Mysuru: Even after lifting of weekend curfew by State Government, the tourist places in the District has been witnessing very less visitors. On Saturdays and Sundays, the most crowded tourism place Chamarajendra Zoo, and Mysore Palace among others wore deserted look as most tourists preferred to stay indoors owing to fear of increasing of Covid cases rapidly.
However, thousands of guests came to lakes in Mysuru District, particularly in Hadinaru Grama lake in Nanjanagudu tailuk but these guests are not humans but are bird visitors from 5000 to 6000 kilometres away. These birds include Bar- Headed Goose, birds like the Little Grebe, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Breasted Kingfisher, Purple Moorhen, Night Heron, Small Kingfisher, Greater Cormorant, Large and Little Egret, Common
Coot, Spot Billed Duck, Painted Stork, Black Ibis, and River Tern. Every year, these migratory birds which are one of the world’s highest flying birds across the Himalayas, travel around 4,850 kms to reach Hadinaru Lake during the winter. As the days are shorter and nights longer during winter in the Northern hemisphere, migratory birds find
it difficult to find food in this short period in the brief days, and migrate to India by crossing the mountains.
Bar-Headed Geese (Anser indicus) is one of the world’s highest flying birds (27,000 feet). It is claimed that they fly higher than the Mount Everest when they migrate over the Himalayas from Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia towards South Asia, as far South as Peninsular India. As the winter weather in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Russia becomes colder, as low as 10 degrees centigrade, these migratory birds cross the Himalayan range to reach Southern part of Asia.
Hadinaru Kere is one of the favourite spots for these winter visitors. Locals call these birds as ‘Parvatakki’ in Kannada, which means mountain birds. These birds are crepuscular (late evening and dusk) in their foraging habit and feed on harvested rice crop stubble shoots adjoining the lakes they visit. They take daytime refuge in the midst
of vast water bodies like lakes and reservoirs and doze off in the warm winter sun in the midst of lakes.
The birds are friends of farmers, say bird-watchers. These birds are migrating owing to shortage of fodder during winter in Mongolia and Bykal sea, south of Russia. These birds do not hatch eggs here but stay till February from October-December. These birds mostly forage on vegetarian. These flying guests are really an attraction for
villagers and bird watchers.
