1 week Ago By Aditi Shekar
Pune: As many as 7,115 individual migratory and resident birds, belonging to 114 species, were spotted at more than six locations in Solapur district's Ujani reservoir in March. This was revealed in a waterbird census carried out for the current migratory season — Nov 2024 to March 2025, forest department officials said, adding the result was declared on March 23. In all, 51,475 individual birds were recorded with Feb seeing the highest at 18,756, followed by 11,966 in Jan.
Solapur forest division had appointed the non-profit Wildlife Research and Conservation Society (WRCS) to conduct the exercise. The division is looking to optimise the landscape to nominate the reservoir as a potential Ramsar site. "In Dec, the high water levels created less favourable conditions for many migratory waterbirds, as they prefer shallow water to forage.
As a result, we documented fewer species. When the water level decreased in Jan and Feb, conditions became suitable, leading to an increase in their number. The shallow water offered them ideal feeding and resting ground, attracting a greater diversity of species," Jayant Kulkarni, head of WRCS, said.
In March, the number once again declined as many migratory birds, such as Bar-headed Goose, Gadwall and Eurasian Wigeon, began their return journey, Kulkarni said. During the census, rare species such as baillon's crake and jack snipe were spotted. IUCN red-listed vulnerable species such as river tern, common pochard, greater spotted eagle, and near-threatened species such as Asian woolly-necked stork, Oriental darter, black-headed ibis, black-tailed godwit, and pallid harrier were also observed.
However, a reduction in volunteers resulted in a numeric decrease in the number of birds recorded. "Black-winged Stilt, an indicator of pollution and regularly spotted near the Mula river, was seen nesting at the site. Along with it, we saw a flock of 1,500 black-tailed Godwits as well.
However, we noticed a couple of problems plaguing the site, such as free-ranging dogs that had strayed from the city. These dogs feed on birds, their eggs, and chase away migratory birds, and they come around due to human interventions like garbage dumping nearby," Vishwatej Pawar, a birder who was part of the census, said. Meanwhile, WRCS finished one year of the study — the first census held for the Nov 2023-March 2024 period — during which researchers uncovered that invasive species such as Tilapia fish are predominantly present in the reservoir, affecting the freshwater biodiversity and the birds that nest at the site.
The society, in collaboration with Savitribai Phule Pune University, is also testing water samples to assess pollution levels. "We want to understand the pollution levels and conduct a long-term impact study. Based on this, we will issue recommendations to the forest department for management and conservation.
We will also identify habitats at the site that are to be completely protected, such as a region at Bhadalwadi, and recommend them to the department," Kulkarni said, adding the arrival and departure patterns of the birds affected by climate change will also be studied. Pune: As many as 7,115 individual migratory and resident birds, belonging to 114 species, were spotted at more than six locations in Solapur district's Ujani reservoir in March. This was revealed in a waterbird census carried out for the current migratory season — Nov 2024 to March 2025, forest department officials said, adding the result was declared on March 23.
In all, 51,475 individual birds were recorded with Feb seeing the highest at 18,756, followed by 11,966 in Jan. Solapur forest division had appointed the non-profit Wildlife Research and Conservation Society (WRCS) to conduct the exercise. The division is looking to optimise the landscape to nominate the reservoir as a potential Ramsar site.
"In Dec, the high water levels created less favourable conditions for many migratory waterbirds, as they prefer shallow water to forage. As a result, we documented fewer species. When the water level decreased in Jan and Feb, conditions became suitable, leading to an increase in their number.
The shallow water offered them ideal feeding and resting ground, attracting a greater diversity of species," Jayant Kulkarni, head of WRCS, said. In March, the number once again declined as many migratory birds, such as Bar-headed Goose, Gadwall and Eurasian Wigeon, began their return journey, Kulkarni said. During the census, rare species such as baillon's crake and jack snipe were spotted.
IUCN red-listed vulnerable species such as river tern, common pochard, greater spotted eagle, and near-threatened species such as Asian woolly-necked stork, Oriental darter, black-headed ibis, black-tailed godwit, and pallid harrier were also observed. However, a reduction in volunteers resulted in a numeric decrease in the number of birds recorded. "Black-winged Stilt, an indicator of pollution and regularly spotted near the Mula river, was seen nesting at the site.
Along with it, we saw a flock of 1,500 black-tailed Godwits as well. However, we noticed a couple of problems plaguing the site, such as free-ranging dogs that had strayed from the city. These dogs feed on birds, their eggs, and chase away migratory birds, and they come around due to human interventions like garbage dumping nearby," Vishwatej Pawar, a birder who was part of the census, said.
Meanwhile, WRCS finished one year of the study — the first census held for the Nov 2023-March 2024 period — during which researchers uncovered that invasive species such as Tilapia fish are predominantly present in the reservoir, affecting the freshwater biodiversity and the birds that nest at the site. The society, in collaboration with Savitribai Phule Pune University, is also testing water samples to assess pollution levels. "We want to understand the pollution levels and conduct a long-term impact study.
Based on this, we will issue recommendations to the forest department for management and conservation. We will also identify habitats at the site that are to be completely protected, such as a region at Bhadalwadi, and recommend them to the department," Kulkarni said, adding the arrival and departure patterns of the birds affected by climate change will also be studied. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with EID Wishes , Messages and quotes !.
