Historians often describe Coimbatore as a beautiful woman adorned with a garland of navaratnams represented by the lakes of the River Noyyal. The river begins its 167-kilometre journey from Kooduthurai near Aalandurai and joins the Cauvery near Karur, filling up over 30 tanks along the way. One such navaratnam is the Perur- Sundakamuthur Lake or Perur Lake located in the southwestern edges of the city of Coimbatore. One such jewel is the Perur-Sundakamuthur Lake or Perur Lake located on southwestern edge of the city. It is at this wetland, a dedicated group of bird watchers of Perur Lake Forum — G Parameswaran (founder), R Sivashankar, R Vridhi, Sai Vivek, and Dilip Joshi — has been documenting monthly counts of birds for over six years. Their systematic monitoring of bird population was recently published by Indian Birds, a peer reviewed scientific journal.
“It’s an ongoing programme,” says Parameswaran adding that they analysed the status and population trends of as many as 125 species. The benchmark species among water birds that was abundant in the last six years, according to him, is the little cormorant.
