Ode to Chilika and its birds: First national fest from Jan 27

BHUBANESWAR: To showcase Chilika and the magnificent birds it draws from across Asia, Odisha Government on Friday announced the first National Chilika Bird Festival which will be held at Mangalajodi on January 27 and 28.

Organised by Forest and Environment Department in association with Odisha Tourism Development Corporation and Chilika Development Authority (CDA), the festival is aimed at establishing Chilika on the global tourist map.

The two-day festival, to be held at Mangalajodi would comprise a host of events for registered participants as well as the public.

A workshop to disseminate the diversity of birds of Chilika along with film shows will be held on the first day. Before that, a photography and painting competition would be organised and winning entries would be displayed during the festival. There would be walk-through promotional and interactive stalls while visitors would be provided tips to identify birds, migration and flyways.

Similarly, a group or an individual would be rewarded for contribution to conservation of avifauna in and around Chilika.

The second day would see delegates taken in five different routes to get an experience in bird watching besides exploring the lake.

One of the finest and largest winter birding sites in the country, Chilika’s beauty and bio-diversity abundance is unique. Studies conducted by CDA in association with Bombay Natural History Society shows that the 1100 sq km lagoon supports anything between 7 lakh to 9.5 lakh water birds on an annual basis.

At least 228 species of birds have been recorded in the brackish water lagoon through a long term study by BNHS.

Dolphin Census

The annual dolphin census which was conducted across the coastal forest divisions of the State on Friday has brought cheer for wildlife lovers as Chilika has shown some pleasant surprises.

According to preliminary results basing on direct sighting, at least 39 Irrawaddy dolphins were sighted near Nalabana and Balugaon sides of the lagoon. In this region, sighting was practically nil. In Rambha, the assessment teams sighted about 17. Demolition of the illegal prawn gheries and nets are believed to have paved way for circulation of the endangered species.

Similarly, census was conducted in nine segments of Bhitarkanika Mangrove Sanctuary. In five segments, the sighting was encouraging while in rest, no cetaceans could be seen by the teams. As many as 250 dolphins were directly sighted in all the segments.

The entire population of dolphins would be announced after an analysis by PCCF (Wildlife) office on January 25.