A motley group of as many as 150 birders ‘walked the chirp’ in search of their feathered friends in and around the countryside of Manipal. The occasion was the 10th Edition of Manipal Bird Day organised by Manipal Birders Group on Sunday, February 2nd, 2020.
The day began ‘Bird Walk’ from Hotel Sheela Sagar (Opposite MIT campus) at 6:30 a.m. The birders divided themselves in smaller groups of 10-12 members and followed 13 different trails which took them through different terrains like hills, plains, paddy fields and wetlands. The idea was to sight as many birds as possible and record their presence in the region.
When the walk ended at about 10:00 a.m., the different groups have recorded a total of 125 species of birds, which was a bit lesser than the sighting of the yester years. “The 10th edition this year has seen a very good growth of interest among people. At the same time a decline has been seen in the bird species sighted compared to previous years,” said one of the organisers. Some of the rare birds sighted were Indian Pitta, Oriental Turtle Dove, Fork-Tailed Drongo Cuckoo, Orange Breasted Green Pigeon, Eurasian Marsh Harrier and Malabar Pied Hornbill.
The bird walk was followed with an interaction session at KMC Food Court and MAHE Vice Chancellor Dr. H. Vinod Bhat presided over the function. He felicitated six people who actively participated recently in a rescue mission of abandoned birds in Manipal.
A program then continued with a talk on ‘Ethical Photography’ by Dhruvam Desai, final year student of MIT, Manipal. This was followed by ‘Backyard Birding’ with Shubha Bhat from IISc Bangalore. She spoke on different ways to feed the birds with water using different materials for bird baths. “I have recorded 120 species of birds from bird baths in my garden,” she said. She encouraged the participants to have bird baths in their gardens or flats which will help quench the thirst of these little winged wonders during summer.
The participants involved themselves actively in the interaction sessions. The event was accompanied with an art exhibition titled ‘Feathered Jewels’ by Aditya Bhat. He presented around 18 paintings all from his memory of birding encounters.
Participation in Manipal Bird Day was open to all and entry was free.
MANIPAL BIRD DAY
Manipal Bird Day is an annual event dedicated to celebrating birds in Manipal. This day long event brings together a large number of birders from Manipal, Udupi, Mangalore, Mysore, Bangalore, Davangere and other places. Around 150-200 people gather and are split into different teams. They visit the assigned regions and count as many birds as possible. This non competitive event focuses on spreading awareness regarding the diverse avifauna around us. Turn out for this event has been increasing from 3 people to 200 in last 10 years. This is the 10th edition of Manipal Bird Day.
MANIPAL BIRDERS CLUB
Manipal Birders Club started as a Facebook group after the release of the first edition of “A Birders Handbook to Manipal” to share information about the latest sightings. It is now a formal group of over 500 like-minded members that meets at least once a week to go on bird walks. It is now a large birders community and a medium to organize events, bird walks and discussions about birds and sightings.
The next step would be to involve a higher number of local and young birders who will dictate the change in environment around the town in the coming years. With the co operation of Zoology and natural sciences students and other nature enthusiasts and faculty of different colleges weekly birding sessions have been conducted to involve and encourage more and more people to bird and get connected to the nature and to try to understand the changes happening around us, the media release issued by the group said.
The organisation's director Jasim Mohammad is credited with writing the Prime Minister's first Urdu biography, Narendrabhai Modi — Farsh Se Arsh Tak (Narendrabhai Modi – From the ground to the sky).
Comments
Scolarship
Mr. Jasim shame on you. You are not a muslim. Only name. You fool joining hand with corrupt and anti Islam people. You also go to hell.
His face and his body language shows he is corrupt and greedy we muslims don't want a person who killed our brothers sisters shadow also to fall on our future generation .shame on you
Ten scholarships of 5,000 each, that means 50,000 per year.... For such peanuts, you need the help of a PM... Shame on you..... Just visit the coastal districts, how the rich people are helping the poor with scholarship.....You and Modi will be ashamed of this......
Another boot licking creature...
This name sake muslim Jasim is another Shahnawaz khan who is a chela and chaddi of Feku and bjp. these people have sold their belief for the sake of power and money. shame on you Jasim for being so cheap for power + money. did you forget that Allah is the one who blesses us with power + wealth. Have you lost faith in Allah and are so faithful and trustful to these anti humanity. BJP is 100 percent against Muslims and Islam and this is fact. Are you also a part of them. If this is the case you should change your name to Jasim Rama Modi or Jasim Laxman Shah. Shame on people like you have joined hands with the enemies of Muslims. In sha Allah you will be taught a good lesson by the Creator and you will find no place to hide.
Political Gimmick & Self benefits. A.Chaddi game.
Mr. Jasim,
Please make public that how much money you received from these thieves.
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