By Gokarna Poudel
Tulsipur, Jan. 25: The Woolly neck stork, called Lovipapi Garudh in Nepali, which used to appear in the Rapti River area of ​​Deukhuri in winter, has not appeared this year.
A native bird of Nepal, India and Indonesia and considered rare in the world, it used to appear in the area every winter.

According to Chiranjeevi Khanal, who has been counting waterbirds in the area for five years, no Woolly neck stork was sighted during the midwinter waterbird census this year.
Khanal said only one black stork was spotted this year, but the last year's Northern Lapwing and Bar-headed Goose were not.

Aquatic bird counts were conducted across the country in coordination with Wetland International. According to Khanal, who has been coordinating in the Deukhuri area, the first phase started from Bhaluwang on the Rapti River and went up to Mahadev Bridge.
In the second phase, the counting was done from Madhyanagar Ghat of Lamahi to Rapti Bridge connecting Lamahi Gadhwa.

Khanal said some birds were spotted in the new lake constructed at Rihar during the count but none in Jakhera Lake and Charchare Lake. Birds such as River Lapwing, Great Cormorant, Little Grebe, Lesser Whistling-duck and Red-crested Pochard – were also sighted.
He said the birds may not have come due to the recent collection of riverine material and embankment work on the river banks.

He said it was a pleasant thing for tourism and researchers to see the birds in the new wetland built in the Rihar.
Dilli Bahadur Rawat, an environmentalist who has also been counting birds, said that the attraction of birds has also increased after the creation of artificial lakes in the Dang Valley recently.