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Avian tourists land in Rajasthan for winter sojourn

Sunny Sebastian

PHOTO: Gopal Sunger

WELCOME GUESTS: Demoiselle cranes in their winter haven at Keechan near Jodhpur

KEECHAN (JODHPUR): Demoiselle cranes are on their annual winter sojourn in Rajasthan. The quaint cranes, referred to as Kurjas locally and in the love songs of the Thar desert, have flocked in large numbers to Keechan, a small town 153 km from Jodhpur in Phalodi tehsil where they have been arriving without fail for the past many years.

This time the wait had been rather long for the 5,000-odd residents of the town, who take pride in the arrival of huge numbers of the birds to their area, and provide them with daily offering of "chugga" (grains scattered to birds). While the whole of December had a few hundreds of Demoiselle cranes only, the New Year has them in larger numbers -- though nowhere near the figure of 11,500 counted during a census in 2004-05.

Phalodi is one of the coldest places in the plains in the country and the sudden fall in the temperature has seemingly done the trick. The minimum temperature here was 4 degree Celsius on Tuesday -- which was equal to that of Mount Abu, the only hill station in Rajasthan.

"There are 4,000 to 5,000 cranes here now. The locals were a bit worried about fewer birds this time," said Hanuman Singh Vishnoi, who heads a voluntary organization in Keechan.

The slate-coloured birds, with their characteristic female-like gait and a protruding feather almost looking like a necktie, are all over the sandy terrains of the town though their customary two time visits to the Chugga Ghars surrounding the Vijay Sagar lake and Rathadi Nadi, are not as certain as they used to be in the past.

"The number of birds at the Chugga Ghars (enclosures for scattering grain) have declined in the evenings as since 2004-05 the grain is scattered only once — that is late in the evening so that birds can eat them in the next morning," Mr. Vishnoi said.

The banks of the lakes in the past used to be the favourite shooting points for lens-men and foreign tourists thronging Keechan, which George Archibald of the International Crane Foundation described as a "world class natural history experience" after a visit in February 1996. Demoiselle cranes, one of the 15 crane species, have given Keechan pride of place on the world crane map.

According to a study conducted by Pushp Jain, Bhojraj Jingar and S.N.S.Rajpurohit with the support of WWF India in 2005, a sense of security— besides the availability of water and food--brings the cranes to Keechan year after year. The study quoted Trilok Chand Gulecha, an 83-year-old local, testifying the sighting of 100-150 Demoiselle cranes in Keechan as far back as 1933.

The birds, which normally start arriving in western Rajasthan by August-September from Central Asia and East Asia, prefer to feed themselves in the fields initially. From December onward till their return in March, they opt for "chugga". A local resident, Chetan Ram, informed that on an average 8 quintals of grains are scattered daily to Kurjas who share it with their lesser-welcomed winged companions such as pigeons, peacocks and perky crows.

Businessmen from Keechan who have made it big in Chennai, Mumbai, Trichi and Raipur finance the bird feed with great fervour.

The birds are spotted in at least 50 locations situated in the districts of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Churu and Pali - and also at other places in the country -- but their choicest destination seemingly is Keechan.

The commitment shown by the locals over the years has paid off. This small town on an average gets over 12,000 tourists driving single track roads hundreds of kilometres to watch the birds taking their "V" shaped flights or nudging one another while pecking for the grains or standing in the shallow waters of the lakes

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