Migratory birds though in small numbers, have started flocking together in various waterbodies in and around the steel city. Flights of birds from as far away as Siberia have descended on the picturesque Dimna lake, Chandil dam and Sitarampur dam in Gamharia, adding colour to the waterbodies.

Rise in activities and pollution have been obstacles for such birds to make it to the waterbodies in the recent past. Revealing about the foreign winged guests to the foothills of Dalma hill, Dalma divisional forest officer, Abhishek Kumar said the Siberian birds have been sighted recently.

"We used to keep a tab on the arrival of the migratory birds to the region in the foothills of Dalma every year around this period of the season," said Kumar while talking to The Telegraph Online.

Birds in the picturesque Dimna lake Animesh Sengupta

The DFO pointed out that an increase in the number fishing activities in the waterbodies, including at the sprawling Chandil dam is suspected to have distracted the migratory birds from coming here.

The senior forest officer added that since the past three years, the migratory birds were sighted in Pata lake along the NH-33 in the foothills of Dalma and even at some places on the Subernarekha river, but the birds have not been seen in these places this time.

Lakes and ponds get frozen in Russia during the winter, forcing the birds from this freezing region to migrate over to the tropical countries, including India every winter.

"Once the migratory birds hit the local waterbodies, it adds to the beauty of the lakes and dam much to the delight of the tourists and those willing to spend some quality time there. But the decreasing number of the migratory birds is causing a concern for us, " deplored the Dalma DFO, expecting that something has to be done for the winged guests from getting further distracted.