RUDDY BREASTED CRAKE: New visitor in Pong Dam Wet Land Sanctuary

Dharamsala, December 31, 2012: More than 89,000 migratory birds from Siberia and Central Asian countries have descended on Maharana Pratap Sagar, popularly known as Pong Dam Wet Land so far, in Kangra district.  
“The maximum number visitors are bar headed geese, while the rare species arriving at the reservoir include white fronted geese, greater painted snipe, cinnamon bittern, black bittern and red crested poacher”, said DS Dhadwal, ACF, Wildlife in Dharamsala.
He further said with the spotting of Ruddy Breasted Crake for the first time in the wet land the number of spices of migratory birds in the area have gone up to 417, which had landed at different places of the Pong Dam over the past 10 years.
Describing about the of Ruddy breasted crake Dhadwal said, “The bird measures 20 to 23 cms in length, with long toes and short tail. Also known as Porzana Fusca, it could be identified of its voice, the brief descending trill with increasing tempo.”
The bird is the resident of China/Japan/Indonesia. Last year the wetland received Falcate Duck as the new visitor.
The migratory birds from trans-Himalayan regions had started reaching the Pong Dam wildlife sanctuary in October 2012. Besides a maximum of 27,000 Bar headed Geese, various other species landed here in good numbers, including common pochard, ruddy shell ducks (Surkhab), Eurasion wigeon and pintail. D S Dhadwal, ACF, Wildlife said that 30 Greater White Fronted Geese, a rarest of rare species, too arrived here.
Among the rare species which arrived include Greater Painted Snipe, Cinnamon Bittern, Black Bittern and Red crested Pochard.
Common Pochard, Eurasion Wigeon and Pintail have  landed here in good numbers.
200 Ruddy Shell ducks (Surkhab) also arrived at the Pong Dam this year so far.
The other bird species that arrived include Mallards, and Coots besides rare red necked grebe and gulls. “These species came from Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, Siberia, Central Asia, Russia, Pakistan and Ladkh”, Dhadwal said.
Last year, over 1.20  lakh migratory birds of about 90 species from Siberia and Central Asia had visited the Pong Dam as the surface water temperature of the reservoir suited them in winters.
Pong Reservoir or Pong Dam Lake was created in 1975, by building the highest earth fill dam in India on the Beas River in the wetland zone of the Siwalik Hills of the Kangra district of the state of Himachal Pradesh. Named in the honour of the patriot Maharana Pratap ,the reservoir or the lake is a well-known wildlife sanctuary and one of the 25 international wetland sites declared in India by the Ramsar Convention. The reservoir covers an area of 24,529 hectares (60,610 acres), and the wetlands portion is 15,662 hectares (38,700 acres).
The reservoir was declared as a bird sanctuary in 1983. A 5-kilometre (3.1 miles) belt from the periphery of the lake has been declared as buffer zone for the management of the bird sanctuary. The national, as well as international, significance of the sanctuary is enhanced because of its waterfowl diversity, which was evidenced by the increase of water fowl species from 39 prior to the reservoir to 54 species at post-reservoir stage. The number of birds reported, particularly during the winter period of November to March, has steadily increased over the years. The recent records indicate a water fowl count of 130,000 in 2004 and 142,000 during 2005 migratory birds – a major increase from the average annual count of 18,887 for the period 1988–1995. The main bird species reported are the barheaded geese (Goose), Anser indicus, northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea), Northern pintail (Anas acuta), common teal (Anas crecca), Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha), Eurasian CootFulica atra, red-necked Grebe (Podiceps griseigena), Black-headed gulls, plovers, Black Stork, terns, water-fowl and egrets.
Thousands of tourists visit the bird sanctuary during the winter season. Efforts are being made by the state and the center governments to encourage eco-tourism to attract more tourists to the reservoir.
Pong Dam Lake has a total catchments area of 12,562 sq km which falls in Kangra, Mandi and Kullu districts with Himalayas in the background and Shiwalik foothills in fore ground.