| Location | Village- Jaswal, Bharwarlia in Sant Kabir Nagar district of U.P., India |
| Address | Comes under Divisional Forest Officer, Sohagi Barwa Wildlife Division, Gorakhpur, headquarter of the Sanctuary is in Pakri Range, Maharajganj, U.P. |
| Ideal time to visit | Nov.-March |
| Phone | +91-9935744585, 9453006931 (FDFO, Maharajganj), 9453006932 (DFO, Gorakhpur) |
| Attractions | Wildlife, Migratory Birds in winters |
| How to reach | By Road-1. Can be accessed via Gorakhpur-Khalilabad (35 km), through NH-28, then 17 km on Khalilabad-Bansi road
2. From Gorakhpur to Sahjanwa (20 km) on NH-28, then 23 km from Sahjanwa to Jaswal & 3 km from Jaswal village By Rail-Nearest railhead Khalilabad on Gorakhpur-Lucknow NER Railway Line By Air-Gorakhpur Airport 49km |
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| Bakhira Bird Sanctuary |
Bakhira Bird Sanctuary: The Heaven of Purple Moorhen
-Sarat Chandra Tripathy
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| Bakhira Bird Sanctuary |
29th Jan 2002, a pleasant day, the fervour & eagerness was on while roving towards Bakhira, a Bird Sanctuary and perhaps the biggest natural wetland in Uttar Pradesh, situated 44 km from Gorakhapur city. This sanctuary is situated in the Sant Kabir Nagar district recently carved out of district Basti of eastern Utter Pradesh. The Sanctuary is named after the village "Bakhira" located near the lake along with more than one hundred villages. This is an important lake of eastern Uttar Pradesh which provides wintering and staging ground for number of migratory birds and breeding ground for resident birds. Realising the ecological, zoological and geomorphological significance of the area, this wetland was notified as Bird Sanctuary in 1990.
The first vision of the lake reminded me an impression of open ‘Ocean’ with its clear and blue water. I was totally spellbound by the vast stretch of water bodies which expands up to 29 km2. The flood plain and terrain of the wetland is almost flat having an average height of 100m from the Mean Sea Level (MSL) representing the typical ‘terai’ landscape.
As one of the characteristic feature of wetlands, vegetations such as Typha angustifolia, Phragmites karka, Eichhornia crassipes, Hydrilla verticillata, Valisneria sp. and Lemna minor are some of the overriding aquatic plant life accessible in this lake. While collecting aquatic plants inside the wetland I could see the dense under water vegetation with large fish schools and water snakes most of them being Checkered killbacks. Though the water depth was more than 6 ft in the late winter the underwater plant life were raring to come out to the surface.
Though the wetland was full of avifauna representing more than 23 species of waterfowl, the very fact that astounded me is the abundance of Purple moorhen numbering more than five thousand. This was almost double the number of nest of the 21 species of waterfowls. This statistics came to picture as an upshot of the post bird counting hours inside the wetland.
The Indian Purple moorhen (Porphyrio porphyrio) also called Purple Swamp-hen is one of the beautiful common water birds found in India. A handsome but clumsy purplish blue bird with long red legs and toes, bald red forehead and size resembling the village hen. This bird is a common breeding resident of this sanctuary and is locally coined with the name "Kaima".
The first vision of the lake reminded me an impression of open ‘Ocean’ with its clear and blue water. I was totally spellbound by the vast stretch of water bodies which expands up to 29 km2. The flood plain and terrain of the wetland is almost flat having an average height of 100m from the Mean Sea Level (MSL) representing the typical ‘terai’ landscape.
As one of the characteristic feature of wetlands, vegetations such as Typha angustifolia, Phragmites karka, Eichhornia crassipes, Hydrilla verticillata, Valisneria sp. and Lemna minor are some of the overriding aquatic plant life accessible in this lake. While collecting aquatic plants inside the wetland I could see the dense under water vegetation with large fish schools and water snakes most of them being Checkered killbacks. Though the water depth was more than 6 ft in the late winter the underwater plant life were raring to come out to the surface.
Though the wetland was full of avifauna representing more than 23 species of waterfowl, the very fact that astounded me is the abundance of Purple moorhen numbering more than five thousand. This was almost double the number of nest of the 21 species of waterfowls. This statistics came to picture as an upshot of the post bird counting hours inside the wetland.
The Indian Purple moorhen (Porphyrio porphyrio) also called Purple Swamp-hen is one of the beautiful common water birds found in India. A handsome but clumsy purplish blue bird with long red legs and toes, bald red forehead and size resembling the village hen. This bird is a common breeding resident of this sanctuary and is locally coined with the name "Kaima".
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| Bakhira Bird Sanctuary |
The entire wetland is full of Phragmites patches which looks like small Island and acts as breeding and roosting ground for the "Kaima". The growth of the Phragmites patches which just started a decade back makes the wetland a unique habitat for the Purple moorhen. It was a great experience while towing boat in between Phragmites bushes.
It remembered me boating in mangrove creek of Bhitarkanika, Orissa. Whilst approaching towards Phragmites patches the pale yellow to reddish buff coloured eggs were slightly visible through the binocular but the variety of loud hooting, crackling and hoarse calls from the parent birds restricted me go closer to their nest. The frequent movement of birds from one patch to another with hooting compelled me to think whether they were scared or feeling happy by seeing a stranger, but immediately I thought it could be closed to the first option.
Though birds were present here in large number, they were observed to be very fearful of the human being and probably the rationale behind it could be the poaching and disturbance from fishermen inside the sanctuary.
There are more than 30 species of fish found in the lake. However the dominant species are Labeo rohita and Chana sp. There are more than 200 fishing boats operating in the wetland for catching fish. Though the fish fauna available here supplement the food demand of the aquatic birds, they are available for consumption by the local villagers. Of course this sounds unusual that how fishing is allowed inside a Protected Area (PA)? But the dependency of the nearby village people on the wetland is at high level which may be difficult to ignore.
There are more than 30 species of fish found in the lake. However the dominant species are Labeo rohita and Chana sp. There are more than 200 fishing boats operating in the wetland for catching fish. Though the fish fauna available here supplement the food demand of the aquatic birds, they are available for consumption by the local villagers. Of course this sounds unusual that how fishing is allowed inside a Protected Area (PA)? But the dependency of the nearby village people on the wetland is at high level which may be difficult to ignore.
At least 6000 boats from several villages are operating in different part of the wetland, but disturbances to other aquatic fauna including birds and over exploitation of fishes in the wetland are restricted due to the continuous vigilance by the forest department staff. This supports a good example of sustainable utilization of the resources from the lake. The fishing method is very traditional here which includes the hunting of the fish by a pointed stick after it is confined by the net fixed on the ground inside the lake. The fishermen even can observe the movement of fishes and chase them to kill whenever they slow down.
Being interested in wetland ecology, I contemplated what probable measures should be taken for the wetland in order to attain the "wise use" concept of wetland. A striking wetland on one hand with ample natural resources and on the other hand dependency of villagers on this wetland, myself wondering what little can be done for conserving this matchless natural habitat for attracting more and more birds including the Purple moorhen!
Being interested in wetland ecology, I contemplated what probable measures should be taken for the wetland in order to attain the "wise use" concept of wetland. A striking wetland on one hand with ample natural resources and on the other hand dependency of villagers on this wetland, myself wondering what little can be done for conserving this matchless natural habitat for attracting more and more birds including the Purple moorhen!
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