Heralding the arrival of winter, the Jhanjhar and Garfa beels in Khamarkandi of Sherpur upazila in Bogura are alive with the calls of migratory birds. People from the district town and surrounding areas crowd in every day to see them, and if anyone comes to hunt the birds, local people stop them.
White chandmala flowers float on the water of the beel, and between them float lesser whistling ducks (patisorali). Every now and then a flock spreads its wings and takes to the sky.
The scene is found in the Jhanjhar and Garfa beels of Khamarkandi union, about eight kilometres east of Sherpur upazila town. Many kinds of birds are seen here, including ducks, wild ducks, kingfishers, cormorants, openbill storks, various egrets and mynas.
Locals stand guard
Mamun, a local resident, said his family's farmland lies beside the beel and they have to come regularly to tend it. The calls of the birds fill the heart, he said.
People passing by the beel stop, even if only for a moment, to listen to the birds. It is like a bond of the heart. But strangers who come to hunt birds are sometimes seen around the beel, and local residents stop them when they see them.
Sohag Roy, president of the Environment Protection Organisation (Poribesh Protirokkha Songstha), said the lesser whistling duck is a bird of our own country. For two years these birds have come to this beel in the breeding season, which runs from June to October. The female lays seven to 12 eggs at a time and they take 22 to 24 days to hatch. Their main food is aquatic plants, new shoots, grain, small fish, frogs, snails and earthworms.
Anwar Hossain, accountant of Bhaskar Agro Park, said hundreds of birds of different kinds come to the beel every winter. Local people do not let anyone kill the birds, or even throw stones at them.
Fazle Bari Ratan, president of the Bogura Wildlife Conservation Committee, said people living around the beel have been made aware so that the migratory birds are not disturbed. Local people themselves now protect the birds.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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