Balugaon, Jan 1: Preparations are in full swing for conducting annual bird census in Chilika, the biggest brackish water lake in the country, on January 4, a senior Forest official said.
On eve of the actual head count, a training programme of the enumerators will be held on January 3, he said.
As many as 21 teams from different organisations will take part in the census work. The entire lake, spread over about 1100-sq km, has been divided in five zones. Eight teams will be deployed in Tangi zone, Five in Balugaon, Three in Satapada and rest teams in Rambha and Krushnaprasad, said Amlan Nayak, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Chilika Wildlife Division.
In the last winter, as many as 10,74,173 migratory birds of different species were counted in the entire lake.
Twenty makeshift bird protection camps have been organised by Chilika Wildlife Division for safety and security of the winged guests from far off places including Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, remote parts of Russia, central and South East Asia, Ladakh and Himalayas throng the lake every winter for feeding and roosting. They start their homeward journey with the onset of summer.
