Birders and nature lovers of diverse feathers flocked to Kolkata to celebrate the first-ever Bengal Birders’ Meet on 22nd July 2024. Although the cloudy Monday morning cast a gloomy shadow over the city, it could not deter the arrival of birders from various parts of the state. All flyways converged at the main auditorium of the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC), and our esteemed guests graced the occasion with their august presence.
The programme started as scheduled, with a short introduction by the emcee, Ms Hiya Chatterjee. Wildlife and conservation is a vast subject with many variations. Accordingly, the Birdwatchers’ Society felt it necessary to adorn the stage with Chief Guests holding eminent positions in various departments of the Ministry of Environment and other nature organizations. The honoured list of chief guests for the occasion was:
- Mr. Niraj Singal, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Head of Forest Force
- Dr. Debal Roy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden
- Dr. Dhriti Banerjee, Director, Zoological Survey of India
- Ms. Saswati Sen, WB State Director, World Wildlife Fund
- Mr. Subhankar Sengupta, Director, Kolkata Zoological Garden
- Mr. Praveen J, Bird Count India
- Dr. Ashwin Viswanathan, Bird Count India
- Mr. Bishwapriya Raut, President, Birdwatchers’ Society
The emcee coordinated the felicitation of the guests by members of BWS.
The first session began with a State of India’s Birds (SoIB) video screening. The short introduction provoked many thoughts in the audience’s mind and paved the way for an interactive presentation on bird monitoring activities. Ms. Mittal Gala, project manager with Bird Count India, started the session with references to birds in folklore, stamps and paintings and connected them to citizen science. She emphasized on the democratization of science with a demonstration of eBird (https://ebird.org/). Ms Gala passed the baton to Dr Ashwin Vishwanathan, who explained how eBird works and how it aids in capturing the correct conservation data. A detailed Q&A with a discerning audience resolving their doubts about the eBird review, checklist and filters marked the end of the pre-lunch session.
The post-lunch session carried on the momentum with a presentation on the Birdwatchers’ Society given by Dr Kanad Baidya, Assistant Secretary, BWS. It was a mélange of a journey down memory lane and anticipation of the road ahead as Dr Kanad showcased BWS’s impact on conservation and nature education. The talk ended on a high, as the final slide spoke of a bird walk conducted by BWS for blind students!
The next topic was an eye-opener on vulture conservation in the country. Ms Malyasri Bhattacharya, a research fellow of the Wildlife Institute of India, is on a mission to conserve the critically endangered white-rumped vultures of Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. Her thought-provoking presentation created a feeling of impending doom about the existence of vultures, whose population had reduced by 99% in the wild since the mid-1990s due to the usage of the veterinary drug ‘diclofenac’. Malyasri’s talk highlighted the immense efforts initiated in identifying safe zones for vultures to revive them from the brink of extinction.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” so goes the Chinese proverb. With the myriad small steps towards conservation showcased in the Meet until then, it was time to announce a somewhat more significant step. Mr. Praveen J, a citizen scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation, took the audience through the only existing Bird Atlas of the country created in Kerala. He also announced the launch of the forthcoming initiative by BWS to build the Bird Monitoring Atlas for West Bengal!
So, what would the Bird Atlas of West Bengal look like? Ms Tumpa Bhattacharya’s presentation of the sample website of the Bengal Bird Atlas somewhat satisfied the audience’s curiosity and inquisitiveness.
The following presentation justified why a Bird Atlas is the need of the hour for West Bengal. The SoIB report for West Bengal painted a gloomy picture of some high-priority birds like the Bristled grassbird, Indian spotted eagle, Rufous-necked hornbill, and Indian roller or Neelkantho, among others. As a famous historical character remarked, “One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic.” Likewise, the vanishing of millions of birds would eventually become a mere statistic in our ever-progressing nation.
The final presentation was a journey of rescue and rehabilitation as if to put a silver lining to the cloud and convey that hope springs eternal. Mr. Chitrak Pramanik shared his story of fighting all odds to rescue birds from various accidents, rehabilitate them, and release them back into the wild.
The concluding speech by the Secretary of BWS drew the close to an eventful day. The first-ever Bengal Birders’ Meet was a resounding success! It gave us the much-needed energy to continue our journey to create a safer planet for our feathered friends.
