The season for bird watching at Okhla bird sanctuary is:

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New Delhi: The Okhla bird sanctuary, which used to echo with the honking and murmurs of flamingos, geese, spoonbills and other migratory birds at this time of the year, seems deserted so far this season. Delhi region's only bird sanctuary, located between Delhi and Noida, so far is host to only a handful of species when there were more than 30 species at this time last year.

While the warmer winter could be a reason why the sanctuary is yet to have birds flying in, the real reason could be the dry conditions at the locale at the peak arrival time of the migratory birds. The waterbody was dry till recently when water was finally released from the Hathnikund dam.

According to naturalist and author Ananda Banerjee, migration starts in September and the wading species arrive. Later in October, the ducks start to fly in from Eurasia. "Upon their arrival, the flocks don't settle right away, but keep moving around like people do in a mall for the first month," said Banerjee. "Some flocks go further south. At November-end or early December, they settle down and later in December and January comes the peak birding season. By February-end and March, the birds start flying back." Banerjee added. "If Okhla fails to provide the ideal habitat, then the birds will settle down somewhere.