visit to 'GHARANA WETLANDS'🕊🕊 ......Seberian Migratory Birds In India, Indo Pakadna Border, Gharana, R.S.Pura



A field trip was organized on 4th February, 2021,to 'GHARANA WETLAND',R.S Pura by the M.sc Ist year students and teachers (batch 2020-2021).

GHARANA WETLANDS,SEBERIAN MIGRATORY BIRDS, IN INDIA.

Famous but a gasping wetland known as Garana Wetland carries tags of ‘Conservation Reserve’ and ‘Important Bird Area’ thanks to the paper work on it done by the previous Governments of Jammu and Kashmir as against now some concrete steps reportedly being taken to infuse new life into this wonderful marsh which is favourite home to migratory birds of 50 different species. Such birds usually are arriving during onset of winter months and departing during onset of the spring season. 

Location

Gharana, a dying wetland, is located merely 500 m from the international border between India and Pakistan, the 200 acres of the Wetland situated in Jammu province (boundaries yet to be demarcated) harbours around 50 species of wintering waterbirds. 

The Gharana Wetland, located about 35 km from Jammu and surrounded by wetlands of Makwal, Kukdian, Abdullian and Pargwal.

Gharana wetland is located along the border in RS Pura tehsil of Jammu district about 30 kms from Jammu near Gharana village. Earlier this spot alongwith other wetlands was the favourite hunting ground for Shikaris but thanks to the Wildlife Conservation Act that the hunting has stopped.



Different types of migratory birds in Gharana wetland are:

Around 3000-4000 birds of various species, beside bar-headed Geese, have thronged the wetland. Like previous years, the wetland has woken up to the festivity of bird watching," J-K Wildlife department officials told PTI.

Over 50 species of the bar-headed Geese, including some rare and endangered species, every year fly a distance of more than 1000 miles over the Himalayas in a single day to reach here from their breeding grounds in Central Asia and other parts of the world.

The birds which are counted among the world's highest flying species, include:
  • Siberian hans, 
  • Keel, 
  • Grey Heron and little Grebe from New Zealand, America and Australia.

Most of the birds like:
  • Grey Key Goose
  • shoverier
  • Marclands
  • Poachards
  • Teals 
Gadwal come from different places in Central Asia and Northern Europe. They migrate to Gharana to escape the harsh winters.


    • Western Swamphen (Prophyria prophyria)
     
    Black-winged stlit (Himantopus himantopus) 

    Flocks 

    Gharana is partially covered with various water plants — water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes, Hydrilla spp. and Typha spp.
     

    Major threats to migratorbirds :

    The left side of the wetland is bounded by a village, Gharana (hence the name) while on the right are agricultural fields. Negative interactions between the villagers and the waterbirds are inevitable. During winters, this wetland is cackling with wintering waterbirds that even attempt to settle into the surrounding agricultural fields. The locals treat them as pests, owing to particularly one species, the Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus). According to the villagers geese raid the crops and to combat it the locals have taken to bursting loud fire-crackers to scare them away whenever they try to settle near the agricultural lands.

    Various Conservation steps are taken to protect these migratory birds:
    • Some of the steps were scientific management interventions like selective removal of weed and monitoring of birds and ''watch and ward'' for averting hunting or poaching attempts.
    • A five-year management plan of the wetland has been prepared by the Wildlife Protection Department through the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which would help in conserving the wetland, make it an important tourist destination and promote eco-tourism.



    The whole trip was pleasant experience .we got to visit the beautiful place and learn about its biological significance. The visit enhanced our knowledge regarding this place .we also enjoyed the journey alot. 


    Bibliography

    The image are clicked and video are shooted  by me and the written material is taken from internet.

    Suniana Sharma 
    Roll no. - 04-MSZ-20

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