The Egrets!!! There is not a day when I cannot find even a single Egret in the paddy fields adjacent to our home near the grazing cow. A perfect symbiosis exist between these two species. While the  cow grazes, it disturbs lot of insects like grasshoppers which provide a sumptuous meal for the Cattle Egrets. With white plumage, black slender legs and bright yellow beak, they are a fascinating sight, especially when they are highlighted against a green background!

 

 

These birds don on a gaiety buff for their breeding plumage!

 

 How do you like this punk? :) This one I took from Ranganathittu, Mysore. It was obviously parading for attracting its mate.

 

 

What is photography to me, I don't know. I just know that when I am standing behind the camera, looking at nature's wonderful creatures through the lens, I feel I am at home. Never have I felt bored or irritated for spending hours together to capture a picture. I have been the butt of many a jokes. My husband's uncle used to joke that the neighbourhood people have started sympathising with my husband for he married a loony. It's possible , the thought might have indeed crossed their minds, seeing me standing behind the camera under the scorching sun for hours together. :)
The best time for photography, I should say , is in the early morning or in the evening when the light is golden and  at its best. But I rarely got a chance to go out at that time since duties at home took the priority. So by the time I get out it will half past nine or later. The birds will be there alright, so will be the sun with its harsh light. At first I didn't know how to give minus compensation so that the picture will look better. Thus I have ruined many a frames. :) Then there is this tragedy -  sometimes you will be standing still behind the camera watching some bird or creeping near it taking one step at a time , so as not to scare it off . When the bird is near you and you are about to press the button , you hear this cheery voice saying,  "hello! madam, how do you do? or  what are you doing? or hey, are you taking photo of that bird". The curious neighbours!! And I think I don't have to fill in the rest. The bird will be gone, I will be looking at an empty space and though seething with anger and frustration, I will be forced to turn around , put on a false smile  and answer them in my most polite voice. :) Life!!!

 If you ask me what do I photograph at such a time, I will say, there are birds. There is not a time when they are not active. There will be Egrets, Pond Herons, Lapwings, Wag tails, Pippits, Munias, Drongos to name a few.

This picture of Red wattled Lapwing was taken just before noon, I guess. Lapwing is a curious bird. They make their nests in open fields. If they catch us watching them, they will make sure to take us on a wild goose chase all around the field to protect their nest. :) At first look only thing you notice about this bird is the brown and black colour and ofcourse the red eye and beak. But as you get closer , you will see that their brown feathers are in fact not drab but iridescent. They have various shades of metallic hues in them! Here is a tight portrait of Lapwing.

 

The place I reside is blessed with our winged friends. If you are keen to see them  you can find a variety of birds...... big & small, colourful & pale, chirpy & silent, etc, etc . When I started bird watching & photography, I didn't know the name of most of the birds I saw. I had no idea how to learn their names too. My search to find the name of a bird led to a wonderful site called Trek Nature. In fact, I started taking photography seriously after I started posting  my pictures in this website. My pictures were average, but there were a few who encouraged me and even gave me tips to improve my skill.  Pankaj, Murali, Satish, Amar, Goutam, Rathika, Ram, Jean.... I have met most of them and I am proud to say that they have become  my dear friends. There are those I have never met like Loot, Anna, Jane, Annick, Alexei, Ivan, Ulla, Lucamarini, Thomas, Rick, Bob , Bayram to name a few. Though we came from different countries, different cultures, different backgrounds, there was one thing common to all of us - our passion for wildlife photography! And it was and is a strong bond that binds us all.

As I said my first experiments with photography happened around my home. I happen to come across an article in a newspaper about Birds and it also lead me to an ornitholo0gist who officially introduced me to the world of birds. He recommended books , the field guides to help me through the identification of birds. If I am stuck, I only had to mail the pictures and he will identify them for me.The acquaintance with him also led me to a field guide, quite good in his profession. I made my first trip to photograph a bird in wild with him. In Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, you will find a bird called Srilankan Frogmouth. It's a nocturnal bird and very elusive. We had to take a small walk until he stopped near a bower of dried leaves and vines. He asked me to wait there and suddenly got on all his fours to crawl into that thicket. After a few minutes he came back grinning saying, yes, there is a pair inside the thicket and I can go and photograph it. I was perplexed how I can achieve the task as the birds I was familiar with always flew off at the slightest disturbance. But my guide sounded confident and I crawled on my hands and knees with my camera around my neck to find these elusive birds. At first I could see nothing but dried leaves and vines. It was very hot and sultry and I was feeling very uncomfortable on my knees inside that thicket. My guide was giving me a  string of instructions to spot the birds and suddenly I spotted them. I would say it was a sight worth going down on your knees. Nature always astonish us with her brush strokes at camouflage. This time, she has excelled herself with these creatures.  This is what I found......

I guess if it was not for the eyes, I would have found it very difficult to spot them. These birds spend day time roosting over some dried twigs or thickets and some times even on solitary branches and sit glued to the spot so as not to attract any attention. The 10 or 15 minutes I spent their taking their pictures and studying them, they didn't even flutter their eyelashes so to speak. But if they are awake, they will watch you , your movements  and it is amazing to see how only their eyeballs move and not even their head. We saw two pairs and a single female that day.

