Pulicat Lake – 12th Dec, 2002

I was at Pulicat Lake for a day with KN. The drive from Sullurpet to Sriharikota Island in the morning was a sheer delight. Water on both sides and hundreds and hundreds of birds. Any wader expert would have jumped with joy. I saw a flock of several thousand Greater Flamingos! It was breath taking! Painted stork, Spot-billed pelicans, Pintails along with “several species of waders, gulls and terns” were the most noticeable. We were lucky to bump into a small group of about fifteen Blue-tailed Bee-eaters!

In the afternoon we met up with V. Kannan (vaikan@rediffmail.com), a Research Fellow with BNHS at Tada. He is studying the Spot-billed Pelican in the area for the past two years. The boat ride he initiated was invigorating! Many many birds!

Pulicat Lake at Tada is about 50 to 60 kms outside Chennai on NH5 the road leading to Nellore, just as I read in the wonderful book by Krys Kazmierczak and Raj Singh. The Sullurpet turning is a bit further which we reached in about two hours drive from Chennai. It is an exciting place for any bird lover. Three rivers join the lake and the sea rushes in during the monsoon and together they form a huge waterbody with fish fish and more fish!

These are some birds for you from the region…please click on the bird names to view its image...