First record of greater flamingoes near Nagzira

Nagpur: On Wednesday, many bird lovers and forest officials were delighted to see new winged guests — the greater flamingoes — at Saundad Lake near Sakoli in the Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) landscape.
Bhandara and Gondia districts are known for sprawling water bodies that play host to many migratory and resident birds during winter. These districts are known for sarus cranes.
“The sighting of flamingoes at Saundad took us by surprise.The last sighting of the tall birds is said to be 20 years ago by one Ashok Gaidhani, Lakhni, but there is no recorded evidence,” NNTR deputy director Poonam Pate said. DFO Uttam Sawant was also present.
“This is the first recorded evidence of flamingoes. Our volunteers recorded 30-34 birds including juveniles. As the lake is on NH6 and villages close by, there was disturbance of both humans and cattle due to which the birds moved on towards western side,” said Sawan Bahekar of NGO Sustaining Environment and Wildlife Assemblage (SEWA), Gondia.
Yavatmal’s former honorary wildlife warden Ramzan Virani says Saikheda lake, which is 15km from near Tipeshwar wildlife sanctuary, plays host to greater flamingoes every year. These birds had arrive at the lake in 2015, 2016 and then again in 2019 for a brief period. “In 2016, we also promoted flamingo tourism to conserve the birds by local fishermen getting them a revenue of 32,000,” said Virani.
Greater and lesser flamingoes come from parts of Africa, South Europe and South West Asia, and foothills of Himalaya. From November, these birds start migrating to Sewri mudflats in Mumbai and their number reaches to over 20,000 there. These birds can travel up to 500km at one time. While they migrate, they may take only one to two stops in between.
Bird expert Raju Kasambe says, “Flamingoes generally prefer 0-2-feet-deep and saline waters. Their sightings were earlier also recorded in Washim and Lonar Lake in Buldhana district.”
This is passage migration before returning to their original destination.”
“In the 90s, flamingoes were sighted in various parts of Vidarbha, including Akola and Amravati. When they are not breeding, they spread across different places in the country,” says Dr Anil Pimplapure, expert and founder of Central India Bird Academy (CIBA), Nagpur.
Stating that the birds are inhabitants of brackish water, Dr Pimplapure said their sighting is both good and as well as bad sign. “As the birds are mostly found in brackish water, it raises a need for serious concern as there are chances that water bodies of the region are converting into brackish water.”
There is scanty record about presence of flamingoes in Vidarbha. In April 2017, a lone bird was sighted by amateur bird watchers Jaan Deshmukh and Niranjan Atre at Ambazari. In 2014, the birds were also sighted at Paradgaon lake on Umred road.
Conservationist Prafulla Bhamburkar said, “Bird watcher Shirish Kathikar and I recorded evidence of flamingoes at Wadad lake on Umred road in 1993.”