Many migratory birds are staying back at different sites of Dhanbad like the scenic Maithon and Panchet Lake due to the chilly weather conditions prevailing in the coal town, after a brief spell of warm weather from January 1 to 12. The weather condition is developing a favourable atmosphere for the birds to stay back.

A group of bird lovers in Dhanbad, led by a retired banker A K Sahay (62) who are carrying out extensive survey of bird spots in Dhanbad since September last year, have spotted Red Crested Pochard and Ruddy Shellduck during a visit to the Maithon Lake on Saturday.

The team also spotted a few Tufted duck, a small diving duck of Northern Eurasia during their trip to Maithon Lake.

Talking to The Telegraph Online, Sahay said, “The migratory birds usually stay until the temperature lies below 10 degrees C and we expect the migratory birds to stay at least for 10 more days.”

“We are very happy to spot around 25 Tufted duck at Maithon and probably they have drifted here from Doom Dooma area of Assam which is the favourite place for migratory birds. It is a good sign as we have spotted around 70 Tufted duck at Maithon last year also,” said Sahay and added that Dhanbad can be developed as a favourite spot for migratory birds with little support from the authorities.

“We are working here under the banner of Dhanbad Birders and are identifying bird spots in the town as well as in the surrounding areas. We have identified six bird spots in the town including Jagjivan Nagar, DS Colony (near Pampu Talab), Bartand (in the vicinity of CIMFR), Bekar Bandh, Bhelatand (near DPS Hirak Branch) and Bhelatand village,” informed Sahay.

“We have simultaneously identified seven bird sites during our extensive survey since September 202 on suburbs including Dhokra near Domerpur (17 km from Dhanbad), Govindpur (12 km from Dhanbad), Chhai Gadda near Kargali Ghat in Baliapur (20 km from Dhanbad), Domgarh Boating Point (23 km from Dhanbad), Maheshpur in Katras (23 km from Dhanbad), Aamtal (6.2 km from Dhanbad), foothills of Dhangi Pahar in Pradhan Khanta (14 km from Dhanbad),” further said Sahay.

Dhanbad based renowned radiologist Dr Manish Vishwakarma, who is also the president of Dhanbad Birders, said, “There are some spots in the town like Domerpur which have good potential to be developed as a favourite site for migratory birds. Our delegation met the Dhanbad DFO, Bimal Lakra on February 3 and presented him our report.”

“Lakra assured all cooperation in developing the bird spots including putting the signboards at these sites including Domerpur. The signboards will mention the names of the species of birds found at these sites and later declaring them as a prohibited area,” added Vishwakarma.