The latest census of birds at the Hirakud Dam Reservoir in Odisha brought cheer for the wildlife enthusiasts and authorities and bird lovers. The number of migratory birds at the reservoir has increased and a total of 3,16,676 migratory birds of 108 species were counted.

The census which was carried out on January 8 identified 10 new species that had come to the reservoir for the winter. These included pied harrier, bar-tailed godwit, cotton pygmy goose, curlew sandpiper, blue tailed bee-eater, Caspian tern, woolly-necked stork, crested serpent eagle, painted stork and yellow-billed duck.

Sharing details about the enumeration, Anshu Pragyan Das, the Divisional Forest Officer, Hirakud Wildlife informed that for this exercise the entire reservoir was divided into 15 sectors and a total of 30 teams were engaged for the bird census.

The teams included officials of the Forest Department and bird experts and they conducted the census from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each team was equipped with binoculars and life-saving jackets. For the census, 35 fishing boats were engaged in three districts of Jharsuguda, Bargarh and Sambalpur and help of fishermen who have knowledge about the nesting of birds was also taken.

A special team for photographing the exercise was also arranged.

Keeping in mind the importance of this census, all tourism and fishing activities were prohibited inside the reservoir one day before the exercise.

Last year’s census recorded 2,08,634 birds while in 2021 the number was 1,24,864.