Winged guests flock Rewari’s Masani barrage

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

 Rewari, November 12

With the advent of winter, migratory birds from Siberia, Russia, Mongolia, Alaska and other parts of the US have started flocking to Masani barrage, 11 km from the district headquarters on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.

Bird watchers say more than 20,000 birds of 50 species have been spotted at the barrage, which is spread over Dungerwas, Kharkhara and Nikhri villages. Favourable habitat and easy availability of food have been the main reasons for the rising number of birds flocking to Masani barrage, they say.

Sunder Sambharya, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Rewari, said: “It is for the first time that winged guests in such large numbers have arrived at shallow water bodies spread over 300 acres around the Masani barrage. Significantly, a rare bird Pacific Golden Plover from Western Alaska has been spotted. The vast spread of water bodies is the main reason for the arrival of winged guests in large numbers.”

Sambharya said wagtails, common teal, pintail, Northern shoveller, garganey, Eurasian coot, redshank, common sandpiper, ruff, wood sandpiper, marsh sandpiper, stint, kentish plover, sand plover, Pacific Golden Plover, little ring plover, white-tailed lapwing, greater flamingo, common pochard, ferruginous pochard, gulls and pied avocet can be spotted.

Besides, more than 4,000 migratory birds have been spotted at a water body near HSIIDC in Bawal.

Naresh Chauhan, a resident of Masani village, said: “The area has the potential to become a tourist destination, especially for people of Haryana, New Delhi and Rajasthan, if the state government starts boating here and opens a food court and an adventure camp.”