Asian waterbird census: 16 species of waterbirds found in Indus belt

By Reach Ladakh Correspondent LEH, Feb 02, 2018
LEH :
Asian waterbird census 2018 was organized by Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), Leh, in collaboration with Wildlife Conservation and Birds Club of Ladakh (WCBCL), Leh and Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust (SLC-IT), Leh with the support of Department of Wildlife Protection, Leh on January 21 in Leh.

Pankaj Raina, Wildlife Warden, Department of Wildlife Protection, Leh was the chief guest who also participated the census.

Tsewang Rigzin, Field Officer, WWF, Leh and Lobzang Visuddha, Chairman, WCBCL, Leh, welcomed Pankaj Raina and other participants, birders to the field trip.
 
Lobzang Visuddha, President, WCBCL informed that a total of 16 different species of waterbirds were recorded during the short field trip. Among them, Mallards topped the list in numbers, 200 plus in numbers along the bank of icy Indus River. The main attraction bird of the field trip/census was spotting of Ibisbills 5 in numbers.

Dr. Tsewang Namgyal, Director, SLC-IT, Leh, talked about the importance of such program, especially the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) which is being organized in all parts of Asia during this period.
 
He said that such bird census help in formulating the action plan for conservation of rare and endangered waterbirds in the future. Such census also helps us in understanding the multitude of problems faced by waterbirds all over the world during their lifetime – breeding, migration, and their population.

The program was started with field trip starting from Phey junction along the Indus River Belt which is one of the hotspots of water birds of Leh-Ladakh.
  
Waterbirds recorded during the field trip of Asian Waterbird Census, 2018
 

S.No.

Bird Name

Location

Numbers

1

Mallard (m/f)                                     

Phey  

200

2

Brown Dipper                                                   

Phey

2

3

CommonPochard                            

Phey/Spituk                       

02/ 9 = 11

4

Tufted Duck (m/f)                                                    

Phey     

2

5

Green Sandpiper                                          

Spituk

2

6

Ibisbill 

Choglamsar/ Chushot

02/ 03 = 05

7

Merganser               

Choglamsar             

7

8

Common Red Shank                       

Choglamsar/ Chushot    

01/ 03 = 04

9

Green Shank                                      

Chushot                               

2

10

Common King Fisher                      

Chushot                               

1

11

Plumbeous Water Redstart (F)                             

Chushot  

1

12

White Wagtail                                    

Choglamsar             

1

13

Common Coot                                   

Shey

6

14

Common Moorhen                         

Shey

5

15

Hybrid Mallard and Duck               

Shey

7

16

Graylag Goose                                  

Chushot

1