The Chinese population of the Lapwing winters in northern Southeast Asia

The Grey-headed Lapwing (Vanellus cinereus), a migratory bird that breeds in North Eastern China and Japan, was documented for the first time in the Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary, a haven for waterfowls.

Member of the Deccan Birders (formerly Birdwatchers Society of Andhra Pradesh) L Premjit told The Hindu that he photographed the bird on Thursday afternoon near Penumakalanka about 20 km from Eluru, the headquarters of West Godavari district.

The Chinese population of the Lapwing winters in Northern Southeast Asia from North Eastern India to Cambodia. The Japanese population winters mostly in Southern Honshu. The species has occurred as a vagrant in Russia, the Philippines, Indonesia, New South Wales (Australia) and Sri Lanka, according to BirdLife International.

Former Assistant Conservator of Forest and an authority on Kolleru birds P. Gracious said the Forest Department and various ornithologists had listed 225 species of birds that either visited or lived in Kolleru Lake. The Azeez Committee, in a detailed report published in April 2011, listed 224 species. In January 2013, Mr. Premjit documented the Greylag Goose in the Chinthakoduru drain near Pothunuru village which was reported in the columns of this newspaper. Since then, 12 new species had been sighted in Kolleru Lake, but they were yet to be documented, Mr. Gracious said.

The Grey-headed Lapwing is not known to the average ornithologist because it is not even mentioned in Salim Ali’s The Book of Indian Birds. There is the briefest mention of it in the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent – A field guide.

Freshwater lake

Kolleru is one of the largest freshwater lakes of India protected until its +10 contour under provisions of the Ramsar Convention for Wetlands. Like all wetlands, the lake lacks a definite boundary and has a highly irregular shoreline. In fact the lakes boundary depends upon the seasonal inflows as is the case of all inland wetlands.

The lake could extend to an area falling below +10 feet contour (above the mean sea level) with a water spread area of over 901 sq km during monsoon. In summer, the water level fell to +3 feet contour reducing the water spread to a mere 135 sq. km.

In 1999, the lake was declared a Wild Life Sanctuary (KWS) until + 5 feet contour with a wide spread area of 308 sq km.

Ever since successive government have been demanding that the Union government reduce the size of the sanctuary to +3 contour. KWS is an important birding area (IBA) offering refuge to lakhs of water fowls right in the path of the Central Indian-Asia Flyway. The demand to reduce the size of the KWS is however still pending with the Centre.