Green tea gardens all around, and in the middle an artificial lake of clear water, with aquatic plants and bushes along its western side. With enough food and a safe environment, birds live here without fear all year round, and the garden authority has posted guards to protect them from hunters.

According to the garden authority and the guards, the lake is Patrakhola lake in section 18 of Madhabpur tea estate, owned by the National Tea Company, in the border upazila of Kamalganj. For the past five years native birds have made it a safe refuge, and the lake rings with birdsong morning, noon and afternoon.

Patrakhola is a natural beauty spot inside the green tea garden. Lotus flowers and birds flying, splashing and playing have become a familiar sight on the lake. Though hidden from public view, nature lovers come every day, and they see great potential for tourism around it. The garden authority has made separate arrangements to guard the lake and its beauty.

At the lake, flocks of birds could be heard beating their wings over the clear water, surrounded by tall tea bushes with a high hillock curving along one side. There were small and large migratory birds of many colours. The scene appears as soon as one enters the tea garden along the road in front of the factory, via the Madhabpur road. The birds fly thousands of miles at this time of year to survive, and some migratory species leave after two to two and a half months.

But the sarali (lesser whistling duck) and bali hash stay permanently, laying eggs and hatching chicks here in the breeding season. The birds include bali hash, sarali, cormorant, hornbill, darter, white egret, reddish egret, kalolej and other species.

Kajal Chandra, a permanent resident of the garden, said the birdsong all year round, the flocks in flight and the splashing in the water have a special beauty. "I love watching the birds chirping and flying in flocks from morning to evening. The birds stay here all day," he said.

Bakul Chandra, the guard of section 18 of Patrakhola tea garden, told Jagonews that in other years many birds gathered here, but this year there seem to be somewhat fewer. "I keep regular watch. Bird hunters are not allowed in, and I ask visitors not to disturb the birds. Because the birds are protected, a habitat has grown up here. Two kinds, bali hash and sarali, can be seen all 12 months. They nest on this lake, lay eggs and hatch chicks," he said.

Visitors who had come to see the birds, including Sajib, Mamunur Rashid, Saiful Islam and Bakul Koiri, told Jagonews that nowhere else in the country can birds be seen so close. If birds coming from different places are allowed to roam freely, their numbers in the country will grow, and the garden authority and the Forest Department should see that they can, they said.

Shamsul Islam, deputy general manager of the National Tea Company (NTC), told Jagonews that the lake was dug in section 18 of Patrakhola tea garden mainly to irrigate the tea bushes during winter pruning. Since it was dug, birds have come whenever winter arrives. Separate guard arrangements have been made to protect its beauty and prevent bird hunting, and visitors are asked not to disturb the birds.

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