Karimnagar: Winged visitors make Mid Manair dam a preferred winter destination

Mid Manair Dam in Karimnagar has become a thriving winter habitat for skimmers, attracting birders from across Telangana and beyond. First sighted in 2023, the migratory birds now return each season, forming colonies on sandy islands and mudflats. Abdul Raheem, founder of the Karimnagar Birding Community, highlights the growing numbers and stresses the need for conservation.

Hyderabad: Mid Manair Dam seems to have become the preferred winter destination for the winged visitors, skimmers as for the third consecutive season, they appear to enjoy the near-perfect habitat in and around the dam in Karimnagar (Telangana).

“The first sighting of skimmers in Karimnagar was in 2023 when they were spotted at the Lower Manair Dam near the jogging area. The next sighting was at Chintakunta and now at Pottur Bridge,” says Abdul Raheem, a native of Karimnagar and a passionate birder who, fascinated by this sighting, even formed the Karimnagar Birding Community (KBC).

“Yes, Karimnagar is the only district in Telangana where we can see these skimmers. In fact, across India, they are sighted frequently in Chambal, Mahanandi and Bhairavapalem (AP),” says 45-year-old Raheem in a chat with ‘Telangana Today’.

Not surprisingly, Mid-Manair Dam has become one of the preferred destinations of birders from across the Telugu-speaking States as the skimmers love sandy islands or mudflats where they form colonies, interestingly in the company of terns.

No wonder many birders like Vivek Mathala of Union Bank (Karimnagar) recently captured the winged visitors on camera.

“It is such a joy to shoot the images of these beautiful winter visitors,” said Vivek.

What is most pleasing is the numbers have been growing since the first sighting three years ago and they return to Chambal for breeding by March first week after their ‘winter sojourn’ here, says Raheem.

Significantly, the bar-headed geese too are making their presence felt at the location, along with the pallas gulls, to the delight of birders.

“These skimmers can become extinct unless we protect the environment and ensure that they keep coming every season,” said Raheem who is a member of Hyderabad Birding Pals and into birding for more than a decade now.

The KBC has been working in coordination with the Karimnagar DFO Mrs. Ch. Balamani about the measures needed to protect the habitat and also ensure that the fishermen don’t disturb them.

By all means, the onus is on the birders too, as in their over enthusiasm to get too close by various means and technology, they must ensure that the migratory birds like skimmers continue to look to Telangana as their ‘favourite winter’ destination.