November 3 (Part 2) - Chilika Lake and It's Wildlife, The Drive to Puri

We eventually arrive at the Chilika Lake Bird Sanctuary.  

There we boarded boats poled by a single poleman.

Many of the waterways were filled with water hyacinth…

and waterlilies.

Water Hyacinth Bloom

Water Lily

The bird sanctuary is an important habitat and breeding ground for resident, migratory and aquatic birds.  It is the largest wintering ground for migratory birds in the Indian subcontinent with over 150 migratory and resident species of birds.  And we saw quite a few.

Shiny Ibis

Whiskered Terns

Egrets

Blue Heron

Cormorants

Yellow Bittern

Moorhens

Kingfisher

Black Winged Stilts

and unknown birds.

Frequently we saw both ibis and egrets together. 

There were also some weaver nests but we didn’t see any weaver birds.

We all had a great time bird watching.

After leaving the bird sanctuary our next stop was Olasingh, a small village...

where the local people specialize in making textiles.  We watched weavers and given a tutorial on silk making and dying. 

It was interesting to note that they had a bicycle wheel set up to help with spinning the yarn.

Then we got to look at their finished fabrics.  We didn't buy anything.

Our hotel is right across the road from the beach but we opted not to go down to see the sights.  We are here two nights so we’ll check it out later.