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Training for bird watchers

Special Correspondent

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Bird watchers will be trained to record sightings of wetland and common birds found in Kochi.— File photo

 Interested in honing your bird-watching skills and adding a scientific touch to your hobby of observing the winged species?

The Kerala Forest Department and the Cochin Natural History Society (CNHS) are jointly offering a training programme for the bird enthusiasts for correctly identifying in wetland and common birds seen in Kerala. The participants will be trained in scientifically identifying the birds and to monitor them on a regular basis. They will also be encouraged to record the bird sightings in a scientific manner, said the organisers.

The programme comes as part of the Green Partnership programme of Social Forestry Division of Kerala Forest Department. The data would go a long way in involving people to gather scientific data on birds, they said.

The training programme will be held at Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary on January 3 at 10 a.m. For more details, contact 9446437410.

Under the Green Partnership Programme, the Forest department and the NGOs had been carrying out Asian Waterbird Count, Common Bird Monitoring Programme, pelagic bird surveys and heronry surveys. The bird data generated from the water bird counting is used to monitor the health of wetlands. The Society had been monitoring the wetlands of Ernakulam district for the last four years. The 2014 Common Bird Monitoring Programme succeeded in recording 280 bird species, the organisers said.

Training on CBMP ,AWC and eBird

Dear Friends,

We are conducting a training session on Bird Watching  with the help of Kerala Forest Department under Green Partnership Programme.:

Date and time  :10am on Saturday, 3rd January 2015.

Venue:               Mangalavanam Sanctuary,behind Highcourt of Kerala.

Topics:              Wetlands Bird Monitoring and Identification:

                           Common Birds of Kerala- CBMP

                           Introduction  to eBird.

For participation, please mail us at  cochinnaturalhistorysociety@gmail.com or contact me .

Warm Regards Happy Birding,

Vishnu

9446437410

Eat Pokkali Rice to Conserve Waterbirds, Say Birders

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Eat pokkali rice to conserve water birds, say birders

K.S. SUDHI ,The Hindu

The Cochin Natural History Society, an NGO, has launched a campaign asking the bird enthusiasts to buy pokkali rice from the farmers to support the farming and thereby conserving wetlands, the habitat of wetland birds. Eat pokkali rice to save wetland bird habitats, exhort birders of Kochi.

The Cochin Natural History Society (CNHS), an NGO dedicated for conservation of birds, has launched a campaign asking the bird enthusiasts to buy pokkali rice from the farmers of Varapuzha area to support the farming and thereby conserving wetlands, the habitat of wetland birds.

Pokkali farming is facing crisis in the district with drastic reduction in the extent of farmland. The farming activity itself had become uneconomic forcing the farmers to abandon it, said Vishnupriyan Kartha, secretary of the society.

The CNHS is focusing its attention on Devaswom Padam in Varapuzha, which is one of the favourite wetland birding sites in the district. The presence of around 50 bird species draws birders and nature enthusiasts to this site. The destruction of wetlands will naturally lead to loss of habitat of avian fauna. Sustainable farming is the only way to protect the birds. Hence the campaign, Mr. Kartha said.

The bird species present in the wetland include Little Cormorant, Oriental Darter, Indian Pond Heron, Purple Heron, Grey Heron and Little Egret. Asian Openbill, Lesser Whistling Duck, White-breasted water hen, Purple Swamp hen, Bronze winged Jacana and Pacific Golden Plover are also found here.

Calling the attention of birders who have been carrying out “birding and photography at Kadamakudi and Devaswom Padam regularly,” a communication from the CNHS urged them to buy pokkali rice to revive the farming. A group of social activists are supporting the farmers by returning the profit from selling pokkali rice procured from them, he said.

Pokkali paddy farmed by the local farmers is converted into rice at a threshing unit and the rice is sold at Rs. 60 a kg. The profit is returned to the farmers as an incentive for engaging in pokkali farming, said Jesudas Varapuzha, one of the activists.

Last year, One quintal rice was thus sold and profit shared among the farmers. There was good demand for pokkali rice and the transportation of rice to the buyers was one hassle faced in its marketing, he said.

The society had been covering the wetlands since 2011 during the Asian water bird census. When the birders assemble here for the next census in January, the members will be encouraged to buy the rice from the farmers.