The annual bird count conducted in the 1100 sq km vast lake showed about 8.77 lakh birds of 180 species visited Chilika with wildlife personnel spotting at least 17 Goliath Herons, a first time visitor to the water body, Divisional Forest Officer, Chilika Wildlife division, B P Acharya said.
Goliath Heron, also known as Giant Heron, a very large wading bird of the Heron family, was spotted by enumerators in Sundarapur area inside the lake during the annual bird census conducted by wildlife wing of the state forest department.
About 8.83 lakh birds of 167 species had visited the lake last winter.
"It was found during verification that there was no mention of Goliath Heron in the records and experts are of the opinion that it could be a new specie to have visited the lake this winter," the DFO said.
Mallard, a duck specie, also re-visited the lake this time after a gap of several years. About 20 such birds were spotted in Sundarapur area, he said.
