Kendrapara, Sep 9 (Reporter) The monsoon bird census began on Monday in the Kanika Forest Range, by Bhitarkanika Forest and wildlife personnel. The five-day bird census, overseen by Sudarshan Gopinath Jadav, DFO of the Rajnagar Mangrove (forest) and Wildlife Division, and Manas Kumar Das, ACF of Kanika, is underway. Three teams have been formed to carry out the census, with each team consisting of four enumerators. Sources said that the bird census will take place over three days at Matha-adia, starting Monday, with counts scheduled at Laxmiprasad-dia on September 12 and Durgaprasad-dia on September 13. Of the 11 local bird species found in Bhitarkanika National Park, 10 species gather for nesting and breeding during the monsoon season. These include the Openbill Stork, Little Cormorant, Intermediate Egret, Large Egret, Little Egret, Purple Heron, Grey Heron, Night Heron, Darter, White Ibis, and Cattle Egret. The avian species selectively use mangrove trees such as Guan, Bani, Choranda, Kerauan, and Oruan for nesting. The monsoon bird census is being conducted at the heronries in Laxmiprasad-dia, Durgaprasad-dia, and Matha-adia within the Kanika Forest Range under Bhitarkanika National Park. In recent years, Matha-adia has emerged as the preferred nesting and breeding site for monsoon birds, followed by Laxmiprasad-dia and Durgaprasad-dia. This season, however, the birds have skipped the Bagagahan heronry, which was previously one of the most favored nesting sites for resident birds. According to official sources, an estimated 123,867 monsoon birds were sighted, and 26,118 nests were recorded by the forest teams during last year’s census, which took place from September 3 to 8 in four locations in and around Bhitarkanika National Park. During the last census, 12,480 nests were counted in Laxmiprasad-dia, 11,599 in Matha-adia, and 1,532 in Durgaprasad-dia...////...