Now the chestnut-winged cuckoo has more pit stops in and around Chennai 

A passage migrant in these parts, the species is spotted while it makes its way down the Coromandel Coast towards its wintering habitats further south and in Sri Lanka. This season, it has been sighted in newer spots around the city 

Aravind AM works for habits that have worked for him: He protects them from everyday concerns and fits them into his workaday plans, even amidst overwhelming work schedules. The morning walk is one of those habits, as it has brought him multiple benefits — physical fitness and a fly-in-the-wall engagement with birds, thanks to the binoculars and the telephoto-lens-fitted camera he unfailingly carries with him.

Also a stickler for patch birding, Aravind has always inked the Puzhuthivakkam lake into this walks, irrespective of where in Chennai he resides.

“When I resided in Madippakkam, the lake was a thirty-minute walk away. Now, from Velachery, it is a one-and-a-half-hour walk away.”

Only the distance has changed, not his fascination for the lake.

This faithfulness has been richly rewarded, particularly this birding season. On January 13, he sighted a chestnut-winged cuckoo, a passage migrant in these parts, in the greenery along a bund of the waterbody. It was a first for the lake. This cuckoo is now an integral part of his morning walk.

The bird was found at the Puzhuthivakkam lake on January 13, and has continued to be present in that space to this day.

“The first day, I spent an hour watching the bird; and after that, I knew where exactly I had to wait for it; and when.”