Winter birding in wetlands
In winter, wetlands turn into a birdwatching haven in Bangladesh. Of over 700 different birds reported from the country, about 200 species are from the Far North(Like Siberia) that make a yearly visit. A majority of them seek refuge in wetlands of the northeastern region of Bangladesh and spend the winter there.
Bangladesh directly falls into two global flyways, namely, Central Asian Flyway and East Asian-Australasian Flyway, which birds use to make seasonal to-and-fro flights. According to IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Bangladesh, the lives of 155 wintering birds including 24 globally threatened and near threatened species directly depends on the country's wetlands.
Every winter, new and rare birds are observed in the wetlands. For example, Greater scaup, a wintering duck, was spotted last December at Jahangirnagar University lakes after 20 years. White-tailed lapwing, a type of wintering wader, was first-time recorded from the marshes of Chapai Nawabganj in 2018.
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Furthermore, as water recedes and vegetation wanes in winter, a great window of opportunity arises to watch some of the most elusive and hard-to-photograph resident wetland birds of the country.
To unfold the secret lives of wetland-faring birds and apprehend their magnificent lifestyle, to photograph their flashing wingbeats and document vibrant splendours, the chilly seasons, thus, offer the best chances.
