With water levels depleting in water bodies such as the Almatti dam, migratory birds have flocked to ponds and moats inside Vijayapura city.
Raju Dhavalagi, an amateur photographer, has taken pictures of these birds at the ancient pond behind the historic Gagan Mahal, Asar Mahal and other such ancient moats in the city.
“A few days ago, I noticed different varieties of birds at the Gagan Mahal tank. They were not the ordinary birds that we see everywhere. It requires a great deal of patience to capture them on the camera,” he said.
Srikant Kanadali, a Forest Department official and an amateur ornithologist, said that with water levels depleting in waterbodies such as the backwaters of the Almatti dam, migratory birds must be looking for alternative places.
Suitable place
“As Vijayapura city has ancient moats and tanks, these birds must have found them suitable. They need water and a nesting ambience where they can lay eggs,” he said.
Mr. Kanadali said that brahminy duck, greater flamingo, bar-headed goose, purple heron, northern traveller, black-headed ibis, and glossy ibis etc are generally seen in ancient tanks such as Bhutanal tank.
He, however, said that if the district receives good rain in the coming days, the migratory birds might go back to the backwaters.
“The spotting of these birds at ancient tanks may only be a temporary phenomenon,” Mr. Kanadali added.
