Monday 21 March 2011

Bird Watching in Chennai



Bird Watching in Chennai


What is the first place that comes to your mind when we say Bird Watching in and around Chennai (those that fly mind you)? Vedanthangal or Pulicat Lake, right? A few others will talk about Guindy National Park, Adyar Estuary and Theosophical Society of Madras. Very few also know about the marsh lands in Pallikaranai etc. These are no doubt very good places for watching birds. Most of those do have a good number of visitors from far off places during the migratory season. Even Google brings up these places.

But, is that all we have? Certainly not. Those who are interested to know about the native birds apart from the migratory birds will definitely want to know more. So, that is what Saravanan, (Peter) Prabhu, Prabhu and yours truly were thinking about. We thought of exploring places where we can spot some local birds. That is how we ended up driving along the reserve forest area between Tiruporur and Tirukazhukundram. Though this stretch of land for different purpose, this is the first time I suggested visiting this place for bird watching.
We started today morning at 4:30am and reached the place by around 6:00am after briefly stopping for a couple of times. We treaded slowly in Saravanan’s new Xylo along the route finding path to walk through the forest and click some photographs. One particular place was quite interesting. It was a tried up path of a stream which lead us well into the forest. Though we did not go too far into that route, it was definitely a very good vantage point for spotting birds. Now here is the list of birds that I was able to spot. Please keep in mind that all of us are amateurs in bird watching and except me, the others are coming out for the first time with Bird Watching as the agenda (the ones that fly, of course…)

Indian Robin – Male and Female
Red Vented Bulbul
Red Whiskered Bulbul
Red Vented Bulbul
White Browed Bulbul
Indian Pond Heron
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Indian Roller
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Green Bee Eater
Black Shouldered Kite
Purple Rumped Sunbird
Purple Sunbird
Spotted Dove
Paddy field Pipit
Coppersmith Barbet
Jungle Babbler
Black Drongo
Common Tailor Bird
Greater Coucal (As usual, I was unable to photograph this one)
Grey Francolin (Very alert ones. Did not get a clear picture of this bird)
White Throated Kingfisher (It was interesting to see these chasing the crows from their territory)
There were also some Painted Storks, Open Bill Storks and Pelicans circling around in the sky.

This place is a must see again, just for bird watching. Anyone out there know of any other place around Chennai for Bird Watching?

This is an update and will be updated as and when I explore more. Following are the places where bird watching can be done around Chennai.

Siruthavur Lake

White Browed Bulbul

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice pictures of the birds. The last picture is especially nice!

Shrinidhi Hande said...

Looks interesting, but I'm more interested in photos of XYLO... where is it?

molarbear's posts said...

Nice account. I've not been to Vedanthangal for decades now...and it's nice to read of your exploring less-known areas.

Deepa.

Teamgsquare said...

Wonderful ,liked the roller pic most .

Sharan said...

That was pretty quick writeup Ram.. never thought you would already have a write up on our yesterday's exploration. I too managed to click some good snaps of course not many on birds...Will share it as well on the Picasa see if something can be a part of your write up that can be added on...

Trails of a Traveler said...

@Linda: Thanks

@Nidhi: Sorry, I dont have any photos of the Xylo. Will get one when possible

Trails of a Traveler said...

@Deepa: This will continue. I am planning to explore this place again and thinking of a few more places as well

@Team G SQuare: Thanks,

Ram

Anonymous said...

wow ... thats a big list indeed. who says there are no birds in the city :)

Anonymous said...

i liked the bulbul pic the most!

John Immanual said...

Nice photos Ram,I loved especially the photo of the "White Browed Bulbul" for the lighting and the designer twig on which it is resting..

Trails of a Traveler said...

@Sandeep: You are right. There are birds everywhere, we just need to look for them.

@Joshidaniel: Thanks..

Ram

flowergirl said...

Hi. I've linked your post in the latest IATB here.
http://madraswanderer.blogspot.com/2011/04/few-of-my-favourite-wings-i-and-bird.html

If you would like to contribute to more IATBs, please check out the details. (IATB is 10000birds.com's I and the Bird, bird blogging carnival.)

Gretchen said...

All gorgeous photos! The final one is my favorite. I've never seen one of those in person. Maybe someday?

Trails of a Traveler said...

Thanks Flowergirl and Gretchen

Ram

R Niranjan Das said...

You have a lovely blog. Keep travelling.

http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.com/2011/04/hue.html

Anonymous said...

Nice write up..
Beautiful shots

Trails of a Traveler said...

Thanks Niranjan Das and thrviewfinder..

Ram

பெயர் அவசியமில்லை said...

Nice ones. I am an amateur photographer and I love shooting birds (with my camera, of course). I used to visit Manimangalam lake where many local birds are regularly seen. Another place is, of course, the backwaters near Kelambakkam.

You can see the photos of the birds in my website www.senthil-kumaran.com

Trails of a Traveler said...

Thanks Senthil Kumaran

Ram

Appy said...

Nice pictures Ram. Looking forward to more similar posts.

you can also see my posts at

http://tkclicks.blogspot.in/search/label/Bird%20watching

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