Pulicat Lake

Pulicat Lake stretches along the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, about 70 km south of Nellore near the town of Pulicat. The lagoon is separated from the Bay of Bengal by a narrow barrier island and covers around 460 square kilometres, making it the largest bird sanctuary in southern India. Flamingos are the headline attraction, but the lake also hosts large populations of pelicans, spoonbills, painted storks, and rare species including the grey pelican.

The best approach is to hire a boat at Pulicat town for a lake tour — boatmen operate informally from the waterfront and prices are negotiable. The Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary is under the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department; the southern half of the lake falls in Tamil Nadu. October to March is the best window for flamingo sightings. The drive from Nellore takes about 90 minutes.

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A story
Pulicat Lake is the second-largest brackish lagoon in India and one of the most important flamingo habitats on the subcontinent. Between October and March, greater flamingos arrive in the thousands from their breeding grounds in the Rann of Kutch — a journey of over 1,500 km — to winter on the shallow, mineral-rich lagoon. The birds are visible from the road and from boats, standing in dense pink masses on sandbars that seem to shift and ripple when they take flight.