KENDRAPARA: As many as 70,000 birds of various species were spotted in the Bagagahan heronry during the four-day bird census in the Bhitarkanika National Park recently.

Park DFO Prasan Kumar Behera said high-tech Global Positioning System (GPS) was used for counting and sampling the avian species.

The census was carried out by a team of 15 forest officials and environmentalists.