GBBC -Great Backyard Bird Count (CBC - Campus Bird Count) at Govt Senior Secondary School, Mangan, North Sikkim, Sikkim on 20th February 2023

Before Event Synopsis:
GBBC program at the Govt. Senior Secondary School, Mangan on 20th February 2023 organized by Bird Count India and simultaneously powered by eBird India, Birdwatchers’ Society, Sikkim Birds.

Acknowledgments:
We are grateful to the Principal Sir Mr. Karma Tempo (Govt Senior Secondary School, Mangan, North Sikkim) for his thorough cooperation in organizing this awareness drive for bird watching. Around 80 students from Class IX and Class X joined for the bird talk in the beginning and later a short bird walk around the campus. We are also grateful to Forester Mr. Denzongpa Tshering, FG of North Wildlife Division, Sikkim for his presence during the event and a very thoughtful speech on the protection of the environment and pristine forest of Sikkim.

Principal Mr Karma Tempo distributed participation certificates to the students from GBBC

Forester Mr. Denzongpa Tshering giving a speech to school students on GBBC Event

About GBBC:
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an annual event that brings bird enthusiasts, students, and nature enthusiasts together to watch and count birds they see around the places where they live, work
or study. This year's event will take place from 17th to 20th February 2023, and is open to everyone, regardless of age or experience. In 2022 GBBC, India stood second in terms of the number of checklists uploaded, behind the United States, and third in terms of the number of species reported, behind Colombia and Ecuador.

About CBC:
Campuses are expected to take part in the sister event Campus Bird Count – CBC, an effort to monitor birds that make their home on educational and institutional campuses. Outside protected areas such as
national parks and wildlife sanctuaries such habitats are becoming increasingly important for our wildlife. Students and teachers from over 100 campuses across India register for this event every year.
In India, the GBBC is coordinated by Bird Count India, an umbrella group of a large number of birding, nature, and conservation organizations.

From Sikkim, the Bird Count India’s GBBC state coordinator is Mr. Dibyendu Ash; who had been conducting bird walks and bird awareness programs across north-east India for the last 12 years. Dibyendu Ash is the founder of GoingWild LLP (a nature wildlife tour operator from Kolkata, since 2012), a full-time bird guide of Sikkim Birds (A commercial venture to conduct bird-watching tours in Sikkim); an active member of BWS (Birdwatchers’ Society), an active member of BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) and volunteer member of HEAL (Human Nature Alliance League).

Further details of which are available at https://www.sikkimbirds.com/post/great-backyard-bird-countsikkim-february-2023 and https://birdcount.in/event/gbbc/. The basic activity is to list all bird species
seen/ heard at a particular location over a period of 15 minutes or more, at any time during the four days, and upload the list to the bird recording platform eBird www.ebird.org/india. This can be repeated as often as possible. More information about the GBBC, Campus Bird Count, and other associated events in India can be found at www.birdcount.in. The Global GBBC is organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society in the USA.

About Sikkim Birds:
Sikkim Birds was founded by a lady entrepreneur of Sikkim – Mrs. Nisha Sharma Dhungel to provide logistics specializing in Bird Watching Tour conduction. Apart from the commercial venture, a part of the profit is used to philanthropic activities like forest surveys, and wildlife awareness drives in the state. For the past four years since 2019, GBBC is partly sponsored by this organization. Read about Sikkim Birds at www.sikkimbirds.com

About Bird Count India:
Bird Count India is a consortium of organizations and groups working together to increase our collective knowledge about bird distributions and populations. The partnership conducts periodic bird-related
events and activities offer support and resources to birding groups for conducting their own events and provide information on bird monitoring. Read about Bird Count India at www.birdcount.in

After Event Synopsis:

Program:
The program consisted of a seminar presentation amongst 80+ participating students and a short 30-minute bird walk nearby Malling village, Mangan. The bird walks took 30 minutes in the above-mentioned areas and the bird talk seminar was nearly an hour. The interaction with participants made the 4th day of GBBC in North Sikkim very much worthwhile. The event ended with the certificate distribution among the participants.

The Bird List:
Bird lists from the bird walk around Govt. Senior Secondary School, Mangan:

1. https://ebird.org/checklist/S128521700

Bird lists from Malling Village and Lagyap Dara from the morning birding sessions:

1. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129057772
2. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129049464
3. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129057721
4. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129057683
5. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129064241
6. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129066907
7. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129068536

Bird lists from Malling Village and Lagyap Dara from the afternoon birding sessions:

1. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129078321
2. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129080849
3. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129080788
4. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129082812
5. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129085302
6. https://ebird.org/checklist/S129088708

Image Gallery:

With the students from the bird walk session at Malling Village, Mangan


Bird talk and interaction with the students by Mr. Dibyendu Ash as State Coordinator of Sikkim

With all the participating students in the foreground of the school campus

The list of participants presented from Bird Talk & Bird Walk:
Present with Principal of the Govt. Senior Secondary School Mr. Karma Tempo

Contact:
Email: info@sikkimbirds.com 
Web: www.sikkimbirds.com
WhatsApp: 9681417974 / 7003389381