A time-consuming roadtrip need not necessarily have to always precede a date with seagulls. The ‘T-junction’ can be as near as Bessie. Especially, during this phase of the migratory season.
“From now to May, when you go down the beach, heading north, you will start seeing them more regularly. You do not have to go to Pulicat, even if you are at Besant Nagar beach, you can see the Brown-headed Gull, the Black-headed Gull, the Lesser Black-backed Gull (Heuglin’s Gull), the Pallas’s Gull and Slender-billed Gull. The Brown-headed Gull is common, and others not so common,” says Vikas Madhav Nagarajan, resident of an apartment overlooking the Valmiki Nagar beach.
The space cheek by jowl with Bessie — famously called the Adyar Estuary — has the reputation for being a seagull pitstop.
Heuglin's Gull. Photo: Vikas Madhav Nagarajan
Sections of the shoreline on East Coast Road hold much promise of seagull sightings.
“I always call Mudaliyarkuppam, the ‘southern Pulicat’. There are a lot of similarities. Whatever you get this side you get on that side also. Obviously you will have more at Pulicat, but there are many common stuff. Long-toed Stint, Broad-billed Sandpiper and Lesser Flamingo are known to be sighted in both places. Both areas have the same species of gulls. No difference,” says Vikas, who reviews bird records on the eBird platform.
Slender-billed Gull at Pulicat. Photo: Sundaravel Palanivelu
At Muttukadu, the Brown-headed Gull is known to flock in significant numbers; so is the Hugelin’s Gull. Flocks of gulls are a given. However, if one tended to exaggerate certain minor points of sociability, there can be ranking on this parameter, with the Pallas’ Gull ending up at the bottom.
“The Pallas’s Gull does not come in large, but small flocks. In contrast, the Brown-headed Gull and the Lesser Black-backed Gull are hugely flocking birds. I have seen a flock of 400 Hugelin’s at Idayanthittu and Alamparai,” says Vikas.
Besides the Heuglin’s Gull, there is another subspecies of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, the Steppe Gull which occurs in these parts, but is hugely on the rarer side.
The Brown-headed Gull is known to make inland forays.
“There is the chance of sighting the Brown-headed Gull in any of the large freshwater waterbodies inland. The Hueglin’s Gull like beach-type setups, and as you go further south in Tamil Nadu, and reach places like Point Calimere, you will find it in large flocks in isolated patches of mangroves,” elaborates Vikas.
In their non-breeding finery, black-headed and the brown-headed gulls will have their respective black and brown hoods reduced to dots behind their eyes.
At the fag end of the migratory season, before leaving Chennai for their breeding grounds, some birds slip into their breeding plumage. Ruff with its arresting head-dress is a colourful and extravagant example. The Brown-headed Gull and Black-headed Gull also give a peek into their “dress code” for life away from their wintering grounds.
“Around March , they will start transitioning back to their breeding plumage. I have seen beautiful Black-headed Gulls and Brown-headed Gulls in their breeding plumage in April, when most of them would be in their breeding plumage. You have to be in the right place to find them: Pulicat, Alamparai, Mudaliyarkuppam, Idayanthittu and Adyar Estuary.”
