As
it was the last day of the year, birders gathered in van vihar
to mark the end of this year and make this day special along with
bird watching. Director VVNP, Mr J S Chauhan and Mr Murthy, CF
& Sr Faculty - Administration Academy were also present during
the trip. Salim, the snake man of bhopal displayed snakes of his
collection and provided a lot of information regarding different
types of snakes.
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Cotton
Teal. seen for the first time this season. Photo
: Mohd. Khalique
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Cotton
teal (Nettapus coromandelianus) was seen for the first
time this season. Its the smallest of wild ducks with size of
about 30-34 cms. Lesser whistling teals again covered the entire
area of aviory. Two large large trees were occupied by Little
Cormorants. Pair of spot billed ducks was again seen but next
to the ghariyal bada and not in the aviory. Opposite to ghariyal
bada towards the lake, a rich area has developed where many birds
can be seen prominently common teals, brahminy shelduck, glossy
ibis, black winged stilts and egrets.
Interesting
thing was the appearance of Pariah kites, about 10 in numbers
occupying dry trees in and around the ghariyal bada. Also interesting
is the dissapearance of night herons from crocodile enclosure.
I wonder where they have gone. Night herons spent about one and
a half year in these trees of Crocodile enclosure.
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Teeths
of Cobra in display
Photo : Mohd. Khalique
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At
the end of the birding session, Salim Bhai gave vital informatoin
about different types of snakes.
Starting
with 'Dhaman', a snake that everyone was fearlessly holding and
letting it pass by the loose grip of plam to the dangerous Cobra
that nobody dared to go close. Salim bhai showed the venom glands
and the venomous teeths of cobra..
Also
in display were Russels viper and a two headed snake (interesting!).
The other side of this snake looks exactly like its head and thus
the name.
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Birders
along with Mr Chauhan, Mr Sharma and Salim Bhai
Photo : Mohd. Khalique
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Session
concluded with a discussion on variety of areas including tigers,
lions and other forms of wildlife. Mr Chauhan shared his experiences
and threw light light on different aspects of widlife including
birds, ghariyals, crocodiles etc.
Report and
Documentation By : Parag Bakshi
Photographs By : Mohd Khalique
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