OUR CORRESPONDENT
Itanagar: As many as 57 bird species were recorded during the inaugural edition of the Aalo bird walk, ‘Feathers and Footsteps’ from March 2 to March 3 last in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, officials said.
“It was very exciting to have such an enthusiastic response to the maiden Aalo bird walk, particularly from the local youths,” West Siang deputy commissioner Mamu Hage, an avid birder, said in a statement. “We want to continue this effort in the future too,” she added.
The event was organised by the West Siang district administration and the Siang team of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE-Siang), in collaboration with the Forests and Tourism department.
The event packed an array of engaging activities, including educational talks on bird identification, the significance of bird conservation, and a fun quiz.
“The bird walks, despite cold, cloudy and misty weather, was a huge success and the biggest highlight was the sighting of at least 1000 Common Cranes in flight, probably on their way back to the breeding grounds,” said Dr Rajkamal Goswami, who leads the ATREE-Siang team based at Pasighat in East Siang district.
“This is the first record of this species from West Siang and probably the second record from the entire Siang Valley,” Dr Goswami said. The sighting of the birds confirms the importance of Siang Valley being an important riverine corridor for major migratory birds and since we also saw about 2000 bar-headed geese only in about one hour of bird walk, it is also a very significant record for Siang Valley, emphasized Dr Goswami in the statement.
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