Birding at Siruthavur Lake

Whiskered Tern

Siruthavur Lake is a relatively unknown place for people who are new to bird photography and to Chennai, however this place gets its share of visits by regular Bird watchers and photography enthusiasts. For me it’s a place where I can practice my hobby without warranting any attention from the locals or other people.

Landscape near Siruthavur Lake

Siruthavur Lake is a fresh water lake located off the Tiruporur – Thirukazhikundram road which is roughly 50 kms from Chennai. This water body is primarily used for irrigation of the nearby lands and for fishing.  This lake is surrounded by thorny bushes and shrubs. One side of the lake is having an embankment with gates constructed for the purpose of storing the rain water and using it for irrigational purpose. The boundaries of the lake and the embankment have a lot of vegetation and are home to many birds, insects and other creatures. 

Pied Kingfisher

Common Kingfisher

There are many resident birds in the surroundings of the lake like the Common Kingfisher, White Breasted Kingfisher and Pied Kingfisher. The Eurasian Widgeons flock the lake in the winter months. Also during the winter months the lake is full of waders like Painted Stork, Open Bill Stork, Eurasian Spoonbill, Black Headed Ibis and Pelicans etc. 

Tern

Hovering Tern

This place also provides lot of opportunity for macro photography as the vegetation supports different types of Butterflies, Dragonflies, Bees, Golden Tortoise Beetle and other small forms of life.  The land on the either side of the Tiruporur – Thirukazhikundram road is also rich in birds and insects and is marked as reserve forest. The vegetation here is mainly thorny bushes, shrubs and small trees. These bushes serve as a nesting place for several land dwelling birds like Pied Bush Chat, Ashy Crowned Sparrow – Lark and Paddy field Pipit. One can even find these birds on the roads when there are no vehicles.

Lime Swallowtail or Small Citrus Swallowtail 

Golden Tortoise Beetle

The place is yet to be affected by urbanisation, but the place is vulnerable for poaching due to its isolated location. A few incidents of poaching were reported in the newspapers and blogs. In one of the incidents, the forest guards were even able to arrest the poachers based on the information provided by an alert bird watcher.

Tiruporur - Thirukazhikundram Road

To reach Siruthavur Lake, one has to take the OMR road to reach Thiruporur, continue on the OMR after passing the Thiruporur bus stand and take a right turn towards Chengalpattu road. When you have driven roughly a kilometre, there will be a left deviation which is the Tiruporur – Thirukazhikundram road. Another one and a half kilometre, the lake will be on the right side. It is not visible from the road, but can ask for directions.

Female - Common Picture Wing Dragonfly 

Unexpected Visitors in Pallikaranai

A lot of buzzzz is going on over the sightings of Flamingos in Pallikaranai. Yes, a colony of  Flamingos have arrived some time ago in Pallikaranai marshlands and experts say that around 300 plus birds might be there. Bird watchers and photography enthusiasts are making weekly trips to the marshland, which they rarely visit during this time of the year.

 

Flamingos flock in Pallikaranai marsh

In my last post, I had mentioned that I will be writing about Siruthavur Lake, but this sudden increased activity in Pallikaranai made me change my post. Just glancing at the swamps has become a habit for me, whenever I drive through the Thuraipakkam – Pallavaram road. On Saturday afternoon when I was going that way, a single file of some 15 – 20 white birds standing at the centre of the swamp caught my attention. I was not able to identify the bird immediately as my mind could not relate flamingo as a bird which can be seen in Pallikaranai. I stopped my vehicle and crossed into the fencing. As the sun was glaring and the birds were totally white, it took me sometime to convince myself that those birds were flamingos. That night I went through the net and came across many articles about the sighting of Flamingos in pallikaranai.

Next day was a Sunday; I reached the marsh at around 5.45 in the morning with my camera. Crossed into the fencing and stood in a place where there were no trees. Unfortunately during my last trip to Kelambakkam backwaters the quick release plate of my cheap tripod broke due to the excess weight of my Sigma 120 – 400 lens, so I had to take all the photos handheld. Also there were some other winged friends as usual; A Red-wattled Lapwing was busy chasing a dog to protect its nest and an Oriental Ibis making a landing.

Red-wattled Lapwing

I always wanted to visit Pulicat during the flamingo season but never got the right company and opportunity. May not be very good pictures but after all “been there and done that”

Oriental Ibis or Black headed Ibis making a landing

My tryst with bird photography

I had this idea of starting my own blog from a long time. Even I actually started a blog twice and ended up deleting it without writing a single post. Finally after going through many blogs about how to write one I am writing my first post.

The basic purpose is to share the joy, information and experiences which I have come across, while pursuing my hobbies of photography and travelling. Of course I am not very experienced in photography, it just started some 2 years back.

A Painted stork in Pallikaranai

When one thinks of birding near Chennai, the usual places which come to their mind are Guindy national park, IIT campus, Theosophical society, Vedanthangal bird sanctuary and Adyar poonga. But there are few lesser known places in and around Chennai which are supporting a good population of resident and migratory birds. Following are some of the places which are in and around Chennai which are good for bird watching and photography

• Pallikaranai marshlands

• Siruthavur lake and nearby reserve forest

• Madurantakam lake

• Kelambakkam backwaters

• Muttukadu backwaters (behind Taj Vivanta)

• Nanamangalam reserve forest

• Pulicat lake

As a resident of Pallikaranai, it is my first preference for birding. Pallikaranai marshland is a large fresh water swamp. The main birding places are the swamps on either side of the Pallavaram – Thuraipakkam road and the cattle grazing fields in the interiors of Pallikaranai.

Purple Swamphen

Painted stork in its nest

The swamps on the Thuraipakkam roads attract thousands of migratory birds during the winter months. The vegetation surrounding these swamps is the breeding ground for a large population of painted storks, pelicans, moorhens, etc. These swamps are protected area and are under the forest department. The forest department in a move to protect this marshland from encroachment started a fencing project, however the fencing is incomplete. The best place for bird watching is the stretch located on either side of Pallavaram – Thuraipakkam road. But one must be careful as the swamp is not only home for birds it is also home for lot of poisonous snakes.

The other good place for watching smaller land dwelling birds is the cattle grazing fields in the interiors of Pallikaranai. These fields border the swamps and extend into the residential area. The field is covered with grass and some shrubs during the winter months. The shrubs are home to small birds like Sunbirds, Red vented bulbul, Pied Cuckoos etc.

Green Bee Eater in the grazing fields

Indian roller in the field

But, In the past few years Pallikaranai marshland is severely polluted due to the excessive dumping of solid waste. Also these marshlands are also getting continuously encroached. The number of migratory birds visiting here is decreasing year by year due to water pollution, stench produced by the dumping yard, and the smoke coming from the burning of solid waste in the yard.


In my next post I will be writing about my other favourite birding place Siruthavur Lake.