The second Uttarakhand Spring Bird Festival concluded at Pawalgarh conservation reserve on Sunday. Birdwatching at Pawalgarh, Sitabani and Kyari were the highlights of the bird festival. Seasoned birders and beginners, school children, members of the local community, forest staff from across Uttarakhand and others participated in birdwatching conducted at eight different forest trails. About 800 people from various states participated in birdwatching over four days.
The checklist of birds of Pawalgarh conservation reserve listing 352 bird species was also released earlier by Forest Minister Dinesh Aggarwal at the inaugural ceremony of the Spring Bird Festival. Not only were 210 bird species from this list seen at the bird festival, but another 10 new species were observed taking the list of birds at Pawalgarh conservation reserve to 362 species. lesser Fish Eagle, Yellow-crowned Woodpecker, Brown Dipper, Taiga Flycatcher, Ashy-throated Warbler and Nepal Wren Babbler are some of the new additions to the list.
Jim Corbett heritage walks at Kaladhungi, book reading of Jim Corbett’s books by noted actor Tom Alter, a rural tourism and craft mela, workshops on photography, bird identification and conservation and bird in arts along with a performance by Sonal Mansingh were enjoyed during the festival. At the concluding ceremony, it was announced that the next Uttarakhand Spring Bird Festival will be organized at Asan Conservation Reserve from February 11 to 14 next year. It was also decided that smaller nature festivals will be organized at Kausani, Munsiyari and at Kyari village in Kumaon region during 2015.