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Wetlands News Monitor September - October 2018 TRENDING TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE: 1. News on Wetland Birds 2. Report on Drug-resistant Bacteria in Bellandur Lake 3. Report on Wetland Conservation 4. News on Wetland Encroachment 5. News on Wetland Mapping 6. News on Wetland Pollution 7. General Wetland News News brief on Wetland Birds, Drug-resistant Bacteria, Wetland Conservation, Wetland Encroachment, Wetland Mapping and Wetland Pollution. WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam, Mr. N. Mohamed Ibrahim and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India News on Wetland Birds (i) Red-necked phalarope species breeds in Eurasia and travels all the way up to Sri Lanka and New Zealand to spend its winters. Two rare wetland birds of the species Red-necked phalarope were sighted at the Panje coast in Uran after a gap of nearly 15 years. Young naturalist and documentary filmmaker Aishwarya Sridhar successfully photographed the two waders at the shore, much to the delight of birdwatchers community. Aishwarya, who has been filming and documenting the Uran wetlands for nearly a decade, since she was a child stated that the very fact that such a rare wader like Red-necked phalarope is being seen in Panje after so many years once again strengthens the case of protecting the last surviving wetlands of Uran, since so many birds come here, including flamingos. She added that there are two such waders currently at Panje. This species breeds in Eurasia and travels all the way up to Sri Lanka and New Zealand to spend its winters. Environmentalist D Stalin commented that it is indeed good news that rare Red-necked phalaropes are now being seen at Panje which shows that the wetlands here have a very rich biodiversity, and hence must be preserved. Source: The Times of India Dt.: 15 September 2018 Young naturalist and documentary filmmaker, Aishwarya Sridhar, who has been documenting the wetlands at Uran for several years said that there is an urgent need to protect and preserve the last surviving wetlands at Panje-Funde coast where several hundreds of birds like flamingos, waders, ducks, and others come every year. She reported that nearly 85% of Uran's wetlands have already been destroyed due to man-made land filling. So, if this wetland patch also vanishes, then there will be no more birds coming to this region. WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam, Mr. N. Mohamed Ibrahim and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India Environmentalist Debi Goenka commented that with regards to the birds survey report of Bombay Natural History Society at the Navi Mumbai airport site, it's has been clearly mentioned that the wetlands at Panje must be saved, so that the birds do not go towards the airport site, and thereby cause accidents or incidents once the planes take off or land. The state government should ideally declare it as a wetland sanctuary, before it is too late. Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/navi-mumbai/navi-mumbai-red-necked- phalarope-seen-at-panje-in-uran-after-15-years/articleshow/65823736.cms (ii) Migratory birds from colder regions have started to arrive in the Indore city much before the onset of winter. Small sized flocks of winged guests were spotted at a wetland in the city by Wildlife Nature Conservancy (WNC) members during monsoon counting of birds in September 2018. The bird species- black redstart- indicator of arrival of winter was seen at Kajligarh by the WNC members. Barn swallow, common sandpiper and booted warbler, which are also winter visitors to Indore, were seen in a good number at Talawali Chandalake, by a group of bird watchers headed by bird expert Ajay Gadikar. Source: The Times of India Dt.: 05 October 2018 WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam, Mr. N. Mohamed Ibrahim and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India The bird watching and counting was being done by WNC members at Kajligarh and Baroda Daulatlake of the city under Bombay Natural History Society‟s Common Bird Monitoring Programme. The number of species counted for monsoon at Baroda Daulat and Talawali Chanda lakes was 56 and 47 respectively. In Kajligarh the total number of species counted was 36. WNC group secretary Rajesh Mangal stated that they split into two groups for the count in Kajligarh area and Baroda Daulat. With this count they have the data of these two spots for all three seasons of 2018. Among the most seen bird species at all the three spots of Indore were rosy sterling, red-wattled lapwing, blue tailed bee-eater, red munia, scarry breasted munia and oriental white eye. Most of these birds are found locally and breed in the monsoon season. Bird expert Gadikar reported the findings of Talawali Chanda Lake. He reported that pond herons were also seen at the lake, where there was water. However, another species of birds known as grey headed swamphens were missing from the area this time since there was some habitat destruction. The Common Bird Monitoring Programme conducted by the BNHS held thrice a year in winter, summer and monsoon. The bird counting is done mainly through the mode of citizen science, involving local bird watchers, NGOs and individuals in the count. Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/migratory-guests-from-colder-regions- start-flocking-wetlands/articleshow/66091618.cms (iii) The last surviving wetland at Uran recently installated with a sluice gate to block inter- tidal seawater at Panje. The environmentalists worried for this action and the local villagers at Panje are alleging that sluice gate has been put up by those interested in illegally grabbing the wetland. Activist Debi Goenka of the Conservation Action Trust, has written to various state authorities, including forest department (mangrove cell), Konkan divisional commissionerate, Cidco, among others about the issue and urged the officials to save this surviving wetland by removing the sluice gate. This setup does not allow seawater to flow back into the mangroves; which means that the entire wetland can die in the next few days if the authorities do not remove WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam, Mr. N. Mohamed Ibrahim and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India it. This new construction is also a violation of the latest final order of the Bombay high court regarding the petition on preservation and protection of mangroves in Maharashtra. The sluice gate at a wetland in Uran Source: The Times of India Dt.: 03 October 2018 Naturalist and documentary filmmaker, Aishwarya Sridhar said that she had also visited Panje two days ago to photograph the wetland birds and it was shocked to see that a new sluice gate has been erected. She added that so many wetland birds, including flamingos visit this wetland. But if the seawater is stopped from going into the mangroves, then the entire land will become barren and no birds will visit it again. A Cidco spokesperson said that at present they do not know about this sluice gate, but will ask the concerned officials who are looking into environmental issues and get back. The state forest official heading the mangrove cell, N Vasudevan reported that he have just now received a copy of the complaint with regard to the presence of sluice gate at Panje shore, which is reportedly blocking the seawater from entering the mangroves and he will send the officials to Uran to inquire about it and report back. The activist reported that in the last ten years, there has been massive earth-filling at Uran which wiped out over 85% of the wetlands; and the state government must ensure that this „bird paradise‟ is fully protected. Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/navi-mumbai/greens-upset-over-new-sluice-gate- at-urans-last-surviving-mangrove-patch/articleshow/66046056.cms WNM Compiled by: Dr. B. Hemambika, Ms. A. Julffia Begam, Mr. N. Mohamed Ibrahim and Dr. Goldin Quadros ENVIS Centre, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore – 641108, India (iv) A black-necked stork was spotted near Basai wetland in June with a plastic ring (those hold the cap of beverage bottles) around its beak and rescued after a weeklong struggle from Najafgarh Jheel has returned to the Gurugram city. Some birders claimed to have spotted the stork with a yellow ring on its right foot in the Basai wetland. As per norms, whenever a bird is rescued, it is marked with a ring for identification in future. Sumit Das, a birder and photographer reported that the bird looked quite active and alert. It was feeding normally, along with other birds, and flew away with the painted stork flock. The stork was first spotted by a birder near Basai wetland on June 7 with a plastic ring around its beak. It had been unable to part its beak because of the ring, spending almost a week without eating anything. An eight-member team, including rescuers from the Bombay Natural History Society, Nature Conservation Foundation and the district forest department, rescued the bird and removed the plastic ring when it lost strength to fly after a week. Pankaj Gupta, a conservationist and birder from Delhi Bird Foundation stated that while the stork was released after proper examination, there was a doubt about its survival.

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