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. Oblivious to the birds in the distance, my friends and I sat in a circle, chattering away over a picnic lunch. That day trip did not make a birder. I now 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.
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, which are 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 dead 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.
Now, a 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. Meat from medium-sized birds was sold in the area, between 6 pm and 8 pm, to buyers who sought wild fowl. Water birds was 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.
Barring news of this disturbing development, you’ll find all this information and more 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 beautiful prose and the precise details about the natural history of the place could have turned some students into birders and kept most from eating wild fowl. The book is now free to read online, and remains an excellent resource though it has no color photographs. 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.
In truth, 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 – water birds coming home to roost. Krishnan tells us there are some return flights, which you can catch only at dusk. Plus, the lighting makes for better pictures.
On one of my trips, I saw an elderly local woman burst into spontaneous applause at the beauty of it all. Up ahead, with the orange sky as the backdrop, pouch-mouthed pelicans, painted storks, and spoonbills that looked like they are making off with a chemistry lab spatula each – they made one last appearance before retiring for the night, as did a handful of other species. If I were less inhibited, I too would clap my hands in joy every time I see this spectacle. Instead, for a few glorious moments, I simply think to myself – what a wonderful world!
Read here.