People of Dhanamandal, a small, semi-urban business centre in Jajpur district, relies more on arrival of Siberian birds than the forecast of local meteorological centre to know about the onset of monsoon and its behaviour all through the rainy season.
The residents of the town believe that if the birds arrive in a large numbers, it will be a good monsoon heralding an equally productive agriculture season.
This year, over 5,000 birds have arrived here and are taking shelter on big trees.
“These birds arrive here every year during the onset of the monsoon. They are also provided every type of security here. If someone tries to harm them, we protest against it,” a local resident Basant Kumar Das said.
A people’s representative Niranjan Senapaty said two staff members from Chandikhole forest office under Dalijoda range were deployed in the town for security of the birds and to save them from attacks either by poachers or any other predators. The local administration informed that the Siberian birds will return after the retreat of the monsoon.
The Chandikhole forest office with help from local bazaar committee and other groups are looking after of the birds.
“All types of measures are being taken by the Government to check poaching of the these birds. The local residents are also voluntarily guarding the guest birds against poaching activities by hunters and safeguarding them from predators,” Additional Tehsildar Biswaranjan Biswas said.
For the security of the birds, the district administration has notified all how to take care of them. It has also banned cracker bursting in the locality so that the birds are not disturbed.
“Watching these birds make and mend nests, collect green branches for building and repairing the nests, lay, incubate, hatch eggs, feed their fledglings, guard them from predators, cover them with outspread wings to protect them from scorching sunrays and heavy downpour is a sight to behold,” said local resident and bird watcher Niharika Mohahty.
Meanwhile, the local Dhanamandal bazaar committee is undertaking an awareness drive on protection of the foreign birds.