Bird walk at pallikaranai marsh land

Cycling group from WCCG Madipakkam and WCCG Navalur chapters jointly organised for a bird watching walk at pallikaranai Eco park situated between the pallikaranai marsh land towards kaiveli and behind the garbage dump yard. The original pallikaranai  marsh lands extended to several kilometres from Velachery to Sholinganallur during my childhood days.

The pallikaranai eco park opens at 6:30 am in the morning and closes at 6:30 in the evening. It is a very nice place for joggers and runners who can carry out the activities without disturbing the birds. The water inside the marsh lands had dried up within forty five days of monsoon activity in the region.

I am very happy that my ride activity resumed in this way. I also got to meet fellow birders who are also cyclists. I reached the park entrance 15 minutes before opening time and got to meet Mr Sudhakar, an avid bird photographer. We exchanged pleasantries and had a chat regarding birding in the area.

Once all the cyclists assembled we parked our cycles and locked together in a combined way to avoid theft. Few months ago during my UK visit I observed a lot of cycle parts and locks on the roadside. On enquiry it was informed that there is rampant cycle theft in UK. They remove the parts and take it with them leaving the lock along with the parts that cannot be removed. In that way India is far better. They steal the whole cycle or they leave it as it is. Things would be different If we have wings like our feathered friends. No vehicles, No pollution, No exploitation.

We were able to spot the following birds during the one hour walk.

1. Swamphen
2. Drongo
3. Medium Egret
4. Small egret
5. Little greb
6. Sandpiper
7. Prinia
8. Pond Heron
9. Stilt
10. Small king fisher
11. Bulbul
12. Kite
13. Ibis
14. Pitpit
15. White throated kingfisher
16. Cormorant
17. Common Myna
18. Coucal

All the pictures were taken by fellow bird watchers. I missed my camera very much. I just watched everyone taking pics of birds. I am eagerly waiting for the next bird watching activity with fellow cyclists.

Thanks for visiting my blog.