5 months ago
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Migratory birds person begun arriving astatine the Vellode Bird Sanctuary astatine Vadamugam Vellode, located 12 km from Erode, arsenic it serves arsenic a breeding crushed for some nonmigratory and migratory birds.
Spread crossed 77.185 hectares, the sanctuary is built astir the Periyakulam water and has been designated a protected Ramsar tract since 2022. Seepage from the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) canal and rainwater are the main sources of h2o during the migration period, which lasts from November to March each year.
In the existent season, vertebrate taxon recorded were Northern pintail, Northern Shoveler, Garganey, Blue tailed bee-eater, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Chestnut tailed starling, Blyth’s warbler, Skyes warbler, Clamorous reed warbler and Booted warbler. The Northern Shoveler, a migratory duck known for its shovel-shaped bill, and the Bar-headed Goose, migrate astatine utmost altitudes of implicit 15,000 feet. The sanctuary provides an perfect situation owed to the abundance of food successful the tank, adjacent cultivation fields for foraging, and ample trees for perching and nesting.
Oriental darter recovered astatine the Vellode Bird Sanctuary successful Erode territory successful Tamil Nadu connected Monday. | Photo Credit: GOVARTHAN M.
Dr. Nicola Goodship, an ornithologist, and her hubby David Bull, an archaeologist, from Scotland successful the United Kingdom, visited the sanctuary connected Monday and observed the birds.
Maintained by the Erode Forest Division, the sanctuary has undergone respective improvement works that person fixed it a large facelift, attracting much visitors. On weekdays, implicit 200 radical sojourn the sanctuary, portion the fig rises to 700–800 connected weekends. In addition, 2,800 schoolhouse students from Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Erode districts person visited the sanctuary, wherever they were educated astir vertebrate habitats and biology conservation.
The Forest Department has created perching stands for birds, planted saplings, installed handrails, developed photograph spots, fenced the boundary, and is successful the process of planting autochthonal taxon and removing invasive plants from the tank.
The sanctuary is 1 of the 10 captious breeding habitats for wetland birds successful the State, and the fig of birds is expected to summation successful the coming days.
Erode District Forest Officer K.V. Appala Naidu told The Hindu the nonstop fig of birds volition beryllium known lone aft the wetland vertebrate survey, scheduled for December 27 and 28. The survey volition beryllium conducted astatine 21 locations crossed the district.
