Amur Falcons arrive in Nagaland

[Mrudul Godbole]

Amur Falcons arrive in Nagaland
Press Trust of India | Kohima October 8, 2014 Last Updated at 12:00 IST

Migratory Amur Falcons have started arriving at Pangti Village in Wokha District of Nagaland.

A small flock of about 100 falcons flew over the Pangti Baptist Church, highest point in the Sungro range under Wokha district, Nagaland Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation Trust managing trustee Bano Haralu and secretary Rokohebi Kuotsu said in a release today.

The birds were later seen flying over Doyang Reservoir - their stopover for the next six weeks before they resume their journey towards Southern Africa, NWBCT said.

All villages in the range are fully geared to ensure safe passage of the falcons as they did last year, NWBCT said, adding the state government has assisted the local community to erect watchtowers and rest sheds for visitors coming in to see the spectacle of migrating Amur Falcons.

NWBCT said the community has created a low impact ecotourism model through basic home stays to take care of the guests.

In 2012, mass trapping and capture of migrating Amur falcons in Nagaland was reported in the media and a campaign was launched to prevent their killing.

The state managed to script a success story in conserving the migratory birds with the cooperation of locals, Forest department and NGOs. The villagers at Doyang have also refrained from killing the birds.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

A detailed update on migration of Amur Falcon this year (2014) has been published today (23-Oct-2014) in the widely circulated Bengali daily - The Ananda Bazar Patrika, Kolkata, written by Rajibaksha Rakshit of Guwahati. Based on this article I am just sharing some information which may be of interest to our members and readers. This is truly not a translation, at best a gist; english wordings and some interpretation are of my own.

1. Amur Falcons commence their journey from Amur Valley in Mangolia enroute to their destination in South Africa. During their passage through India, they arrive at the Doyang valley during first/second week of October and take rest for about 5/6 weeks during October/ November and are seen hovering over Doyang reservoir in thousands. Last year they left Doyang valley on 7-Nov-2013.

2. Last year for facilitating satellite tracking, gadgets were fitted on 3 birds christened as 'Naga', 'Okha' and 'Pankti'. They stayed in South Africa for about 5 months after which 'Naga' and 'Pankti' started their return journey and took the return migratory route over Gujarat, M.P., Bihar, Bangladesh, Meghalaya, Assom, Manipur, Nagaland, Myanmar and reached Mangolia. As regards 'Okha', the satellite tracking has been showing its static position; the experts are sceptical about the bird's survival.

3. It is heartening that both 'Naga' and 'Pankti' have come alongwith the thousands of these passage migrants to Doyang this year also sending regular signals but the experts are facing difficulty in exact identification amongst the two.

4. Last year, not a single bird was killed by the locals or poachers. It is a great success story for Nagaland Forest and other government departments, local population and NGOs.

5. Amur Falcons travel about 22,000 km during this annual migration, both onward and return journey included.

Thanks for sharing,
SaktiWild

Indebtedness: The Ananda Bazar Patrika, Kolkata

[Vijay Kumar Belli]

Yes 'Naga' and 'Pangti' have reached nagaland :).

here is a link with many details of different migratory birds whose satellite tracking is being done.

http://www.satellitetracking.eu/

Thanks
Vijay