A nature walk was held on Sunday morning, February 20, 2022, at the active floodplains of River Yamuna at Yamuna Biodiversity Park Phase 2. This is the second event organised by DDA themed around ‘Rejuvenation of River Yamuna floodplains ‘ as part of celebrations of ‘Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence.
DDA ‘s Vice Chairman Manish Kumar Gupta, Principal Commissioner (Landscape) Rajeev Kumar Tiwari, Chief Engineer (North) Gajender Singh and Chief Engineer (East Zone)Ravikant also stepped forward and explored birding with the experts.
The walk was led by the ornithologists from Delhi Bird Foundation (DBF). DBF is a team of enthusiast birders with a common passion to conserve nature for all our futures through partnerships and collaborations with other leading organisations and local communities. They have represented the country in key international birding events and are connected with renowned global birding ornithologists and experts. They aim to empower people to make a positive impact on wildlife and nature.
DBF also celebrated Big Bird Day on 20th February 2022. On this day, members of the Foundation split into groups and spot different varieties of bird species all across the open spaces in and around Delhi. Over 100 participants including bird enthusiasts, nature lovers and officers of DDA took part in this walk who were divided into groups led by DBF members. Samarth Khanna, Pankaj Gupta and Sourajit led the groups to explore the flora, fauna and avifauna of the floodplains of River Yamuna. Around 90 species of birds were spotted by the groups that included resident species and migratory birds from various other countries flocking in and around the site. Some of the species that were spotted included: Spot-billed duck, Purple Moorhen, Russian collar duck, Greyhead Swamphen, Yellow-footed Pigeon, Common babbler, Common coot, Painted stork, Grey babbler, Ashy Prinia, Eurasian Collared dove, Pond heron, Red-naped Ibis, Pink painted stork, Black Drongo, Red-whiskered bulbul. The birders shared the tales of the spotted species and their symbiotic relationship with their corresponding habitats. Trees native to the floodplains like Tamarix, ber, Mahua, Sheesham were also seen.
Over the years, DDA in coordination with CEMDE has worked hard to make Yamuna Biodiversity Park home to the biodiversity in the city. Next in the series of events is the Jagrukta Abhiyaan proposed on 26th Feb, which is an awareness programme aimed at making people conscious of climate change and its impacts on everyday lives and activities.
-1637918518.jpg "The wait is on for winter migratory birds in Delhi")
