Winged guests take diversion, prefer Venkatapuram to Veerapuram this season

Migratory painted storks of Veerapuram will be the key attraction for bird lovers in the next five months. But the yellow-beaked beautiful birds this season chose to first occupy all available trees in the neighbouring Venkatapuram village and have set up their nests.

In the current season, more than a thousand birds have arrived since November-end and the inflow will continue till March first week, when every tree in Veerapauram village will also be occupied, though only a dozen of them have perched on the trees here. No nests have been set up at Veerapuram by the avian visitors this season.

“Birds have been coming to Veerapuram and checking for a conducive place and going back to Venkatapuram and settling there,” observes Venugopal Reddy, an independent bird enthusiast and farmer from the village.

Long ago when there used to be water in the Veerapuram tank, birds used to perch in large numbers in Venkatapuram and come to the tank for fishing. But slowly over the past couple of decades, Veerapuram had become the hub of activity for these migratory.

“Once the trees in Venkatapuram are full, these birds will begin to occupy the tamarind and other tall trees in our village,” says Mr. Venugopal, who takes special interest in conservation of habitat and rescue of chicks that fall from the nests through an NGO he runs — Save Our Storks. In the 2018-19 season, more than 2,500 birds had come for nesting in the two villages.

Saucer pits

The Forest Department has spent ₹8 lakh this season and constructed 10 saucer pits to store water for the birds at Venkatapuram and Veerapuram and a watch and ward person has been appointed for ensuring the safety of the birds, District Forest Officer R. Jagannath Singh told The Hindu.

Action plan

Some babul trees have been planted in the vicinity of the village so that birds can perch on them.

Meanwhile, the DFO has sent a proposal for a ₹50-lakh action plan for arranging permanent watch and ward at both the villages, constructing water conservation structures and a rescue centre. Water is being filled in the 10 saucer pits with tankers as and when needed, he explained.