The Best Little Bird Sanctuary in India
If you went to school in Chennai, chances are you have visited the Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary, some fifty miles south of the city. As an eighth grader, I went there on a school excursion for the first time. Oblivious to the birds in the distance, my friends and I sat in a circle, chattering away over a picnic lunch. That excursion did not make a birder — birding is an interest I picked up later. These days I travel to remote areas to spot rare endemics, but each winter, when I visit the old hometown, I head to Vedanthangal eager for that annual rendezvous with my feathered friends.
What makes Vedanthangal so special?
The small 30-hectare sanctuary begins to teem with life with the onset of the monsoons in October. Rains fill up the large seasonal tank at the heart of which you’ll find thick clumps of Barringtonia trees. At least fourteen species of water birds – cormorants, egrets, storks, darters and herons among them – raise their families on the treetops of the partially submerged grove. The surrounding scrub supplies nest-building material. If a fortress-like setting gives the birds privacy to breed, the flooded “moat” is full of frogs, fish, and insects for ravenous chicks.
All this sets the stage for some easy birding. Because space is tight in this colony, different species of water birds can take up residence on the same tree. Walking along the semi-circular bund, on one side of the tank, you will see a motley bunch of water birds in this rare mixed rookery. Apart from this, there are close to hundred different species of birds in the area, not counting the migrants from afar. Even bar-headed geese, which fly over the Himalayas to escape bitter winters of Central Asia have been spotted here.
Local farmers have always been good hosts to the nesting birds, trusty suppliers of organic fertilizer. Fledglings are known to eat more than their body weight in food each day. After all this feeding, the birds, both parents and chicks, drop guano, right into the tank. Farmers use the enriched water to irrigate their paddy fields nearby.
In the late 1700s, the Collector of Chengalpattu gave these villagers a document assigning the area protected status. Perhaps, they needed this paper to wave at Europeans who showed up during shooting season for an easy haul of birds. There is reason to believe that Vedanthangal has long been a sanctuary for birds, which would make it the oldest in southern India. Was it the goodness of the people or was it the guano which made them want to defend the birds from hunters? It doesn’t matter because it has been a win-win situation for both birds and humans — so far.
All this information and more, you’ll find in a slim book called The Vedanthangal Water Sanctuary for Birds written and illustrated by naturalist M. Krishnan. Issued in 1960, and priced at less than a rupee, it should have found a place in every school library. The lucid prose and the precise details about the natural history of the place could have turned students into birders. The book is now free to read online and remains an excellent resource though it has no color photographs. This is reading before you get to the sanctuary. Don’t let the lack of binoculars or spotting scopes stop you, they can be rented at the sanctuary. If you need to identify a bird, there are painted pictures of several birds, with descriptors, at the site.
The tradition of reciprocity between humans and birds, sadly, appears to be shifting. A national highway brings provides easy access to this once-sleepy village and traditions in the region appear to be changing. A recent study from the National Conservation Foundation indicates that the hunting of water birds has gone up in this district in the last decade. The researchers have identified the markets. The report from scroll.in says: “Meat from medium-sized birds was sold in the area, between 6 pm and 8 pm, to buyers who specifically sought wild fowl. Water birds were featured in the specials for the day at local restaurants. The rest went to cheaper eateries near liquor shops. Most of the hunting was done using locally crafted guns.” The contrast is stark — a sanctuary once defended by villagers now shadowed by commerce that treats its feathered residents as quarry. This makes the future of this sanctuary seem precarious which is all the more reason for you to visit.
Right now all you need to do is show up a good hour or two before sunset in the months of November, December or January, take a leisurely stroll to look for some migrants or colorful locals like the coppersmith barbet, the golden oriole, the Indian Roller, and then wait for the big event of the day –- see the water birds coming home to roost. Krishnan tells us there are some return flights, which you can catch only at dusk. And the lighting makes for better pictures. On one of my recent trips, I saw an elderly local woman burst into spontaneous applause at the beauty of it all. I too felt the urge to clap, but instead stood still, savoring the spectacle.
With the orange sky as the backdrop, pouch-mouthed pelicans, painted storks, and spoonbills that looked like they are gleefully making off with a chemistry lab spatula make an appearance. They looked like excited schoolkids returning home after a fun outing. Soon, they would settle down and turn in for the night. For a few glorious moments, I thought to myself—what a wonderful world!