 

These were taken in 2007. Three years back, I was entrusted to provide subject matter for the information boards of Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary.  We were asked to provide pictures also for the same. Our friend Anil Kumar contributed most of the pictures except for  two of them- Black Baza and the Sri Lankan Frogmouth. We had asked the field guides to inform us as soon as they have a sighting of the Frogmouth. By the time we had upgraded our equipment and had a Nikon D3 camera. It's a wonderful tool to shoot at low lights. I and my husband Anil went to take the picture. During summer, the sanctuary remain closed to visitors because of the elephants. Scarcity of water in the forest bring them to the sanctuary. Sometimes these elephants are known to create havoc for the visitors. That day we had to go deep into the sanctuary. The forest guides who were accompanying us was narrating the previous day's events- how there were attacked by a herd of elephants. They had to run for their lives. (Rule no.1 in visiting any forest. You must be a good runner and must know how to climb trees.) They were chased by a tusker and they took refuge under a small bridge. The elephant was not ready to retreat so easily. He stayed there, occasionally groping under the bridge with its trunk. The three of them scared out of their wits and huddled together  praying for it to go. One guide showed us the place were they hid and the tree nearby which was uprooted by the tusker.

I am not ashamed to say that this story and the site took away all my courage. I was so scared that day. Our equipment were heavy and those who have gone deep into the sanctuary knows it is not easy to run over the uneven ground with loose pebbles and rocks.  I still get shivers looking back. I called upon all the Gods I knew to protect us from elephants. That day I really thought was it worth to risk our lives and take the trek for that picture. Luckily, we did come out unscathed and with a beautiful picture. Who is to know the story behind picture of Frogmouth (taken by my husband) on the information board !!

 I am attaching a habitat shot of the frogmouth taken on that day. See how cleverly camouflaged they are with their surroundings!

 

 

 

 

 

I remember the first picture I took. It was of a squirrel, happily munching on something, sitting on the fence post. My husband had a Nikon D70 camera. I was toying around (literally toying around as I knew nothing about photography except aim, focus, click!!!) with the camera , looking for a subject to shoot, then lo! I found this little squirrel. I crept up near it as much as I dare, slowly aimed my camera and clicked. YES!!!! I did it. Well, my model heard the click, gave me a startled look, dropped the grub he was munching on and bolted from the site, which gave me another picture, the one below, before he ran from my sight.

Ofcourse, I know what you are going to say, or how you are going to criticize my picture. It is not sharp, the light is not good....come on, be bold and say it, don't feel bad, because I also know it. or to be precise, I also noticed these short coming as I advanced in the realm of nature photography.

 But boy! wasn't I thrilled when I first saw these pics.  My frames actually had something nice to show. :) Thus started my journey into nature photography.

I will not call myself a good photographer. I would like to describe myself as a LUCKY one. I never learned the intricacies of photography. But Nature did bless me with occasional beautiful visions which I was fortuitous enough to capture with my camera and share it with others.

Like this one. 

After I had two, not so bad, pictures of squirrel to my credit, I became hopeful and started roaming our back yard looking for pictures to shoot.  There was a Papaya tree laden with ripe fruits just opposite to our cowshed. (Naturally, living in a village we do enjoy the bounties it has to offer, one among which is to have our own cow and drink fresh sweet milk!) I saw many birds coming to devour the fruit. At first, my presence in the vicinity happen to disturb them. So I decided to sit on the half wall of the cowshed, partly hidden, and not even blinking my eye so to speak for fear of scaring them away. But soon the birds decided to ignore me and continue with their feast. I saw Myna, the beautiful Tree pie, the colourful Barbet and the spotty female Koel whom everyone seem to fear. I clicked fervently. But the images I took looked like tiny specks on the frame. I was shooting with an AF Nikkor 80-200mm  lens and the tree unfortunately was definitely out of it's reach. I was certainly disappointed. But it was indeed a charming sight to watch their antics. Suddenly I saw something darting in front of my eyes and heard and saw a plunge in the tub placed before me . And , like a water nymph, a Kingfisher rose  to perch on the sides of the tub shaking water off its feathers. I don't know who was surprised more , I or the bird? It looked me in the eye and I stared back transfixed at its flamboyant feathers. I don't know how it happened, but it decided to take me not as a threat and sat there just like that. Can you believe it???  I was too excited. I was seeing a bird at such close proximity (other than crows) for the first time. I wanted to photograph it.  With trembling hands I raised my camera and clicked. It looked at me when it heard the click (that's one problem with animals and birds. They are highly sensitive to sound, especially of camera " clicks" ;( ) but it didn't flew off. I can't explain what I felt then. I ferociously started clicking away and got a few pictures of it with water droplets still clinging on to is feathers and beak. Isn't she a beauty!!!!

There was no looking back after that day. I was hooked to photography and nature!! :)

Nature decides to act in its mysterious ways, I guess. After that incident I and the Kingfisher decided to become friends. I have seen these birds catching small crabs off the paddy fields for their meal. I decided to catch a few  and see whether it will eat it in my presence. The next day, I waited with my feed and after a long wait finally in came the bird and snatched the crab off the floor. For those who say "NO, Way!!!", here's the proof.

 

It was first of the many encounters I had with this bird. It used to appear when I whistle and whenever I am out it will fly in and perch on some twig in my vicinity announcing its presence. May be for a year or two it continued , but later as my schedule became bust and my outings few , we lost touch and faded away just like some of our friendships in real life.

I have one more picture of it which is my favourite. It was after the rains. The light was not good but there was a lot of bird activity outside. I went out with my camera and saw this one perching on a branch and preening. This picture was taken unawares. :)