It's been a long that we visited Pong Dam during winters to meet migratory birds and shared few Photo Journey sharing some facts about different species found in this wetland. With time, we realized that all those photo journeys were not able to tell about the volume of migratory birds around this wetland. Now we thought of sharing this Photo Journey which gives some glimpses of millions of birds at Pong Dam Lake.
The very first photograph shows bar headed geese flying in front of snow capped dhauladhar mountain ranges. These birds can be seen in flocks of thousands in number. As you see more photographs, you would be able to imagine the whole scenario in better way. 
Above photograph shows another group of Bar Headed Geese sunning themselves around the shoreline. Isn't it amazing the way these huge birds are sitting on the edge by covering their eyes with their own body.
Ruddy Shelducks are also seen in huge numbers but not as many as we see Bar Headed Geese & cormorants.
There is a specific area around the Pong Dam Lake where thousands or even lacs of cormorants can be seen. It's guessed that cormorants sit around the edges where they they sense higher density of fishes. Different types of cormorants can be seen in same flocks, although these birds are very competitive by nature.
Millions of birds visit Pong Dam Lake during winters, which is main season for migratory birds. Birds from various countries fly to North Indian wetlands during winters and they go back to their own places during the month of feb or March.
Pong Dam lake is Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, which is surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges of Dhauladhar covered with snow. All this makes it a beautiful destination for nature lovers and especially in winters.
Apart from experiencing an amazing bird watching season, this region offers a lot to tourists and nature lovers. Monolithic temples of Masroor are just 25-30 kilometers from Nagrota Surian. Nagrota Surian is the place where Pong is accessible. This small town has two government guest houses to stay - HPPWD & Forest Guest Houses.
It's amazing to sit around the shoreline and see these birds making interesting patterns in the sky. Different types of birds get active during different timings of the day. There are few birds which keep floating in the water till direct sunlight hitting the surface although some love to fly in the sky during sunset.
Nagrota Suriyan is not well connected place in Himachal Pradesh. One can take direct bus from Delhi/Chandigarh to Dehra and from Dehra local buses are available for Nagrota and are quite frequent. Good buses are available till Dehra. All Volvo buses Dharmshala, Palamapur and Baijnath passes through Dehra station and looking can be done from HRTC's online portal.
Nearest railway station to Nagrota Suriyan is Una and one can hire a taxi from Una to Nagrota Suriyan, which will take 2-3 hours.
Over last few years, some of the local NGOs have helped local families to arrange appropriate options to stay for tourists and explorers. These home stays are quite cheap and a good opportunity to learn the local culture & cuisine. As of now, I don't have any recommended home stay option to share, but will try to figure out soon.
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