Bird conservation society promotes north Gujarat’s wetlands

Even as the second bird conference tried to promote bird and wetland tourism, the Bird Conservation Society Gujarat (BCSG) organised a trip for some bird enthusiasts. The idea was to promote the not-so well-known wetlands of north Gujarat.

Bakul Trivedi, honorary secretary, of BCSG said another reason why the lesser known wetlands of North Gujarat were chosen was because of the high water level at more popular places like Dantewada.

"This was nothing unusual for us. Usually in a year we do organise 2 or 3 such trips. This was the first such trip for this calendar year," said Trivedi. He said the motive was also to promote the not so well-known wetlands of North Gujarat.

"We had selected unusual places that had good habitat and rich variety of birds for the two day trip," said Trivedi.

PS Thakkar, committee member of BCS said there were some 30 members in the trip. "Two of them were from France. It was a group that had both the experts as well as the novices. The experience was good and we got to see some great variety of birds," said Thakkar.

Thakkar said the bird numbers were good as the wetlands had shallow water in it. Trivedi said it also gave the novices an opportunity to interact and learn with the experts. Jayesh Shah, a birdwatcher for the last 10 to 12 years, said he did not know of these birding places in Gujarat.

"We visited some five places close to Patan. They were small places nestled amid villages. We got to see an excellent variety of birds, some of them I had not seen before even in Nalsarovar and Thol. Shah said when you talk of bird watching places, most people think of just Nalsarovar and Thol. "But it is time more people were made aware of such excellent places in Gujarat," said Shah.