kolhapur city based environment ngos are set to organize bird watching trips for experts and amateurs with the winter chill down migratory birds to kolhapur s sprawling wetlands 40 bird species can be sighted in kolhapur between october and march every year including a number of migratory bird that to the wetlands rankala new palace and the rajaram tank birds like the spot billed northern shoveler common stork common coot tern eurasian spoonbill heron and woolly necked stork are visitors to kolhapur along with the harrier on sunday morning around 50 bird lovers including professional from the city gathered near lake 5 km away from kolhapur to observe visiting its vicinity birds spotted by them were the spot billed painted stork kingfisher green bee eater woolly necked stork and heron kolhapur is one the best places to get a glimpse a variety of birds from the western ghats as well some migratory bird species said farukh mehtar a member of green guard bird watching is a hobby that requires one has to wait for hours a bird for youths interested in the acitivity we organise programmes usually on sundays during winter mehtar said watching has turned into a serious hobby for abhay patil to bird watching events regularly there has definitely been a rise in the number of bird from the city over the past two years patil said while the trend to take up bird watching have seen an upward curve pollution in and around kolhapur s remains a major concern for bird years back you could a lot of in and around rankala lake the pollution at rankala has affected its ecosystem with bird numbers decreasing kalamba lake the situation has not worsened yet and birds can still be spotted here with more people opting for bird watching there should be increasing awareness about the conservation these birds swapnil pawar member of the environmental organization green force said being a part of bird watching trips would help amateurs know the name a bird habitat and unique characters these trips will also offer them an opportunity to meet bird watchers