Pulicat Lake - @AP - near Chennai

[druva]

Last weekend I did a trip to Pulicat lake.. sorry no pics (battery playing spoilsport).. If you want to watch birds - (Pelicans, Storks, Spoonbills..) then this is the place to go. My wife says this is better than Vedanthangal.

Its about 80 km from Chennai just inside AP border.
Route to take is Chennai - NH5 (Kolkatta highway) - Gummidipoondi - Tada - Sulurpet - Pulicat lake.

Chennai to Tada is about 65 km. Sulurpet is about 10 km from there and then you see a circle for Sriharikota. All of this is in NH5 and the road conditions are good. Pulicat is about 5 km from there. Decent roads.

The lake is huge - about 500 acres. Is a good season to visit now with lot of migratory birds. Best time to see - before 9 AM or after 3 PM.. You can kill the in between time by boating.

Also there is a 10 km muddy road to Vepamedu village (island).. I drove about 2 km and returned - as we wanted to take boat ride.

Necessary accessories:
1. Good Binocular - I Had 8x one. Sufficient at prime times. However during the barren times when the birds move deeper into the lake - its not sufficient.

2. Breakfast/ Lunch/ Snacks - nothing looked worthwhile for eating at Sulurpet. Pulicat doesnt have any eatery.

Tips:
0. Best period to visit - December to March. I think peak would be Jan/ Feb.

1. Boat ride - official boat riding is near Tada.. However not worth it. (Atleast it doesnt take anywhere close to birds)

2. On our way from Sulurpet to Pulicat there were some fisherman hauing boats. We took a trip on that - you talk to them nicely.. They take you near to island mounds where there are thousands of birds
Cost: 100- 150 rs (he just asked whatever i can.. seemed to be happy)

3. AP tourism office and Environmental education offices are there. However they spoke only Telegu. You can get tips about where to go for bird watching.

4. Pulicat - SHAR road also has lot of birds. (Didnt explore this fully)


Now that I have been here, if there is a rocket launch @ SHAR - I am definitely going to drive there and watch from Pulicat. Anyone done that?

[TrueDreamer]

Nice one druva. If you have one good camcorder with LCD with Battery Charger in your car, i think you can give a miss to binoculars

[madan80]

cool.. thanks for the direction. the better place in pullicat to go is to the north shore. thats about 100 + kms on the GQ and then beyond SHAR as well.

thanks for the dircetions also.

[druva]

Originally Posted by TrueDreamer

Nice one druva. If you have one good camcorder with LCD with Battery Charger in your car, i think you can give a miss to binoculars

Silly me... guess what? I have a Sony 120x camcorder..
me being SLR fanatic took my Canon EOS!!

Originally Posted by madan80

cool.. thanks for the direction. the better place in pullicat to go is to the north shore. thats about 100 + kms on the GQ and then beyond SHAR as well.

.

can you elaborate GQ? Also do you remember places or landmarks near the 100 km spot? I think I will be doing one more trip before March.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by madan80

cool.. thanks for the direction. the better place in pullicat to go is to the north shore. thats about 100 + kms on the GQ and then beyond SHAR as well.

thanks for the dircetions also.

How does one go to the North bank of Pulicat lake? Does one have to go further on NH5 beyond Sulurpet?

And has anyone gone to the South bank at teh town of Pulicat in TN off Gummidipundi?