On a wing and a prayer: Nerul birders monitor stranded flamingo

NERUL: Avid bird watchers and residents of societies adjacent to DPS Lake, Palm Beach Road, Nerul are brainstorming and monitoring a solitary pink flamingo believed to be stranded in the lake since Wednesday morning.

Suggestions and observations are being shared by environmentalists about the course of action to be taken to save the bird that has not shown any signs of flying for the past two days.

NRI Complex resident Shweta Mahendra was the first to see the bird seated alone in the lake.

“It is a routine for me to visit the lake on my way back from gym. On Wednesday, too, I was enjoying the scenery when I noticed a single flamingo moving around clueless. I sensed that it has been left behind by its flock,” she said.

The 50-year-old decided to check on the bird on the following day as well. “I was surprised to find the bird seated within the lake even on Thursday. I noticed that on Wednesday, its gait was livelier, but the following day, it appeared to be lost and scared. There were two white flamingos which had flown in close by, but this bird maintained its distance,’ said Mahendra.

Concerned for the well-being of the bird as flamingos live in groups, Mahendra made frantic calls to fire brigade, sent messages locally and even intimated NGOs to rescue the bird. The post shared on social media has garnered a lot of attention especially from activists known to be vocal to conserve the lake for the flamingos.

“I received multiple video footages, photographs of the lone flamingo, which is unusual as these birds are known to flock in groups. Only if flamingos are hurt or their legs get trapped do they end up being alone. I pitched in by contacting the agencies that have expertise in the matter,” said Shruti Agarwal, a social activist.

Authorities from the forest department, fire brigade and volunteers associated with — Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) authorised by the forest department to undertake rescue operations took stock of the situation. Fire brigade officials on Thursday visited the spot and asked Shweta to keep tab on the bird.

“According to them the flock with which the bird came will now return only after 4 months. The bird is to be observed,” said Shweta.

RAWW, too, has decided to observe the bird and wait for the water to recede to ascertain whether it was hurt.

“Directly removing flamingos from the habitat and keeping them in captivity is avoidable. So, we will ascertain whether the bird can survive on its own and will take a decision accordingly,” said Pawan Sharma, founder of RAWW.

Flamingos are protected under the Wild Life Protection Act 1972. The bird found to be stranded within DPS lake, RAWW said, is a sub-adult lesser flamingo.

“From the videos, it appears that the bird is quite young and it is likely that it hasn’t yet learnt to fly properly. So, it could have found it hard to fly against the wind, unlike the adult birds,” said Sharma.

A few years ago, the NGO had initiated a full-fledged rescue operation of a similarly stranded flamingo. “The rescue operation was mandated because after closer inspection, it was found that the bird’s feet were trapped in a fishing net and it would have endangered its life,” added Sharma.