Admission restricted as birds counting at Vadhavana lake starts on Friday

Entire area dividing into 13 zones for the exercise

There is a famous saying “Every Bird Counts”, which means every bird is valuable to environment and nature. Famous wet land Vadhavana lake famous for its migratory birds attraction is going to witness the bird counting exercise by the Wildlife Department of Forest Department at Vadodara.

This bird counting is useful as it helps in maintaining better bird management and gather useful information for wetland landscapes.

Forest Department periodically calculates the number of domestic and foreign birds visiting wildlife and bird sanctuaries by following various criteria and observing the number of birds flying in flocks by using various instruments.

Department of Wildlife, Vadodara under the guidance of Deputy Forest Conservator B.R. Vaghela, technical support by Birdman Salim Ali established Bombay Natural History Society and in collaboration with the M.S. University, the counting of the birds has been organised on Friday, the first day of the year 2021.

Following the government decided Covid 19 protocols this new bird counting experience will be useful in other ways as well. Photographers and bird watchers dedicated to birds and wildlife are contributing to this work as usual.

In connection with this operation, bird watching has been closed for the tourists on January 1 tomorrow. The Deputy Forest Conservator has requested for their cooperation.

BNHS scientist Dr. Bhavik Patel gives details about the bird count arrangements and pre-preparations by Wildlife Department, Vadodara. He said this year following the Covid guidelines, people with very good experience and in limited number has been selected by the Wildlife Department, Vadodara by filling up the forms in advance. This operation has been planned by the Forest Department following the rules which includes social distancing.

According to the Forest Department’s plan, the entire reservoir and campus area was earlier divided into 11 zones for bird counting. This time 13 teams in 13 zones will do bird watching and counting.

Each team will have one volunteer and 3 forest personnel. Equipment such as remote monitoring devices will be used. The counting will be in two sessions, morning and evening, for which each team will use two different forms. Care will be taken to make quick data entry possible so that the conclusion of the calculation can be obtained quickly and accurately.

The operation is planned to start at 8 am and in case of fog it might be delayed and will start at 8.30. Under the coordination of acting Assistant Forest Conservator H.D. Raulji and R.F.O. Mr. Khatri, forest personnel will contribute in the exercise.

At one time Vadodara was consider as one of the district rich in forests and nature in the state and after the formation of Chhotaudepur district most of the forests went there. However Vadodara district is still having Vadhvana lake famous for its migratory birds attraction. The lake gets recognition as the Wetland of National Importance in 2005.

Located at 10 kms from Dabhoi the place is water source for the nearby villages but most importantly popular for bird watching site. The place is home to various species of exotic birds comes every year in big numbers. Species like storks, terns, geese, ducks, ibis, flamingos and spoonbills are treat to watch there.

Built by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III the lake is the second largest in Gujarat known as wetland and also Eco tourism campsite. The best time to visit the wetland is from October to March as that is the main migratory seasons for birds which migrate here from all over the world.

Spread at around 10.38 square kilometer the Vadvana wetland gets the recognition of ‘Wetland of National Importance’ due to its importance and unmatched environmental value. The water of the lake is used for supply water to nearby villages for irrigation. The presence of birds at the lake also has its own importance as for the last 15 years or so there is no loss in the agriculture as the birds feed on the insects dangerous for crops and becomes saviours.