Dr Harish Bhat Memorial Bird Sanctuary - A bird sanctuary with new vision

Moodbidri (Dakshina Kannada district): This Jain Pilgrimage destination has also earned a name for ‘being a plant diversity and lake conservation destination in recent times. Thanks to the enlightened citizens and visionaries, the town is now also known for its efforts to bring back avian diversity. The new bird sanctuary is shaping up most authentically and naturally, and budding ornithologists are already doing intensive studies in Moodbidri town on Avian residents and visitors.

Young, budding Ornithologists from the bird club, -fondly entitled ‘Chirrp’ at Alva’s Educational institutions, Kiran Kashyap and Gautama MA, both III year electronic engineering students, say, “120 bird species have been identified, out of which 104 have been documented on our Engineering college campus. Few of them are migratory birds or water birds, and few of them are native birds.”. Kiran and Gautama are both engineering students but have adopted bird documentation as their passion.

“It is meant to be that way. The students of technology get lost in their academics of serious subjects, and for the birds, documentation and study will give them not just respite but something extra to be close to nature, I believe that nature has much to learn from even for the engineering of the technology streams; for example, the birds and the dragonflies have given the humankind the basic principles of aviation. Fortunately, we had Vrijulal, -an environmental management expert from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, who has mentored us in creating the bird sanctuary and has helped us conceptualise the bird sanctuary,” Vivek Alva, Managing Trustee of Alva’s Education Foundation, told Hans India.

“This is not been developed as a tourist spot but has been laid out as a spot for serious ornithologists and researchers.” - Vivek Alva

The university township around this nature spot has its own bird watchers club, fondly named ‘Chirpp’ and’ started by Vrijulal

“It all began with a single photo that was taken by Bala Govind, a student in 2016 which kindled the idea of the bird sanctuary, following which the waterbody was created out of a natural pond that existed there, and thanks to our Chairman, Dr Mijar Mohan Alva, a plantation of shade-giving, flower and fruit-bearing trees was quickly planted, and today these trees have begun giving fruits, shade, and flowers.

“Our specific brief from Dr Mohan Alva was that the trees must spur life and all the trees must be endemic, and those belonging to the Western Ghats ecosystem, which we assiduously followed, and Dr Mohan Alva’s vision has now blossomed into a fine bird sanctuary. The late Dr Harish Bhat had given a list of the trees that the estate gardener Muthappanna had procured from various sources. The focus was habitat development, and the watchword was ‘birds belong in the sky’,” said Dr Vinay, staff coordinator of the bird sanctuary.

The idea is to get the students as close to nature as possible and give them a chance to take up nature study as an extracurricular in their busy academic pursuits, Dr.Vinay stated.

Dr Mohan Alva, in his observation, said, “There are 531 species that have been documented in Karnataka, out of which the Western Ghats Avifauna has 508 species of birds; 19 of them are endemic to Moodbidri, but I am sure in years to come all the species will be documented in the Dr Harish Bhat Pakshi Vana.”

In recent studies made by the students of the campus, various types of entomological creatures have also come into focus due to the flowering trees, and many bird species under the category ‘Insect Catchers’ have also started showing up on

campus