October month is very special for all Chennaiites, that’s when we get our first rains and it also happens to mark the beginning of the birding season. We, at Photostrophe decided to explore the migrant and resident populations of various species of birds in and around Chennai. And Siruthavur was the first place which we explored.
Siruthavur Lake is a rain-fed fresh water lake used for irrigation and fishing and is famous for the fresh water ducks such as Eurasian wigeon and Cotton Pygmy Goose, over 70 resident and migratory bird species have been spotted there.
A group of seven members gathered near adyar and started to Siruthavur around 5:30 am. It was an hour’s journey with a couple of stops in between. On our way to Siruthavur, we halted a couple of times to click few pictures of the mesmerizing sunrise. A flock of mynahs and robins welcomed us when we reached Siruthavur. With all our gears at hand we started walking around the lake that’s when we spotted different kinds of birds starting from green bee eaters, few types of kingfishers (blue kingfisher, White breasted King and pied kingfishers), Indian Roller, black drongo, White-browed wagtail. It was an interesting and informative session for me, since I was totally new to birding and thoroughly enjoyed capturing pictures of these birds. This session was followed by few macros shots of different types of dragonflies, butterflies, damselflies, frogs and tadpoles. We also got to see a dead snake near the lake, which died due to the strangulation of fishing net.
While we were discussing about the different places for bird watching in Chennai, someone mentioned about the Kelambakkam Marsh. On hearing this we immediately decided to visit that place on our way back. Once we reached the Kelmbakkam marsh we got see a number Kingfishers, Herons, Painted Storks and Pelicans. After spending an hour at the marsh, we decided to leave since it became too sunny.
Overall, it was quite a unique and enjoyable experience for us.
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