Sea bird wanders to Sukhna for first time

Vikram Jit Singh, TNN | Mar 28, 2014, 04.05AM IST

CHANDIGARH: What would be a marine bird, usually seen along the coasts of Gujarat, be doing at Sukhna Lake as winter wanes? Bird lovers of the city and ornithologists across the country have been delighted to get the first and "exceptional" record of the Saunder's tern (Sternula saunderesi) at Sukhna on March 22, whose identity and differentiation from the similar-looking Little tern (Sternula albifrons) has been established following scrutiny by experts over several days.

The Saunder's tern at Sukhna, which is hundreds of miles off its known habitat, is from a "migratory flocking species that nests in small colonies on scrapes in sand/gravel. This species often hovers with rapid wing-beats before plunge-diving for fish in water".

As spring enters, the Tricity region and its wetlands are visited by many rare birds or vagrants, which have been driven off course by weather changes and storms. Birds on return migration also visit the wetlands briefly. Another very unusual record has been the sighting of the globally vulnerable species, the Indian skimmer, at Sukhna, also on March 22 by wildlife photographer, Sarabjit Lehal. However, the skimmer was first sighted at Sukhna last year on April 19 and photographed then by Alpana NP Singh.

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Birds fly as Sukhna fills to the brim

CHANDIGARH: Too much water has turned Sukhna Lake into a desert for wetland birds. Lacking in shallow waters for feeding and silted islands for perching and resting, 95% of bird species have fled from the lake even as the fish rejoice and sambar and neelgai drink to their hearts' delight.

As the monsoon waters boost the lake's pond area depths to the danger mark, the hordes of openbill storks and a handful of painted storks are nowhere to be seen. Grey and purple herons have joined the exodus. These birds revelled in the lake's mosaic of shallow ponds and silted stretches till just a few weeks back. Even quintessential red-wattled lapwings and black-winged stilts that were to be seen trotting along the lake walkway, have all but disappeared. Every evening, flights of lesser whistling ducks rose from the lake and flew across the Chandigarh Golf Club to nightly feeding grounds. But these ducks, which love lots of dry spots, seem to have vanished into thin air.

Continued:  http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-21/flora-fauna/34001267_1_wetland-birds-species-of-migratory-birds-waterfowl