Wetlands International South Asia jointly organised an awareness excursion on wetlands and waterbirds with Avendus Capital Pvt. Ltd. and Bombay Natural History Society at the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary on December 18, 2018.
As part of private sector engagement, participants from Avendus Capitals (a Mumbai-based financial services company) were given exposure to bird identification and counting methods. A portion of the sanctuary, Bhandup Pumping Station was covered under the excursion. Located on the shorelines of Navi Mumbai, Bhandup is a mosaic of salt pans, mangroves and sewage treatment plant, making it a biodiversity hotspot in an urban agglomerate.The wetland provides ideal feeding and roosting habitat for waders and is an Important Bird Area as per Birdlife International.
Participants with representatives from WISA and BNHS (bottom left) © Dr Raju Kasambe/BNHS
During the excursion, nearly 25 species of birds were identified of which more than 100 individuals each of the Lesser Flamingos and Black-tailed Godwits were sighted. Other waterbird species spotted included the Northern Shoveler, Painted Stork, Black-winged Stilt, Purple Heron, White-throated Kingfisher, Eurasian Spoonbill, and Garganey.