Vadodara: There is some good news for bird lovers in the city. A scavenger that is rarely spotted in the region has been seen camping near Timbi Lake on the outskirts of the city. A group of bird lovers have photographed an Egyptian vulture next to the lake that is located about 10km from the city. It is nearly after 30 years that this species of vulture has been spotted at Timbi lake.
“We were out to see migratory birds at the lake on December 19. After walking around for almost two hours we were taking a rest at the back side of the lake when we spotted a dark patchy bird flying above us. It descended at some distance and we thought that maybe it was a harrier,” said Tanisha Dagur, one of the bird watchers who spotted the vulture along with Dhaval Devaliya, Aniket Soni and Vivek Nariya.
“But when we took a closer look from binoculars, we were in for a surprise. It was an Egyptian vulture. Our entire group was excited as this bird hasn’t been spotted in and around Vadodara for several decades,” Dagur, a zoology student at M S University, told TOI.
“It is possible that the bird may be exploring new locations in this region. Or maybe it was resting for a while before migrating further,” she added. According to the Environmental Information Centre (ENVIS centre) of Gujarat Ecology Commission, in 2016, Gujarat was home to more than 133 Egyptian vultures and their main population was concentrated in Banaskantha and Ahmedabad district.
“The population of vultures declined drastically and these scavengers are hardly spotted in and around Vadodara any more. Spotting an Egyptian vulture here is a good sign as this bird usually prefers to stay at places where it can find food to scavenge,” said Raju Vyas who had done a study of vultures in Vadodara.
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