Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

By 18th centuary local villagers at Chengalpet complained to the collector of Chengalpet Lionel Palace, about the British soldiers shooting the birds. They demanded and obtained a 'Cowle'(a ban on hunting) from the collector to protect the birds. In 1936 the collector officially recognized the lake as a sanctuary. In 1962 it was given the legal status of reserved forest under the Madras Forest Act.Vedanthangal has the reputation of being one of the oldest water bird sanctuaries in India. Records reveal that this sanctuary has been in existence for more than 200 years. Vedanthangal bird sanctuary is located at about 86 km from Chennai. The sanctuary spans across 72 acres of marshy land.

Sun Rise at Vedanthangal

We reached at about 6.30AM and we thought we should be the only one, but I was wrong - we are the late birds and already the place had a many bird photographers ready with ther arsenal and waiting for the birds to wake up or to get a nice frame.

A wide angle view of the sanctuary

Like many say if you want to be a nature photographer and shot birds and animals, you need to have atleast 70-400mm lens, else your not going to get any close-up shorts. But a good photographer will say that you can create a good photographer by just having a good picture framed - and it is all the prespective that matters. (Long story short i didnt have one and these pictures where taken with 70-200 & 18-55mm)

Watch tower to watch birds

Govt has built tower for watching the birds and it is a very good site.

Birds off there nest

Honestly, I dont know the names of the birds but next time. I would atleast do some homework and go there

Lone tree

8AM - I liked this short as the tree had few birds on it

Reflection

I liked this shot just for the reflection on the water.

Ganesh H Shankar - Nature Photographer

This weekend was busy for me, it was two days of activity. Ganesh, who is a nature photographer, who has won many awards and a very nice man who shared his thoughts and knowledge. We had a field workshop as well as sessions with him on post processing and printing techniques. It was an eye opening for me as this is the first time I am doing something like nature photography. http://www.naturelyrics.com/pages/about.html

So the weekend is over and it was time start to apply all the techniques learned this weekend in the coming days.

How to reach Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary: By Car - 85 kms from Chennai. By Bus - reach Chengalpet and from there you get bus to Vedanthangal. Frequency is less! but if your a nature photographer - better go by car and feel safe on your equipment too. Good luck!