Asia's largest brackish water lagoon Chilika will remain closed for visitors on January 3 and 4 for the annual bird census, officials said.

The mid-winter survey of birds in the lake will be carried out by the Chilika Wildlife Division on January 4, while training will imparted to enumerators on January 3, they said.

"We have decided to stop the entry of visitors to the lake for these two days to conduct an undisturbed bird census," Divisional Forest Officer Amlan Nayak of Chilika Wildlife Division said.

He said boat associations have also been requested not to ferry visitors during this period and these bodies have assured the forest department of full cooperation for the smooth conduct of the census.

Thousands of winged guests, mostly from Russia and central Asian countries, visit Chilika Lake every winter to escape the biting cold in their homelands and in search of food. They start their homeward journey before the onset of summer.

He said over 100 people, including ornithologists, wildlife activists and researchers of different organisations, including the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), will participate in the bird census.

"We will form 21 teams, with five persons in each team headed by an expert, for the bird count. Each team will be provided with instruments such as binoculars," he said.

He said not a single poaching case has been registered in the division this year due to the strict patrolling at the lake.

In last winter's survey, as many as 11,31,929 birds of 184 different species were counted at the 1,100 sq km blue lagoon. These included 10,93,049 feathered guests of 105 various species, and 38,859 of 79 species of resident birds, sources said.

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