Festival begins with technical sessions and lectures; field visits to begin tomorrow at 6 am

Mysuru: The two-day ‘Mysuru Bird Festival’ organised as part of the Mysuru Winter Festival has proved a great hit as online entries were full within 24 hours of their opening. Interestingly, a majority of entries has come from the IT City of Bengaluru. The festival has coincided with a weekend where the IT crowd usually takes a break. 

The Bird Festival is the initiative of Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar who himself is an avid bird-watcher. He started the initiative last year to provide an opportunity for the people to relish wondrous sights of resident and migratory birds and this year, it is the festival’s Second Edition.

The event is being jointly organised by the District Administration in association with Tourism Department, Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Garden (Mysore Zoo), Forest Department and Regional Museum of Natural History (RMNH). The festival was inaugurated this morning by the DC. 

The online entry link to the Bird Festival was opened on Dec.16 and only 100 seats were allotted. Within 24 hours, the entries were closed. Over 40 persons, mostly bird lovers and IT personnel from Bengaluru had registered for the event by paying Rs.300 as entry fee. Organisers said that entries were limited to 100 as too much of a crowd will scare away the birds. 

Those who came from Bengaluru have booked hotels of their choice for their stay and today morning, they promptly landed at the Zoo premises where the event was inaugurated. They showed the Bird Festival Registration Code on their mobile phones and the authorities made offline entries. Bird watchers from Kodagu, Gundlupet, Chamarajanagar and Hunsur have registered along with some Mysureans. 

The festival will make bird watchers and bird lovers familiarise with a diverse variety of bird species. Experts in the field are invited for the festival to create awareness among the participants on the rich biodiversity. The registration fee includes breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. 

Today after lunch, there will be a lecture on “Re-tracking Dr. Salim Ali’s Mysuru Bird Survey” by Dr. S. Subramanya. Later, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Manoj Kumar will speak on “Community Conservation of Hornbills at Dandeli.”

Tomorrow, the participants will be divided into six batches and will be taken to Kamanahundi Kere, Rayanakere, Varakodu Forest, Giribetta Kere, Hebbal Lake, Lingambudhi Lake and Thippayyanakere and other wetlands where different species of birds are found. These birding sites are all around 30 minutes distance from the city, and cover wetlands and scrub/ degraded forest.

Bird experts, Dr. Sameer Agnihotri, Anagha and Dr. Abhijith APC will be the resource persons of the technical sessions who will speak about diverse topics including bird conservation, nocturnal birds                                    of Karnataka.