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Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar

Lensman’s delight Greater flamingo at the Pulicat Lake

Beyond question, flamingos are the main attraction at Pulicat. It is said that over 15,000 of them spend the winter months here. And every year at Sullurpet, the Andhra Pradesh Wildlife Division celebrates the arrival of these birds with a grand event. With a dog show, this year’s ‘Flamingo Festival’ (December 28-30) promises to be a lot more different. However, with naturalists going to present papers and discuss why Pulicat Lake deserves to be accorded ‘Ramsar Site’ status, we can rest assured this annual festival has not lost its focus.

Wetlands listed under the Ramsar programme (for details, visit ramsar.org) are supported by a network of international agencies. “The rich bird life at Pulicat Lake should be reason enough to accord the water body ‘Ramsar Site’ status,” says naturalist Murugavel. The second largest lagoon on the Coromandel Coast, Pulicat Lake (the largest, Chilka in Orissa, is a Ramsar Site) supports 150 species of terrestrial and wetland (resident and migratory) birds.

We experience this variety, seeing birds we least expect to – such as whimbrels and Caspian terns. Whimbrels are airborne marathoners capable of flying without a break for over 4,000 kilometres. Birds of the Arctic, they are known to migrate to various parts, including South Asia. They feed on crabs without however restricting themselves to this diet. The whimbrels here must have developed a taste for ‘mud crabs’ (locally known as ‘Pazhaverkadu nandu’) that the Pulicat Lake is famous for.

“The rivulets Swarnamukhi, Kalangi and Arani, which flow into the lagoon, bring ‘mud crabs’. Thirty-four companies are engaged in the export of these crabs, damaging the lake’s bio-diversity,” says Thirunaranan of Nature Trust, a member of the visiting group. Atakanithippa affords great photo opportunities. Flocks of black-winged stilts, sandpipers, painted storks, pelicans, night herons, whiskered Indian terns, great egrets and a few, fearless red-wattled lapwings found on either side of this road keep lensman R.T. Sriram on his toes. A portion of Atakanithippa runs alongside the Kudri tank, a freshwater lake that is now home to huge numbers of pintails, shovellers and gargeny ducks. These migratory birds bring in a different element to the overall picture.

The avifaunal richness of this lagoon and the surrounding area has encouraged local residents a bird-watching club called ‘Sullurpet Bird Lovers Society’ (SBLS). An SBLS member, Raghavendra joins us at Sullurpet. He carries with him a ‘Spotting-Scope’, gifted by Jacobsen, a naturalist from The Netherlands who has a great liking for Pulicat Lake. With guidance from P.J. Sanjeeva Raj, a Chennai-based ecologist committed to protecting the lake by educating people about it, youngsters like Raghavendra have acquired knowledge about the birds in their backyard. Sanjeeva Raj is among those lobbying for ‘Ramsar Site’ status for Pulicat. These naturalists believe until it comes under the Ramsar programme, there will be little improvement in the condition of this lake.

The Pulicat Lake (350 sq.km) has greatly shrunk in size. “It used to be 451 sq.km. Due to heavy silting, it has literally lost ground,” says Thirunaranan.

Murugavel says, “Rapid silting, particularly in the months of November and December, is a major concern. It affects the migration and breeding of fish and, more than that, buries all the bottom habitats, which affects the prey base of the birds. Over harvesting of fish is yet another issue of concern. The fishermen should be made aware of the importance of the fry (small fish) population that is the prey base of large birds and other creatures.

Murugavel points out that real estate activities on the northern side pose a great threat to the ecosystem of Pulicat.

In our enthusiasm to study the Pulicat Lake, we do not lose sight of our main aim – sighting flamingos. We are lucky to see small flocks near the road to Sriharikota. Not satisfied, we decide to try out one more place where they can be watched without telescopes. The Veenadu Island remains top on the list until Annamalai Cheri (south of Pulicat) pops up.

We are in for a big disappointment. The flamingos keep a safe distance because the lagoon is full and comes right up to where the boats are anchored. A local tells us flamingos flock here from mid-January, when the waters will recede. How about celebrating Pongal with the flamingos?

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