With thousands of migratory birds flocking to its waters every winter, the Hirakud Wetland in Odisha has emerged as a new tourist hotspot.

Nestled on the backwaters of the Hirakud Dam over the Mahanadi River in Sambalpur district, this Ramsar Site is drawing visitors with its rich avian diversity, including rare species like the Ruffs.

This year, the Ruffs, known to migrate from Eurasia’s icy regions, have been sighted here for the first time.

The wetland’s inauguration stone was laid by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Spanning over 700 square kilometres, the Hirakud Wetland was declared a Ramsar Site in the year 2021.

“This year Ruffs are seen in Hirakud Wetland, these were not recorded last year. These birds are known to travel thousands of kilometres in search of food and warmer areas as their original habitats face harsh seasons due to extreme cold. They use Hirakud Wetland as their wintering ground due to its abundance of food and ideal habitat conditions,” Anshu Pragyan Das, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Hirakud Wildlife Division, told The Telegraph.

With the bird migration season (winter) beginning, flocks of different species have gathered at the Hirakud Wetland.

Das added: “A bird census was conducted on 8th January, 2024. Hirakud Wetland was divided into 21 sectors. As many as 112 species, comprising 3,42,339 lakh birds were reported, which was comparatively more than the number of birds that reached to this wetland in 2020.”

“In 2020, as many as 97,899 birds of 93 species visited the wetland. The next bird census of Hirakud Wetland is scheduled to be on 18 January, 2025,” said the DFO.

On the same day, bird census will also be recorded in other water bodies like Chilika lagoon.

Officials noted the presence of an impressive variety of waders (water birds) this year. Species like Eurasian Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard, Small Grebes, Created Grebes, Northern Shoveler, some varieties of Gulls, some varirties of Terns, Bar-headed Goose, Tufted Duck, different Pochards, whistling ducks, Sandpipers and Northern Pintails have congregated in large numbers in Hirakudthis winter.

“We have restricted the movement of tourist cruise boats and fishermen boats from 6pm to 6am, river patrolling is restricted to human movement areas so that the wetland remains undisturbed,”Das said.

The DFO added: “Special emphasis has been given to keep the shoreline, creeks and important congregation zones of Hirakud free from human disturbance. Informer networking has been strengthened in the eastern and Western parts of Hirakud by the help of local communities to counter poaching threats.”