Eurasian coots flock at Achankulam near Kovai

Eurasian coots, a common wetland bird, were seen in unusually large numbers at Achankulam, near Coimbatore city, on Sunday.
More than 20 birders from the Coimbatore Nature Society (CNS), who went to the wetland for a routine birding on Sunday morning, witnessed the mass gathering, which as per their estimate could be between 1,000 and 2,000
birds.
The birding started at 7 a.m., with spotting of winter visitors and a healthy population of Indian Spot-billed ducks.
As the team scanned the north-eastern and northern expanses of the vast tank, birders were stunned to find that nearly half of the entire wetland was blanketed by a dense floating flock of coots, a species that is typically spotted here only in single digits or small groups of a few dozen.While the Eurasian coot maintains a year-round residential breeding population in south India, experienced birders from CNS feel that a spike of this magnitude can indicate early arrival of migratory flocks travelling from the Himalayas or the broader Palearctic region.Other birds that were spotted by CNS birders at Achankulam on Sunday included Spot-billed pelican, Painted stork, Asian openbill, Garganey, Great cormorant, Blue-tailed bee-eater, Barn swallow and various sandpipers.