The Kashmir countryside is a pretty spectacle these days with several species of birds, local and migratory, thronging the densely leafed trees and chirping in unison in what sounds like a symphony.

Kashmir has truly turned into a paradise on earth, as the state has been rhapsodized in verse and prose. The birds have transformed the countryside with their colourful plumage and song. The warbling of birds like nightingales is attractive to the young and old alike.

"Orioles, cuckoos, swifts, swallows and dozens of other bird species come to Kashmir as summer visitors. They transform the countryside and attract even the most insensitive watcher," said Master Habib, 59, a keen bird watcher.

India's renowned bird watcher, the late Salim Ali, spotted some of the rarest crane species in the state's Ladakh region in the 1970s.

"Till Ali described those crane species, we never knew these birds travelled long distances to come to Kashmir in the summers," said Habib, who lives in Chanduna village of Srinagar district, 26 km from here.

Birds like turtledoves and partridges throng the highlands of Kashmir Valley. For bird watchers and for those who simply love to stroll through the wilderness of the low-lying marshes, the landscape of Kashmir holds endless potential for spotting birds.

"Dabchicks, herons, storks and sometimes the rare Sandhill cranes can be seen these days in our wetland bird reserve," said Habib.

"It is heartening to see some of the winter visitors like the Mallards and the Teals postpone their departure for Central Asia this year. You wouldn't believe it, these so-called winter visitors are breeding in the bird reserves of the valley these days," Habib said.

But Habib revealed that some poachers had been entering the Shallabugh Bird Reserve, close to his village, to shoot the birds.

In the 20th century, a British officer, Sir Walter Lawrence, had dwelt on the avian life of Kashmir in his book "Vale of Kashmir".

Lawrence, in his illustrative details of the local and migratory birds that make Kashmir their summer and winter homes, had written that the state's flora and fauna could well be envied by Scotland and other British Isles.

Currently when India and Pakistan are building bridges of peace between them and laying roads to re-join divided hearts and minds in Jammu and Kashmir, these birds that know no borders are flying freely in the skies, making Kashmir even more magical than it already is.