The Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary:largest pelican habitats in Southeast Asia.

Area occupied- 404square. Kilometers.
Location- Situated around 80kilometers from the city of Chennai in the district of Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.

Chief Attraction- Pelican birds that migrate here each and every year. In Southeast Asia, it is the main habitat of pelican. 

Explore Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary
Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary is a well known bird sanctuary in India and is the favorite spot of migration for pelicans. The sanctuary covers around 40,040 ha of area and is also located near Pulicat Lake, which is also known as the 2nd largest salt lake in India. The time period between October to March is the ideal time to visit the sanctuary. 

Avifauna- The sanctuary holds a large species of birds that include spotted belied pelican, white ibis, spoon bill, open billed stork, night heron, little cormorant, painted stork, babblers, coot, waders, flamingos and many more.

Fauna- Barring birds, the sanctuary is a home to various mammals like slender loris, jackals, spotted deer

Pelican

The bird sanctuary is the breeding ground for birds which migrate seasonally from far off places like Antarctica, U.S.A, and China to name a few  This bird sanctuary is particularly famous for Pelicans

This bird sanctuary is also habitat for fresh water flooded forest tree species. Freshwater swamp forest / trees are found only at Nelapattu in India. The fresh water flooded forest tree at Nelapattu is Barringtonia acutangula (Hijal). This tree also grows in uplands but the tree species available at Nelapattu is suitable to grow in flooded conditions lasting for 5 to 7 months at a stretch. The saplings can survive total submergence during the long duration of flooding.

    The Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary is one of the largest pelican habitats in Southeast Asia. 

ACCESSIBILITY: 23 Kms. by road from Sullurpet railway station; 80 Kms. by road from Chennai on Chennai-Kolkata road (N.H.5). Nearest Airport – Chennai.
ACCOMMODATION: Inspection bungalow at Sullurpet.

A pleasant evening in Nelapattu 

The fresh water flooded forest tree at Nelapattu

 Birds on Barringtonia acutangula (Hijal ) trees

Wildlife 

The area is a very good palce to see birds like Open Bill Stork, Coot, Night Heron, Pelicans, Flamingos, Babblers and several species of warblers. It is also a good place to see waders.

For the love of God...

Pictures:Nani (www.southexplored.com)
Camera:Canon 550 D
Data:Wikipedia.org,www.naturesafariindia.com