Vedanthangal Lake Bird Sanctuary is located in the Kancheepuram district of the state of Tamil Nadu about 75 kilometers from Chennai on the National Highway 45. The area Vedanthangal is dotted with lakes which acts as a feeding ground for the birds.
Vedan means hunter and Thangal means a resting place, hamlet or a village. The area was the favourite hunting place of the landlords at about 300 years ago. The then British Government, in the year 1798, took steps to safeguard the place as a Bird Sanctuary as they realised the ornithological importance of the area. Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary was established only in the year 1858 by the order of the Collector of the then Chengelpet District, now in the Kancheepuram district.
You can reach Vedanthangal within an hour and a half drive from Chennai. This is a home for the migratory birds like Pintail, Garganey, Common sand piper, blue winged teal and grey wagtail. Vedanthangal means resting place for the hunter in the local language Tamil. It is said that mpre than a lakh of birds come here to Vedanthangal every year. The best time to watch the birds are just after the North east monsoons that is from November to February. It would be better for you to be there early in the morning or late afternoon.
There is a watch tower available from where you can see the birds and their nests quite clearly. November to February is the nesting time of these birds. Most of the migrating birds you see here are from Siberia, Australia, Pakistan and Srilanka. Some of the well known birds out of them are Flamingoes, kingfishers. swans, herons, wagtails, egrets, policans and you can also see many more of them.
Vedanthangal trip can be a day's excursion from Chennai. You can stay in any of the hotels in Chennai or Kancheepuram and then drive in the morning. If you want to stay the night there, you can find a rest house of the forest department. A lot of the nature lovers and the bird watchers stay there for weeksa together to watch the birds.
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