Sunshine01999609549
17 Mar 2025
absolutely fantastic trip! went out early in the morning to a lake outside of chennai and walked around with out tour guide for ~2,5h. he was very friendly and knowledgeable, answering all our questions. we were a group of mixed birding-levels but all had fun. bee-eaters, kingfishers, storks, herons and a variety of smaller birds were great to spot. booked the extra cab option and our driver was reliable and nice. definitely recommend this option as far-away places can be a burden to get to/away from. 10/10 would do again
I was able to book Subbu on short notice the day before I flew over to India for a last minute work trip. (But certainly avoid last minute because he is working through an agency so there is coordination/confirmation lead times). After working through some logistics via WhatsApp we met at a nearby pick-up downtown spot and he directed my driver to a local spot on “the great salt lake” as Google calls it south of the city with better air, less noise, and more birds! We saw so many great birds - bee-eaters(green & blue), king fishers(blue, pied, white-throated), lapwing, Indian spotted duck, open bill stork, pond heron, hoopoe, crow (jungle, common), ring eyed plover, sand piper, jacana, munias, barn swallows, ibis, avocet (downtown marsh), bush chat, spotted dove, clamorous reed warbler, ashy prinia, yellow billed babbler, drongo. Subbu has a passion for acoustics and works for eBird, capturing many of the recordings you might hear on the Merlin app. Great morning out!