A shikra

A Darter Hunts

Pictures taken earlier this year at Vedanthangal bird sanctuary.

Roller on Nandi

A blue jay/Indian Roller sits on a Nandi. Picture taken at the Big Temple - Brihadiswara Temple -- in Thanjavur.

Cormorant takes off

A vedanthangal scene

Shovellers

A pair shovellers at Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary.

VEDANTHANGAL OFF SEASON

A few days back I landed up at the Vedanthangal bird sanctuary - not really the season to visit the place. But without the usual weekend crowds it is quite except for the sound of birds calling, the rustle of wings fluttering...

Here a flock of painted stork chicks seem to be taking their flying lessons...

A couple relax...A spotted owl - I think we disturbed this guys sleep

Lost in admiration

A red vented bulbul - is it just admiring itself or wondering how to free the one trapped in the glass cage... Picture taken at Coorg last week. This guy would turn up in the mornings and peck away at its reflection in the car window or just sit and stare for minutes together before getting tired and fluttering away.

Pelican again

Flamingoes at Pulicat

After days of going through the FZ18's manual, I thought it was time to try it out in the field -- last Sunday my friends and I landed up at the Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary, near Sullurpeta.
Before getting into the sanctuary we had decided to check out the Shar Road (the road leading to Shriharikota) because the best time to sight flamingoes here is early in the morning before the traffic starts.
That was not to be -- we planned to leave Chennai by about 5.30 in the morning to be on Shar Road, about a 100 km from here by about 7.00. We were about an hour behind schedule even before we started. By the time we reached Sullurpeta the flamingoes had retreated and were a distant white patch on the horizon. We noticed a group of fishermen with their fishing boats by the roadside. Pretty lucky for us and quite unusual -- I have never seen boats by the roadside in this place. It just took us a moment to decide to go out on the boat. We asked the fisherman, and for four hundred rupees, he agreed to take us out to the birds or at least as near as they will allow us to come.
The sun was pretty high in the sky and there was quite a glare, the water vapour lifting off the surface of the backwaters added to the haze. But the Lumix FZ18 with its 504 mm reach -- with extended zoom I think it goes up to 700mm (not sure) -- was great. The images needed a bit of tweaking on photoshop to bring out the contrast and colour. Here are the results.

These birds just would not let us anywhere within a couple of hundred metres. They would just stride away from us as the boat neared them and moments later they would take off in a flurry of wings. There must of been a few thousands of these flamingoes and it was a sight none of us will ever forget.
All these pics were shot at the full extension of the FZ18's reach.

This was the closest we came, I thing these three guys below were about 100 metres

A pelican at the Nelapattu bird sanctuary.

Serpent Eagle at Kaziranga

A serpent eagle at Kaziranga, Assam.
I think I used a tamron 200-400 mm lens at full extension to take this pic. (I was at Kaziranga earlier this year - check out the pics in the wildlife category). Then I cropped the picture to get the bird full frame. Never really expected to get even this result - bird almost merged with the brown background, low light. But it was the first day of the trip into the sanctuary and I could not resist exposing a few frames. Glad I did it.

Panan-g-kadai

I took this picture a few months back on the outskirts of Tiruchi. I was travelling in an autorickshaw when I saw this beautiful pair on a wire. I did not have my long lens with me but decided to use the 210mm anyway. The guy with the grasshopper in his beak was jittery and took off when I tried to get closer.

This post is not just about the pic but the short conversation with the autorickshaw driver that followed.

The auto-driver told me they are known as `panan-g-kadai.'
(Panai: as in `panai maram' (palm tree) and `Kadai' as in quail.)
Then...
Do you like birds, he asked.
Yes, I like to take pictures of birds, I said.
I too like birds. They are very tasty, he said.

Birds in Pallikaranai

City folks... ...and the country cousins.

Actually, these are the same flock of Rosy Pastors taken at Pallikaranai Marsh to the south of Chennai. They were flitting around busily... perching on the tower for a few seconds, flying away to land on the trees only to flit back to the tower moments later. Bird watchers say these are migrants from Europe.

2007

WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Pic: Three drongos at the Pallikaranai Marsh, Chennai.

Birds on a wire. Pic taken near the Nelapattu bird sanctuary, in Andhra, about two hours from Chennai. 

Soaring 

Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary

The following three photos were taken at the Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary earlier this year. It is about a 100 km from Chennai, near Tada in Andhra Pradesh. It is a nice drive/ride on the national highway leading to Kolkata. Or you can catch a train from the suburban station at Central. Its a great way to spend a Sunday -- it does not get as crowded as the Vedanthangal Sanctuary near Chinglepet. The season starts about October-November and it is probably the tail end now.

A Gray Pelican splashes down at the Nelapattu Lake.  

Open Bill Storks at Nelapattu. 

A couple of Open Bill Storks sun themselves at Nelapattu. This was the first time I saw them strike this pose. They just stand their with that solemn look and wings wide open as if welcoming visitors. 

Painted Storks mating. Pic taken a few year back at Vedanthangal. But it was not on a February 14.