The forest department officials recently found sightings of flocks of the Grandala coelicolor bird at low altitudes of around 2000 feet during an expedition at the Bhagirathi valley.

This surprised experts who were part of the three-day expedition, as Grandala coelicolor, which has a distinctive royal blue colour, is usually spotted at altitudes of 9000 feet and above. A popular haunt of the bird is Lachen in North Sikkim. which is at an altitude of around 9,000 feet and attracts birding enthusiasts, many of whom come specifically to look at the Grandala.

Enthused by the sighting, the Uttarakhand forest department now plans to exploit this opportunity and convert the Bhagirathi valley into a winter tourism destination where birders and nature lovers can witness a variety of flora and fauna. “Winter tourism in Bhagirathi valley has a huge scope ranging from snow leopard tours to winter bird watching. We will certainly facilitate these eco-tourism initiatives and provide licences to birders for birdwatching even in the inner line areas too,” said Rajiv Bhartari, head of forest force, Uttarakhand.

Birding experts Sheela Rawat and Rajesh Panwar, who specialise in organising birdwatching tours and were part of the forest department expedition, while commenting on the presence of the Grandala at low altitudes, said, “The movement of the birds from higher mountains to valleys is a winter migratory pattern and the birds come down to the valley area when it snows in the higher altitudes. However, in Uttarakhand, there has never been a flock of these birds sighted at low altitudes.”

Incidentally, sightings of a few other birds like white-throated bushtit, white-cheeked nuthatch, and Goldcrest were also reported from the Bhagirathi valley.

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