The time to go to Pong Dam for birds is November to March. Every winter the lake fills with ducks and geese from Central Asia and beyond, and in the Forest Department's count in early 2025 there were over 1.5 lakh water birds on it — 90,959 of them bar-headed geese.
Pong is about 60 km from us, south-west down the valley, so it makes a long morning or an easy full day. Here is how to do it: when to go, what you will see, where to watch from, and how to watch without disturbing the birds.
What is Pong Dam?
Pong Dam is the earth-fill dam on the Beas river, and the lake behind it is officially called Maharana Pratap Sagar. Most people here just say Pong. The dam was built in 1975, and the lake spreads across the Dehra, Jawali and Fatehpur side of Kangra district.
The lake was declared a bird sanctuary in 1983, and in 2002 it became a Ramsar site — a wetland of international importance. The district administration puts the count at over 420 species of birds recorded here, water birds and land birds together. You will not see four hundred in a morning. You will see plenty.
Through the winter the water level slowly drops, and it leaves mudflats and wet grassland along the edges. That shallow edge is where a lot of the feeding happens, and it is where you want to be.
What is the best time for birdwatching at Pong Dam?
November to March. The numbers build through December and are at their highest in January and February. That is why the Forest Department does its yearly waterfowl count then, around World Wetlands Day on 2 February. By the end of March most of the birds have gone back north.
Within the day, go early. The first two or three hours after sunrise are the best, when the birds are feeding close to the edge and the light is soft. By midday many of them are resting far out on the water.
Which birds will you see at Pong?
The bird Pong is known for is the bar-headed goose — a pale grey goose with a white head and two black bars across the back of it. They nest on high lakes in Central Asia and fly over the Himalaya to spend the winter here, one of the highest migrations of any bird. In the 2025 count there were 90,959 of them, up from 37,501 in 2023.
Along with them, look out for:
- Northern pintail — a slim duck with a long, pointed tail.
- Common pochard — the male has a chestnut head and a pale grey body.
- Ruddy shelduck — orange-brown and loud, usually in pairs. In Hindi it is the surkhab.
- Eurasian coot — black, with a white bill and forehead, often in big groups on open water.
- Common teal, black stork and cormorants.
- Grebes — the 2025 count also found great crested and black-necked grebes, which do not turn up every year.
And keep looking up. Ospreys and Pallas's fish eagles hunt over the lake in winter.
Where to watch from
Most birdwatchers go to Nagrota Surian, on the north side of the lake. The district's own page points birders to the mudflats and wet grassland around it, and a bird festival for the sanctuary has been held there. Nagrota Surian also has a station on the narrow-gauge Kangra Valley line, if you would like to do part of the way by train.
The Dhameta side, further west, is the other approach to the lake.
How to watch without scaring the birds
These birds are resting and feeding before a long flight back. A flock that keeps getting put up loses energy it needs. So:
- Carry binoculars. Most of the birds are out on the water, and without them you will see dots.
- Keep your distance. Do not walk towards a flock to get closer. When one bird takes off, the whole flock goes.
- Stay quiet. Phones on silent, voices low, no music from the car.
- Wear dull colours — browns, greens, greys. Bright colours moving along the shore are seen from far out.
- Do not feed them, and do not throw anything to make them fly for a photo.
- Leave dead birds alone. Pong has had bird flu scares in some winters. If you see dead birds, do not touch them — tell the forest staff.
- Take your rubbish back with you. This is a sanctuary.
Entry fees
The district's page on the sanctuary says entry fees apply for vehicles and visitors — about a hundred rupees for a car. Rules like these change, so check at the gate or with the forest office before you go.
How to reach Pong Dam from Kangra
Nagrota Surian is about 60 km from us by road. The way goes through Ranital and then Haripur-Guler — the old capital of Guler state, and home of the Guler style of Pahari painting — before it comes down to the lake.
Start early. Tell us the night before and there will be chai and breakfast before you go.
Masrur is about 12 km from Nagrota Surian — the eighth-century temples carved out of a single rock. Birds in the morning and Masrur in the afternoon make a good day. We have written about Masrur in two days in Kangra.
If you come in May or June instead
The birds will have gone, but the lake gives you something else. As the water drops in spring, the Bathu ki Ladi temples come up out of it — a group of old stone temples near Dhameta that stay under water for most of the year. They are usually out from around March to June, and boats go to them from Dhameta and Nagrota Surian. The story told locally is that the Pandavas built them.
Bathu ki Ladi is also about 60 km from us, on the Dhameta side of the lake.
Where to stay
Pong is an easy day out from here, and you are back on the hill by the afternoon. Rooms are ₹999 a night, or ₹1,699 with air conditioning — worth having in January, when the air conditioning works as a heater.
Message us your dates, and tell us if you want an early breakfast. For the rest of the valley's birds, from Dharamshala up to the snowline, read birdwatching around Dharamshala.