The Eurasian eagle-owl clicked near Buxa by Samudra Sengupta
A glacial lake outburst flood at Shintaphu Lake in Bhutan’s Gasa on Oct 29 released around 7.4 million cubic metres of water into the Mo Chhu and Sankosh river systems. “In Nov 2006, ornithologist Rishad Naoroji recorded a calling pair at Larjup, between Chander and Tungri in Arunachal. Undertaken under WWF-India’s Raptor Conservation Programme, it has so far recorded 542 checklists across 11 zones in Bengal.
Ashwin Viswanathan, scientist and senior project manager at the Nature Conservation Foundation, said the species has also been recorded in Bhutan, which lies along the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Recent weather disturbances in Bhutan could have played a role in its appearance near Buxa,” Viswanathan said. It was documented as an isolated winter record,” he said. BWS founder Sujan Chatterjee said the ongoing survey, the first initiative of its kind in India, would help establish baseline data on owl species, their abundance and distribution across Bengal’s different habitats.
Kolkata: In what ornithologists are describing as a very unusual sighting, a Eurasian eagle-owl, one of the world’s largest owl species, has been photographed for the first time in the foothills of Eastern Himalayas, near Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal. This could also be the first photographic record of the species from eastern India. “But in eastern India, this is in all likelihood the first sighting and photographic record. The possibility of weather-related displacement is being explored as Buxa’s northern boundary runs along the Bhutan border. The flood wave travelled downstream towards north Bengal and lower Assam. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kolkata | Silver Rate in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata | Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Petrol Price in Kolkata | Diesel Price in Kolkata | CNG Price in Kolkata | LPG Price in Kolkata
Rahut pointed out that there was an earlier record of the species from Arunachal Pradesh.