Adyar Estuary

We didn't even leave that one-off holiday for Id. A warm Wednesday and we (Saikia and me) cycled straight to Besantnagar Beach and the adjpining Adyar Estuary. Also called Broken Bridge because of a bridge broken in the center which hangs pendulously. . .

Little Cormorant

It was a tepid morning and the winds were gentle - a perfect day for birdwatching. But it was the beauty and picturesque scenery that caught our attention.

Place : Adyar Estuary from Broken Bridge (better to do this from inside the Theosophical Society)

Date : 31 August 2011 (6:00 am)

Access is easy and not far from the beach. So a good birdwatching day can be followed up with a nice swim :)

Now let the pics speak for themselves :

It took us half an hour to get our concentration back onto the birds . . . What a scenery!!!

And once we concentrated it was easy. The 36X camera and the 50X binocs helped us spot a horde of birds. It was not that typical waterbirds day either. . .

We got to see the entire range - right from the Egrets to Drongos and Shikras.

A list of the birds spotted at the Adyar Estuary:

Loten's Sunbird

1. Purple Sunbird (2 male)

2. Loten's Sunbird (1)

3. Little Green Bee-Eater (8)

4. Black Drongo (plenty)

5. Pied Kingfisher (2)

6. White-Breasted Kingfisher (plenty)

7. Little Egret (twenty+)

8. Shikra (1)

9. Little Blue Kingfisher (1)

10. Green Sandpiper (fifty+)

11. Red-Wattled Lapwing (5)

12. Cattle Egret (2)

13. Little Cormorant (3)

14. Rose-Ringed Parakeet (2)

15. Greater Coucal (1)

16. Common Myna (plenty)

17. House Sparrow (plenty)

Little Cormorant

18. Ashy Wren-Warbler (3)

19. Jungle Myna (2)

20. White-Breasted Waterhen (1)

21. Purple Moorhen (1)

22. Black-Crowned Night Heron (2)

23. Pond Heron (3)

24. Grey Heron (1)

25. Chestnut Bittern (2)

26. Plains Prinia (4)

27. Common Moorhen (1)

28. Blue Rock Dove (plenty)

29. House Crow (too many)

30. Thick-Billed Crow (many, but relatively less)

31. Little Grebe (5)

32. Spot-Billed Duck (2)

33. Grey Pelican (1 flying overhead)

34. Indian Treepie (1)

35. Jungle Babbler (5)

36. Golden-Backed Woodpecker (2 on the way back to IITM)

37. Yellow-Billed Babbler (plenty)

38. Cliff Swallow (plenty)

White-Breasted Kingfisher

White-Breasted Waterhen

Little Egret

Ashy Wren-Warbler