The flamingoes have landed in Hyderabad. The winter visitors are here a little earlier than expected and birdwatchers have spotted flocks of the tall colourful birds at both Osmansagar and Himayatsagar lakes on the fringes of the city.
“If they are here now then it is early for them. Usually, the Greater Flamingoes land up at the water bodies in this region between November and stay for three months before flying back to Gujarat where they come from,” said Asif Arastu Husain, a birdwatcher who has been following the birds’ migration and roosting patterns.
This year, the birds have been spotted at the backwaters of Osmansagar lake and the foreshore of Himayatsagar which is teeming with shells and clams. However, the birds have not been spotted at Ameenpur lake which had turned into a birdwatchers’ paradise earlier. Pocharam lake is also a regular haunt for the birds. The few photographers who have managed to spot the avian visitors cannot have enough of it waiting for them to walk in formation, clean their plumage or take off after having a fill. “They are here for the past few weeks, they are coming in the morning and then they fly away before landing in the evening,” informed Zaheer Khan, who runs a small shop in the area.
There are reports of the birds being spotted at the Himayatsagar lake as well. “I have seen the tall birds here. They come here for a few hours and land at a safe distance from the dam. As this area is protected and fenced, not many people go there, and the birds can be spotted near the rocks there,” said Chowdiah, a Hyderabad Metro staffer. “On Saturday, the whole day I drove from one lake to another. From one area to another as the locals kept offering tips about spotting the birds. First they told us that the birds are near Himayatsagar backwaters. Then they said it is Himayatsagar foreshore. Then Osmansagar backwaters. I gave up but I managed to spot the birds within a few minutes of coming here on Sunday at Osmansagar backwaters,” said a birdwatcher. Surprisingly, birdwatchers were unwilling to reveal the exact location of the flocks. “Many of the photographers don’t know how to behave. They throw stones and pebbles to get better photographs, hence we are not sharing the location details,” said the birdwatcher who first spotted the birds in the first week of August.