Lakhimpur’s Dikrong grassland readies to welcome winter’s winged guests

North Lakhimpur, Oct 29: A grassland on the banks of the river Dikrong in Lakhimpur district is ready to welcome the winged visitors of the winter – including some rare and endangered species.

Located in Pokadol, about 7 km from Bihpuria on the downward course of the river, the grassland becomes the chosen destination of a number of migratory birds in the winter, thereby attracting birdwatchers from across the country.

Arpan Partha, an avid bird watcher from Bihpuria, informed that the Dikrong grassland attracts a number of birds during the winter season. He has recorded four species of bunting over the years in this grassland – the yellow-breasted bunting, the chestnut-eared bunting, the black-faced bunting, and the little bunting. Among them, the yellow-breasted bunting (Emberiza aureola) is an IUCN 3.1 listed Critically Endangered species that migrates from as far away as the Scandinavian region to the eastern Himalayas in the winter.

The presence of the bunting species in the Dikrong grassland was first discovered by Sutirtha Lahiri, a PhD research scholar from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA, during his study on bioacoustics monitoring of bird communities in grasslands in 2023-24. Since then, research and documentation of these rare bird species has been continuing in the Dikrong grassland by birdwatchers and conservationists like Jugal Borah.

The Dikrong grassland also hosts IUCN listed vulnerable bird species like swamp francolin (Ortygornis gularis), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), and hen harrier (Circus cyaneus). Other migratory birds recorded in the Dikrong grassland during the winter season are Baikal bush warbler (Locustella davidi), thick-billed warbler (Arundinax aedon), and Chinese rubythroat (Calliope tschebaiewi). Besides the migratory ones, resident species like chestnut munia (Lonchura atricapilla), scaly-breasted munia (Lonchura punctulata), black-breasted weaver (Ploceus benghalensis), streaked weaver (Ploceus manyar), etc., are also found in this grassland.

The Dikrong grassland has already become a favourite destination of birdwatchers from various parts of the country. With guiding arrangements made by the Tesia Camp, a birdwatching homestay at Harmutty, Lakhimpur, over 150 birdwatchers from different parts of India have visited and photographed the winged visitors in the Dikrong grassland.

However, the Dikrong grassland faced external threats as miscreants and poachers burnt the dry reeds of the area and hunted down some birds some years ago. Timely intervention by local vigilantes led by Arpan Partha succeeded in identifying the culprits with the help of the forest department. Since then, the grassland has been under the protective eye of Krishna Rajkhowa, a local horticulturist. Rajkhowa, who is growing apple ber jujube on a plantation spread over five bighas of land in Pokadol near the grassland, has been constantly guarding the birds from hunters and other external disturbances. His vigilance has completely stopped burning of the grassland by hunters during the winter migration of the birds. This effort of Rajkhowa, who has erected signboards outside the Dikrong grassland prohibiting hunting and burning of the vegetation, has been appreciated by Assam’s Education Minister Dr Ranoj Pegu, who visited the former’s farm some time back.

Another threat looming over the grassland is the river bank erosion caused by the river Dikrong. The river has been constantly eroding its bank on the left side of its course over the last several years, devouring hundreds of acres of land. The unabated erosion by the river Dikrong, among other things, is threatening the very existence of this newly emerging grassland bird sanctuary.