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Wetlands and birds: Vedanthangal, Pichavaram, Point Calimere
Wildlife

Wetlands and birds: Vedanthangal, Pichavaram, Point Calimere

நீர்நிலைகளும் பறவைகளும்: வேடந்தாங்கல், பிச்சாவரம், கோடியக்கரை

Four winter days for birders: dawn at Vedanthangal, two nights by the Pichavaram mangroves and the flamingo flats of Point Calimere.

Duration
4 days · 3 nights
Start → end
Chennai → Thanjavur
Pace
Active pace
Best season
November to February, when the migrants and nesting birds are in
Every winter, tens of thousands of waterbirds come to the wetlands of the Tamil coast. Vedanthangal, protected by its villagers for centuries and one of India's oldest bird sanctuaries, fills with nesting painted storks, herons and cormorants; the Pichavaram mangroves are best seen from a kayak at first light; and at Point Calimere (Kodiakkarai) flamingos feed on the tidal flats while blackbuck graze the grasslands behind. Sanctuary walks keep to the public paths with your entry ticket; the guides are birders, not forest staff. Bring binoculars and plan on early starts.

நாள்வாரியாக

Day by day

About 520 km of travel in all

  1. Day 1

    Dawn at Vedanthangal

    • Chennai → Vedanthangal · ~85 km · ~2 h by road

      Leave Chennai by 4 am to be at the lake at first light.

    • Experience · 06:15

      Vedanthangal Dawn Birding Walk

      Vedanthangal

      ₹1,300 per person

    • Vedanthangal → Pichavaram · ~170 km · ~3 h 45 min by road

    • Stay

      Pichavaram Mangrove Homestay

      Pichavaram · 2 nights

      ₹2,200 a night

    ☾ Overnight: Pichavaram

  2. Day 2

    The Pichavaram mangroves

    ☾ Overnight: Pichavaram

  3. Day 3

    South to Point Calimere

    Evening on the beach at Kodiakkarai; tomorrow starts at 6 am.

    • Pichavaram → Kodiakkarai (Point Calimere) · ~150 km · ~3 h 30 min by road

      Through Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam; stay near the sanctuary.

    ☾ Overnight: Kodiakkarai

  4. Day 4

    Flamingos and blackbuck

வரைபடம்

Map of stops

Approximate positions; the dotted line follows the order of the stops, not the roads.

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