Fledgling birding group in Chennai spreads wings to study habitats and conduct bird censuses

On the greeting of December 7, Birders Tribe (@birderstribe) had not bargained for a science lecture. They had traded a Sunday lie-in for a vertebrate number astatine the Pallikaranai marsh. While their ears were perked up for chirps, they besides heard the hoofs of an unexpected visitor. Not this writer, who was expected to amusement up that greeting astatine the Marsh and conscionable with the fledgling birders group. The impermanent who had arrived unbidden was Kurt Lewis. There was an illustration, an unmistakable exposition of approach-avoidance conflict. The antheral associated with this theory, Kurt Lewis had travel backmost from the dead, dodging the fast-moving postulation connected the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam 200-feet Radial Road and settled down for a concise lecture astir it by the broadside of the road. Greater Chennai Corporation’s monolithic Perungudi dumping gait reared up connected the different broadside of the road. 

The birders were repelled by what had drawn them, approach-avoidance mentation kicking successful for them. Rosy starlings had gathered successful sizeable numbers. There were dozens and dozens of them, perched connected a tiny dormant thistle-tree and skipping astir successful the onshore close nether it. The histrion and the onshore were extracurricular the dumping site. The taxon and its numbers would look bully connected the census sheets. It was Birders Tribe’s archetypal wetland survey. It was besides a large accidental for clicks, a binocular and a camera successful these times being arsenic inseparable arsenic connection pairs. 

At the aforesaid time, the information that the portion of earth, fundamentally the roadside space, was sullied by garbage, bringing the stench of the Perungudi Dump person to the nostrils, rankled. Mounds of world are heaped up from deepening and dredging the earthen canal by the broadside of the roadworthy to facilitate escaped travel of water. Pieces of trash instrumentality to these mounds similar confetti to the coiffures of invitees to a day party. 

An extended gaze

Members of Birders Tribe revealed they did not halt astatine looking astatine birds, but extended the regard to the authorities of the habitats that enactment them. They privation to relation arsenic an advocacy group. There is simply a bid of surveys being lined up.

One of the 2 founders of Birders Tribe, Vignesh V — the different laminitis is Rajeev Vishwakarma — elaborates: “A survey of 5 lakes — Vandalur, Potheri, Nanmangalam, Chitlapakkam and Perumbakkam lakes — is successful the offing, having been scheduled for December 27 (nocturnal survey) and December 28 (diurnal greeting survey). It is being carried retired with the Forest Department’s support. Before that, connected December 21, an consciousness locomotion is being organised astatine the Porur wetland parkland for the families of members, with the peculiar absorption connected educating the children.” Additionally, a model has been reserved for the survey of what is called Sholinganallur marshland, which fundamentally is simply a spit of onshore organically related to the Pallikarani Marsh. Vignesh notes that this planned survey conscionable hovers implicit the calendar and is yet to onshore connected a definite date. 

Wrapping this up, Birders Tribe is simply a young group, and successful birding terms, conscionable “one wintertime old”, arsenic Vignesh says it volition beryllium celebrating its archetypal day successful January 2026. It shows committedness successful presumption of national subject and advocacy, if you origin successful the attraction it takes with its surveys. 

It has drawn up a December 7 travel report, a collation of six eBird lists by members. This information collated by 2 members, K Sujatha and Saptarshi Chatterjee, is up connected eBird — https://ebird.org/tripreport/439989