Winged guests start arriving at Hirakud reservoir

SAMBALPUR (ODISHA): With the winter setting in, migratory birds from far-flung areas have started arriving at the Hirakud Dam Reservoir in Odisha's Sambalpur district.

"The migratory birds have just started arriving. The number will increase in eight to ten days. We have already spotted nine varieties of migratory birds in the reservoir area," divisional forest officer of Hirakud wildlife division, Manoj V Nair said.

The number of the migratory birds at the Hirakud dam reservoir was 60,806 in the last season. Around 52 kinds of species had arrived last year, a senior official said.

The soothing climate and the clean water of the reservoir attract the birds to the Hirkud reservoir spread over 746 sq km and Debrigarh sanctuary area every year.

The birds start arriving from November mainly from Caspian Sea, Baikal Lake, Aral Sea, Mongolia, Central and South East Asia and Himalaya region.

The birds are spotted in the areas along the Hirakud Reservoir, Lakhanpur, Kamgaon, Rengali, Govindpur and Debrigarh sanctuary area.