Place : Pichavaram Forest
Access : Off ECR, while going from Chennai (via Pondicherry). Very scenic road.
Can also be reached through Panruti and Chidambaram, if the NH-45 is preferred. This is easier for visitors from Tambaram and west Chennai.
It is surprisingly well organized, with the Tamil Nadu tourism department realizing the importance of this place. Unfortunately that increases the number of random visitors, but they come hand in hand.
Tip for birders : Take the 'canal route', as they call it, via row boat. Do not go by the motorboat, cause that guarantees no bird sightings! Go slowly by the row boat and you should be surprised by the birdlife of Pichavaram forest. . .
Birds Spotted:
1. Little Stint - 2
2. Temminck's Stint - 4
3. Common Redshank - 2
4. Common Greenshank - 2
5. Whimbrel - 1
6. Little Egret - 5
7. Intermediate Egret - 8
8. Great Egret - 1
9. Pond Heron - 20
10. Little Green Heron - at least 4
11. Black-Crowned Night Heron - 2
12. Lesser Sand Plover - 8
13. Greater Sand Plover - 15
14. Red-Wattled Lapwing - 1
15. Common Sandpiper - 7
16. Green Sandpiper - 8
17. Wood Sandpiper - 2
18. White-Breasted Waterhen - 3
19. Little Green Bee-Eater - 2
20. Ashy Woodswallow - 4
21. Rose-Ringed Parakeet - many
22. Rock Dove - many
23. Laughing Dove - 3
24. Oriental Turtle Dove - 2
25. Eurasian Collared Dove - 1
26. Brahminy Kite - 4
27. Black Kite - 2
28. White-Eyed Buzzard - 1
29. Indian Roller - 2
30. Common Hoopoe - 2
31. Grey Pelican - 4 (on the way - ECR)
32. Black-Winged Stilt - 1
33. Red-Rumped Swallow - 15
34. Barn Swallow - 2
35. House Swift - 4
36. Black Drongo - 25
37. White-Breasted Kingfisher - many
38. Pied Kingfisher - 7
39. Common Kingfisher - 2
40. Little Cormorant - many
41. Indian Cormorant - 4
42. Grey Heron - 6
43. Purple Heron - 1
44. Cattle Egret - many
45. Eurasian Spoonbill - 2
46. Painted Stork - 2
47. Asian Openbill Stork - 3
48. Long-Tailed Shrike - 2
49. Common Crow - many
50. Thick-Billed Crow - many
51. House Sparrow - 7
52. Purple Sunbird - 1
53. Purple-Rumped Sunbird - 6
54. Loten's Sunbird - 1
55. Rufous Treepie - 2
56. Black-Rumped Flameback - 2
57. Oriental Magpie Robin - 1
58. Pied Bushchat - 2
59. Red-Vented Bulbul - many
60. Scaly-Breasted Munia - 6
61. Common Myna - 5
62. Rosy Starling - 4
63. Brahminy Starling - 2
64. Jungle Babbler - 4
65. Yellow-Billed Babbler - 3
66. Oriental Skylark - 1
67. Paddyfield Pipit - 2
This was just a round-up of 2 hours in the Pichavaram mangroves. The forests house 177 species of birds, many of them warblers and secretive species. There are many gulls closer to the coast, which is untouched and cannot be reached by boat. The more difficult to reach, the better for wildlife :)
Overall, an eventful trip with a first-time photograph of a Whimbrel (for me), so that's something to take back from Pichavaram.
Access : Off ECR, while going from Chennai (via Pondicherry). Very scenic road.
Can also be reached through Panruti and Chidambaram, if the NH-45 is preferred. This is easier for visitors from Tambaram and west Chennai.
It is surprisingly well organized, with the Tamil Nadu tourism department realizing the importance of this place. Unfortunately that increases the number of random visitors, but they come hand in hand.
Tip for birders : Take the 'canal route', as they call it, via row boat. Do not go by the motorboat, cause that guarantees no bird sightings! Go slowly by the row boat and you should be surprised by the birdlife of Pichavaram forest. . .
Birds Spotted:
 |
| Common Redshank |
2. Temminck's Stint - 4
3. Common Redshank - 2
4. Common Greenshank - 2
5. Whimbrel - 1
6. Little Egret - 5
7. Intermediate Egret - 8
8. Great Egret - 1
9. Pond Heron - 20
10. Little Green Heron - at least 4
11. Black-Crowned Night Heron - 2
12. Lesser Sand Plover - 8
13. Greater Sand Plover - 15
14. Red-Wattled Lapwing - 1
15. Common Sandpiper - 7
16. Green Sandpiper - 8
17. Wood Sandpiper - 2
 |
| Common Greenshank |
19. Little Green Bee-Eater - 2
20. Ashy Woodswallow - 4
21. Rose-Ringed Parakeet - many
22. Rock Dove - many
23. Laughing Dove - 3
24. Oriental Turtle Dove - 2
25. Eurasian Collared Dove - 1
26. Brahminy Kite - 4
27. Black Kite - 2
28. White-Eyed Buzzard - 1
29. Indian Roller - 2
30. Common Hoopoe - 2
31. Grey Pelican - 4 (on the way - ECR)
32. Black-Winged Stilt - 1
33. Red-Rumped Swallow - 15
34. Barn Swallow - 2
 |
| Eurasian Collared Dove |
36. Black Drongo - 25
37. White-Breasted Kingfisher - many
38. Pied Kingfisher - 7
39. Common Kingfisher - 2
40. Little Cormorant - many
41. Indian Cormorant - 4
42. Grey Heron - 6
43. Purple Heron - 1
44. Cattle Egret - many
45. Eurasian Spoonbill - 2
46. Painted Stork - 2
47. Asian Openbill Stork - 3
48. Long-Tailed Shrike - 2
49. Common Crow - many
50. Thick-Billed Crow - many
51. House Sparrow - 7
52. Purple Sunbird - 1
 |
| Lesser Sand Plover |
54. Loten's Sunbird - 1
55. Rufous Treepie - 2
56. Black-Rumped Flameback - 2
57. Oriental Magpie Robin - 1
58. Pied Bushchat - 2
59. Red-Vented Bulbul - many
60. Scaly-Breasted Munia - 6
61. Common Myna - 5
62. Rosy Starling - 4
63. Brahminy Starling - 2
64. Jungle Babbler - 4
65. Yellow-Billed Babbler - 3
66. Oriental Skylark - 1
67. Paddyfield Pipit - 2
 |
| Common Sandpiper |
 |
| Green Sandpiper |
 |
| Indian Roller |
 |
| Red-Rumped Swallow |
 |
| Whimbrel |
 |
| White-Breasted Kingfisher |
 |
| Pied Kingfisher |
 |
| Little Blue (Common) Kingfisher |
 |
| Little Green (Striated) Heron |
This was just a round-up of 2 hours in the Pichavaram mangroves. The forests house 177 species of birds, many of them warblers and secretive species. There are many gulls closer to the coast, which is untouched and cannot be reached by boat. The more difficult to reach, the better for wildlife :)
Overall, an eventful trip with a first-time photograph of a Whimbrel (for me), so that's something to take back from Pichavaram.
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