Birds at Wadhwana wetlands counted

Vadodara: The forest department conducted an estimation count of migratory birds at Wadhwana wetlands in Dabhoi taluka on Saturday. The department involved volunteers from various organisations along with forest personnel for the exercise.
The department had conducted a similar exercise with the help of its staff in Dec. This time, the counting was done on a larger scale. Forest officials said that the water level in Wadhwana is still too high, and hence the number of migratory birds recorded in the wetland was not very high on Saturday.
The department expected that the water level in Wadhwana, which is an irrigation lake, would start going down in the second week of Jan as the irrigation department starts releasing water to the villages around. During the bird estimation exercise, the department formed 13 teams, including 85 members.
These members were deployed at various points around the sprawling lake. They counted the birds and recorded the species. The department enlisted the services of the Sustainable Ecology Foundation run by Dr Bhavik Patel.
Apart from the bar-headed geese, greylag geese, coots, spoonbills, rudy shelducks, and knob-billed ducks, an Australian stilt and brown crake were spotted during the counting. The counting team also kept an eye on the birds in the farms around the wetland.
Wadhwana was the second wetland to get the Ramsar site recognition in the state after Nal Sarovar.
The department is concerned over the quality of the water and high water levels in the wetland that, according to them, are affecting the number of migratory birds visiting the lake.