“It was an unusually long and slender beak. Then, the pale iris,” says an excited Gajamohanraj. He is recalling the moment he spotted a rare bird at the Ukkadam Lake where he was looking for migratory water birds along with another birder Sharang Sathish. “There is an early start to winter migration. A lot of migratory waders like the Curlew Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Green Shank and Kentish plover are already here in good numbers. But this bird with the slim beak took us by surprise. Because it migrates only to coastal regions and is usually found on the shorelines of Tamil Nadu and Kerala,” says D. Gajamohanraj.
Gajamohanraj
The slender-billed gull had shown up inland in Tamil Nadu probably for the first time. “The gull breeds in and around the Mediterranean region and the North of the western side of the Indian Ocean and disperses to Thoohtukudi, Pulicate Lake and Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu and to Thrivananthapuram in Kerala and also to Goa.”
- The birders are documenting the bird count at Krishnampathy, Kolarampathy and Perur lakes.
- The study is undertaken simultaneously in the three lakes The data will be used to conserve and preserve the habitat and the bio-diversity of the lake
- They participate in forest department surveys as well as the bird and butterflies census undertaken by the Sathymangalam Tiger Reserve
- Coimbatore has over 100 active birders who record the birds at the fringes of forest and at the water bodies (over 28 of them). All the data is documented on e-bird, an online forum
Gajamohanraj recreates the scene. “At 8.00 am, we saw three birds hovering over us. We photographed them and a closer look reconfirmed what I had suspected. They were indeed the slender-billed gulls.” He should know because he has spotted and recorded the Brown-headed and Black-headed gulls in Thoothukudi last winter. “Probably, this is a first record outside the shoreline,” says Gajamohanraj. He shared the photograph with birding experts and online birding forums and confirmed it.
Sharang Sathish
Sharang describes the sighting as lucky. “Gulls are seen only on the beaches. But for some reason they chose this water body for a pitstop. They will replenish themselves before flying off to may be the closest coast in Kerala.”
The birders spent over four hours documenting the gulls. “They flew in and out of our view more than thrice in a span of three hours. One bird even dived into the water, may be to catch a fish,” says Sharang. The birders then headed to Perur Lake and were surprised to see the same three gulls flying around. Says Gajamohanraj, “These birds must have extended their stopover in Coimbatore due to the bad weather. It was raining heavily in Kerala. The gulls executed a few more swoops and dives around the lake and then flew away.”
