On the calm water of an eye-catching lake in a green campus, flocks of birds are splashing about. One flock rises chirping and heads for the horizon; moments later another lands and starts its antics on the water.

This is how the lakes, ponds and other water bodies of Jahangirnagar University (JU) and its surroundings, full of red and white water lilies, ring all day with the calls of migratory birds.

As winter sets in, the migratory birds have once again flown thousands of miles to JU, as they do every year. They add a special touch to the beauty of Jahangirnagar, known for its natural scenery, filling the university's lily-covered lakes with chatter and play.

They have settled on the lake in front of the new administrative building, the lake inside the Wildlife Rescue Centre, the lake beside the transport section and Joypara lake next to the swimming pool.

Every day bird lovers, casual visitors and professional photographers from Dhaka and elsewhere crowd the campus to watch.

Along with native species, these small duck-like foreign birds come from the snowy Himalayas and faraway Siberia. They spend some time in different parts of Bangladesh and then return home, which is why they are called guest birds. They fly to temperate countries such as Bangladesh every year mainly to escape the harsh winter of their own regions.

The birds include the sarali (whistling duck), garganey, pochard, manikjor, murgyadhi, jalpipi, nakta, kalai, flycatcher, patari, chita tupi and lal gurguti, among other species.

According to JU's Department of Zoology, migratory birds first started coming here in 1986. The birds recorded include 126 native and 69 foreign species, 195 species in all. The birds begin taking shelter around the university's water bodies in early October, and their numbers peak around December.

Professor Md Kamrul Hasan, a teacher in the Department of Zoology and a bird expert, said the birds had already begun to arrive. As every year, their feeding grounds and water bodies had been cleaned to make sure they have a safe habitat, and the banks of the water bodies had been repaired to protect them.

A bird fair is held every year to promote bird conservation and raise public awareness, and he said it would be held at the proper time this year too.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.