kolkata: Much to the delight of the bird watchers and wildlife lovers, Nordmann's Greenshank has been photographed from Lothian Islands in Sunderbans. Interestingly, the record of the bird—which is a critically endangered species—is the first record from West Bengal and India after December 1877.
The bird was photographed by Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Milan Mandal a few days back, who has developed a passion for such photography for the last ten years.
Mandal had snapped three juvenile Nordmann's Greenshanks with four Grey Plovers a few days back while he along with his team had ventured in a speedboat at Lothian Island Wildlife Sanctuary, including estuarine crocodiles, olive ridley sea turtles, spotted deer, jungle cats and rhesus macaques.
"Initially, I thought that the bird that was photographed from a reasonable distance was a Dunlin. However,
after a careful look I found that it was Nordmanns Greenshank. I shared the picture with national and international groups associated
with such photography and they confirmed it to be Nordmanns Greenshank," Mandal said.
Incidentally, Raju Kasambe had got excellent shot of one juvenile species of this bird on December 21, 2020
at Akshi beach of Alibag in Raigad district at Maharashtra. The species is a vagrant winter visitor and very rarely seen.