Two youngsters from Chennai witness a rare dance of migration by a ‘French ballerina’ at Nemmeli Salt Pans

This is the first sighting of the Demoiselle Crane anywhere in the Chennai Metropolitan Area and the second location in Tamil Nadu where the migratory bird has been documented. The only other records of the bird from Tamil Nadu have come from Vijayanarayanam Tank in Tirunelveli. Naman Bora and Amoggh Chatty found the vagrant bird feeding in the reeds at Nemmeli salt pans on February 28, 2026; the former would return to the spot the next three days and find the bird tenaciously clinging to th...