Picture Courtesy:RSPN
A White-bellied Heron was sighted along the bank of Wangchhu near the sewerage plant at Babesa in Thimphu yesterday. The officials of the Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN) described it as an unusual sighting because the species mainly inhibits along Mangdechhu and Punatsangchhu basins and its tributaries.
The bird sighted at an elevation of 2,230 metres above sea level, is said to be the highest recorded elevation. Until yesterday, records with the RSPN showed that the species was found below 1,800 metres.
Officials of the RSPN came to know about it after a birder posted on social media about the sighting of the bird yesterday afternoon. Since then officials have been monitoring the bird and found out that it was gone in the morning. The officials suspect the bird to have accidentally landed here.
“If the heron continues to use that area on a regular basis and if the herons continue to visit Thimphu and Wangchhu at this altitude for a longer time, then we can say that it could be due to climate or environment. So since it has come just for once, the heron must have come here accidentally or maybe it missed its route on the way,” said Indra Acharja, the Chief of Research Division, RSPN.
The officials said there has been a similar case in the past where a heron was sighted in Doksum in Tashiyangtse. It was sighted only once in 2016. He also said a heron has been spotted today along the Phochhu bank in Punakha but they are not sure if it’s the same heron.
The White-bellied Heron is categorised as critically endangered species and in Bhutan, it was first sighted in 1976. The latest record with the RSPN shows that there are 25 herons in the country.
Kinley Dem
