Calcutta has a new destination to make friends of the feathered kind.

A 5-acre "mini-marsh" that is home to migratory and other birds and many insects and snakes was opened to the public on Friday. Pakhibitan, as the patch of wetlands has been named, is located within the 480-acre Eco Park in New Town.

It made a promising debut as a bird-watching haven with sightings of black bittern, cinnamon bittern, plaintive cuckoo and striated grassbird. The nature lovers behind the project have also seen a pied cuckoo, a migratory bird, in the area two months back.

"Rajarhat has relatively less concrete than other parts of the city and grasslands, so birds come here naturally. We expect some good sightings," said Arjan Basu Roy of organisation Nature Mates.

A bamboo walkway runs through the wetland patch towards a hide, also made of bamboo, with retractable windows. Among the fauna on view are the damselfly, jumping spider and the buff-striped keelback snake.

"The place is not just for birds. Nature, if left to itself, regenerates and we have many kinds of life forms here," Bonani Kakkar, one of the founders of NGO PUBLIC (People United for Better Living in Calcutta) that has designed Pakhibitan, told a group of visiting students from the nature club of the La Martiniere schools. "There could be a jacana laying its eggs in water hyacinth or a Munia nesting in the reed."

On the way to the hide, a few perches and feeders have been installed to attract birds. "This is not an aviary and we did not want to alter the natural surroundings but we also wanted to do something to attract birds," said Kakkar.

As a kingfisher was spotted, Meghna Banerjee of PUBLIC explained: "The kingfisher sits on the perch, scouts the area and dives into the water for food and the cormorant dries out its wings sitting on the perch."

"The excitement is in being able to spot a bird after waiting for hours or even days," said Suvrajyoti Chatterjee of PUBLIC, who has been associated with the project since its inception.

"The birds that are being spotted might not be uncommon but that is not important.... What is important is that the habitat is protected for even the commoner species so that they do not become uncommon," said veteran birdwatcher Sumit Sen.

The decision to preserve the natural habitat was taken about 18 months ago by the East Calcutta Wetlands Management Authority. Hidco is the project's implementing authority.

Debasish Sen, chairman of Hidco, said the aim was to allow people to enjoy nature as it is.

A bunch of La Martniere schools who turned up on Day One despite partying the night before was doing just that. "We did not sleep and by the time we were done with the year-end celebrations it was time to come here," said Abhyuday Jhunjunwala. His friend, Aryaman Arora, turned up in formals, including a tie, since he did not get time to change after the New Year party.

Some bird watchers, however, expressed apprehension that proliferation of concrete structures around Eco Park in future might drive away birds.