Impressed by Kerala bird sculpture, officials want similar in Dubai

By Indo Asian News Service | IANS – Sun, Nov 29, 2015

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 29 (IANS) Impressed by the 70-feet tall bird sculpture here that attracts numerous visitors, a visiting top Dubai Tourism official said he wants to build a similar structure of the national bird of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - a falcon - in Dubai.

Majid Al Marri, director stakeholder relations, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce, his team and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Saturday conducted an hour-long helicopter tour of the capital city.

He said he was amazed by the imposing Jatayu Nature Park, spread across an area of 65 acres, which houses the sculpture of the mythical bird Jatayu.

Marri later told IANS that they wish to built a similar structure - in Dubai - of the Falcon which is their national bird.

"A similar structure based on the falcon - our national bird - would be good in Dubai. We are returning in February and by then we will have more pictures of this," said Marri.

Award-winning filmmaker and sculptor Rajiv Anchal started working on the project a decade back and is likely to finish it by early next year.

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Rare birds sighted on southern coast

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 3: 

Rare bird species such as the red-necked phalarope (pambarakkada) and a tiny wader that swims in open sea have been sighted during the first pelagic bird expedition in southern Kerala.

Red-necked phalarope was sighted in Neendakara in Kollam district for the first time on the Kerala coast, a release said here today.

Streaked shearwater (Varayan thiravetti), another rare bird, was sighted twice by birdwatchers who participated in the event, which concluded on October 1, and carried out transects from Neendakara to Kollam for two days.

The transects included both deep-sea and offshore birding, following fishing boats.

The birdwatchers also recorded several migratory seabirds including swinhoe’s storm-petrels, Wilson’s storm-petrels, flesh-footed shearwaters, Arctic skua, masked booby, bridled terns and sooty terns during the expedition.

Birdwatchers from different birdwatching societies such as Malabar Natural History Society (MNHS), Kerala Birder and Travancore Nature History Society (TNHS) participated in the event.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/article3962095.ece

Rare birds sighted during survey of Kerala coast

Thiruvananthapuram: Rare bird species like the Red-necked Phalarope (Pambarakkada) and a tiny wader that swims in open sea have been sighted during the first pelagic bird expedition in southern Kerala. Red-necked Phalarope was recorded in Neendakara in Kollam district for the first time in the Kerala coast, a release said here on Wednesday.

Streaked Shearwater (Varayan Thiravetti), another rare bird, was recorded twice by bird-watchers who participated in the event, which concluded on October 1, and carried out transects from Neendakara to Kollam for two days. The transects included both deep-sea and off-shore birding following fishing boats. The bird-watchers also recorded several migratory seabirds including Swinhoe's Storm-petrels, Wilson's Storm-petrels, Flesh-footed Shearwaters, Arctic Skua, Masked Booby, Bridled Terns and Sooty Terns during the expedition. 

Read on: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/rare-birds-sighted-during-survey-of-kerala-coast/297457-62-126.html