A fest to celebrate Hampi and its winged beauties

Ballari: If the ruins of Hampi have proved a huge attraction for photographers  for years, the exotic birds that the scrub jungle around supports have drawn their share of lensmen too, eager to capture them on camera.

Giving wing to their love for these graceful beauties, hundreds of birdwatchers  and photographers have descended on Hampi since Thursday to participate in the third edition of Karnataka's very first Bird Festival.

Amateur photographer and honorary district wildlife warden, S K Arun says the festival aims at drawing attention to the eastern plains of North Karnataka that are rich in biodiversity.  "Besides some endangered mammals, there are over 250 species of birds in this region. While the rocky caves here provide a safe shelter for many mammals and reptiles like the Indian sloth bear and leopard, the scrub jungle is a haven for birds, some of which like the yellow-throated Bulbul and painted Spurfowl, are rare. The great Indian bustard is also seen in the black cotton soil fields here," he says.

Mr Samad Kottur author of Birds of Hampi, reveals his book is the result of over a decade's observation and tells you where  birds can to be sighted around the world heritage site. Noting that the Bombay Natural History Society and BirdLife International have labelled Hampi  an Important Bird Area (IBA) owing to its significant population of the yellow-throated Bulbul, a globally threatened species, he notes that birdwatching and wildlife photography are no longer seen as hobbies of the elite or royalty. "The number of birdwatchers and photographers has increased and related information is shared rapidly on social media. This has led to better documentation of the region's avifauna. That is how "not seen" or "not reported" birds are being reported more often," he explains. 

The three day festival, being attended also by well known  ornithologists and conservationists like Bikram Grewal, Shashank Dalvi, and Gobind Sagar Bharadwaj, has  been organised by the Department of Forest and the Karnataka Eco-Tourism Development Board in association with the local birdwatchers' association.