|
|
Beside the Information Technology Park, Sector V, Saltlake - Nalban Bheri, a small part of the East Kolkata Wetlands holds a wide variety of flora fauna surrounded by stretched water body. This place is actually owned by Fishery Department of West Bengal - purposely built to support fish cultivation. This periphery of this bheri is fully covered with greeneries and water vegetation like water hyacinth here and there.
Due to fresh water logging and greeneries all around - this bheri houses a good number of spare visited winter birds, common birds and many migratory birds. Every year - I visit this place usually four five times to watch seasonal varieties inside this small bio-sphere of Nalban. Starting from the SDF Building left side - you can move towards nose straight and each corner of the bheri will help you to take turn. At the first corner (where the Banabibi temple) - I come across several times with Common kingfisher, White throated kingfisher, Pied kingfisher. So I name it as Kingfisher Zone. Across the fringes - I find clamorous reed warbler, paddy field warbler, scaly bellied munia, plain prinia, bengal bushlark, paddyfield pipit etc. In month of January February - you will encounter with the migratory birds like Gadwals, Pintails, Tufted duck, Common snipe - floating on the fresh waters. Just opposite of the water body - Long tailed shrike, Plaintive cuckoo, Yellow wagtail, White wagtail, Bluethroat - you can find in good numbers. I find this zone is packed with Long tailed shrike, Brown shrike etc. I name it as Shrike zone. Last winter - in late march/april - I found two Eurasian Eigeons and few Garganys; Some experts commented on the fact and the conclusion comes as - migratory birds on their return migration route use Nalban for temporary stoppage.
Some recent birding surveys discloses the truth - that many varieties is already lost from this wetland. These include Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Marsh,Terek & Curlew Sandpiper, Little & Temminck’s Stint etc. Some of small plots inside this project are being let out for Picnic and the disturbance and the sound pollution (Sound Box usage, Crackers) caused serious threat to the avian life.
Weekend Birding Trip Reports at Nalban [2007-2009] posted in Bengalbirds GoogleGroup
List of birds (Last updated on Nov 2010):
| Gadwall |
Black-Rumped Flameback |
| Indian Roller |
Green Bee-Eater |
| Rose-Ringed Parakeet |
House Swift |
| White-Breasted Waterhen |
White-Rumped Vulture |
| Little Cormorant |
Intermediate Egret |
| Indian Pond Heron |
Asian Openbill |
| Yellow Bittern |
Long-tailed Shrike |
| Black-Hooded Oriole |
Bluethroat |
| Asian Pied Starling |
Jungle Myna |
| Red-vented Bulbul |
Clamorous Reed Warbler |
| White Wagtail |
Lesser Whistling-duck |
| Northern Pintail |
Blue-Throated Barbet |
| Common Kingfisher |
Asian Koel |
| Spotted Dove |
Common Coot |
| Wood Sandpiper |
Great Egret |
| Grey Heron |
Rufous Treepie |
| Black Drongo |
Oriental Magpie Robin |
| Common Myna |
Barn Swallow |
| Plain Prinia |
Common Tailorbird |
| Paddyfield Pipit |
Scaly-breasted Munia |
| Coppersmith Barbet |
White Throated Kingfisher |
| Greater Coucal |
Asian Palm Swift |
| Eurasian Collared Dove |
Common Snipe |
| Common Sandpiper |
Black Kite |
| Little Grebe |
Little Egret |
| Cattle Egret |
Brown Shrike |
| Large-Billed Crow |
Red-Throated Flycatcher |
| Chestnut-tailed Starling |
Red-whiskered Bulbul |
| Blyth's Reed Warbler |
Purple Sunbird |
| Yellow Wagtail |
Garganey |
| Plaintive cuckoo |
Eurasian collared dove |
| Striated Grassbird |
Eurasian Wigeon |
|
|
