Cauvery in full flow has Trichy birders a flutter

Until a few years ago, birdwatching in Trichy meant setting out before the crack of dawn, crisscrossing the district to find the perfect spot and, if lucky, sighting a few migratory visitors.
Cut to 2021, birding groups can choose any one of the four to five tanks and be guaranteed a spectacular show of a flight of feathers for a good couple of hours.
With two consecutive good monsoons, copious flow in the river Cauvery and several tanks brimming with water, the migratory water birds are finding a new feeding ground to sustain their long journey.
Usually Karaivetti in Ariyalur, Vaduvur in Tiruvarur and Kodiyakkarai (Point Calimere) in Nagapattinam are the destination of thousands of migratory birds between October and January. But in the past two years, the small tanks in and around Trichy city have become a safe zone for them to take pit stop.
“Koothaippar tank is becoming more popular among the water birds, this was not the case a few years ago. We are spotting nearly 100 species within a couple of hours,” said N Thangamani, a material scientist who has been birding in Trichy’s tanks for a decade. His 14-year-old son Adhiyan Thangamani accompanies him and has spotted dozens of birds. Kiliyur tank near Kallanai, Manikandam tank and Mavadikulam tank in Ponmalaipatti brimming with water have rich feed for the birds to energise them. Darter, pelican, northern pintail, glossy ibis, spoonbilled storks and jacana are among the avians popular this season. Many of these tanks are fed by distributaries of the Cauvery.
The arrival of birds has also given a boost to the hobby of birdwatching, which is gaining popularity during the pandemic, when outdoor activities are limited. “Work from home help re-establish my connection with nature through birding. Now I like not just spotting birds, but learning about their diet and habitat,” said Kumari N M, an engineer.
This new-found interest also goes a long way in documentation, conservation and awareness, feels K Balakrishnan of convenor of Trichy birds club. “Children engrossed in smartphones and gaming can be introduced to the world of birding. Apart from the knowledge they gather, they get to understand the environment better,” he said, pointing out that birding group have been venturing out to unexplored tanks in the region and urging the authorities to keep them clean.
S Balachandran, deputy director of Bombay Natural History Society, said ducks were among the common intercontinental migratory birds to halt at the relatively smaller tanks on spotting vegetation. “Poaching attempts would come down thanks to the birders’ presence,” he said The photographs of the birds spotted in an area are uploaded on ebird.org website, a virtual platform promoting constructive competition among birders to archive and track rare birds they see. The migratory birds taking a pitstop at the tanks in Trichy are likely to stay for a month or two.