that was spotted for the first time at the lake on October 14 and stayed for nearly a fortnight before flying away, also attracted a large number of birders from near and far. The bird is native from southern China to Sumatra and Melanesia.
On Saturday, birders got a sighting of the Emerald Dove for the first time this season. The Emerald Dove, which lives along the Himalayan belt and Western Ghats, is the state bird of Tamil Nadu. Also spotted for the first time this season on Saturday was the Ultramarine Flycatcher, which is found in central India.
Birders frequenting the lake have also captured in their lens birds like the Hair Crested Drongo, Lesser Cuckoo, Indian Pitta, Indian Blue Robin, Rusty-tailed Flycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher, Brown-breasted Flycatcher, Taiga Flycatcher, Tickell's Thrush, Orange-headed Thrush, Blue-capped Rock Thrush, and Indian Paradise Flycatcher.