Where is the Ruby ( চুনী কোথায়?)

It was already 7:15 a.m. when I reached the place, quite late to find the special guest we were after, as my friend Antonio Dcosta warned me several times, "If you are not there before 8, forget about the Ruby."

Yes, we were after the Ruby, a Siberian Rubythroat. It's a small thumb sized migrant bird with bright red throat, hence the name. As it's visit to our country is limited to winter months only, it is very high in demand among the birders. I have seen this bird only in photos taken by others,so, it was very high on my wishlist. Gomes and Babai were already there, and so was Ratul, along with a hoard of other entusiasts, but they didn't find the bird yet. I can't express my feelings and it was a mixture of joy and sadness, so it must have balanced out...they didnt find it means we still have a chance, and that also means it cannot be found, not that day. Then, where is the Ruby??

We were patiently waiting, while taking snaps of other little birds that demanded our attention, when Antonio arrived at the scene. He didn't bring his camera gears with him as he has seen the Rubythroat umpteen number of times (hats off to him), he was there to help us find the bird. He, then, made some special arrangements as all birders might be familiar with, so, no details here 😉. After waiting for quite some time without any luck, we decided to take a break, and then some movement in the bush caught my eye. A brown little bird with white border around the eyes made an appearance. I grabbed a few quick shots and showed them to the others, it was indeed the Rubythroat, the star has come out to overshadow the 🌞. Others were elated with joy with such a find and went on to a crazy shooting frenzy. I was very happy indeed, for spotting and getting some shots of the bird. Was I happy with the shots? Is anybody, ever? Need to get better shots next time, hopefully there will be a next time. Illegal hunting of these birds must be prevented and their habitat must be protected. Otherwise, nature will be in a state of imbalance. 

This following image will describe the rest of the morning. Enjoy.

the clicking frenzy

my first shot of the Rubythroat

the Star, justifying it's name.

The Major Challenge in Bird Photography

Let's be honest, bird photography is full of challenges, the lighting conditions, the environment, the location, the time and behavior of birds, all are challenges one has to overcome to get a good bird photograph. What makes it great is the background of the final image, most preferable is the Bokeh which means creamy, smooth, melt in your mouth background which makes the bird pop out from the image. Although that can be manipulated in post-processing with softwares, but originally, that smooth bokeh is desirable, but more often than not,it's hard to come by. Other challenges like lighting conditions can be overcome by using higher iso and fill flash but birds dont easily sit on where you want them to sit. They generally sit somewhere in the clutter what we call as busy background.

This otherwise perfect photo of the blue throated blue flycatcher (female) is ruined by the perch it chose to sit on. The wire fencing behind it makes for a bad busy background. The foreground also plays a vital role as it has to be non-invasive and free of distractions.Then again, it all depends on the birds. This following shot of the Asian paradise flycatcher (female) is supposed to be perfect, good light,perfect pose, eye level perch, but the wire fencing between the lens and the bird totally ruined the shot.

Anyways, the challenges and the ways to overcome them calls for adaptation on the part of the photographer, which in turn make them become better at their craft. I am also learning new ways to overcome these challenges. And, you've got to have patience, and a lot of it. Birds will come and sit on the perch you like, but only when they feel like it, other than when they are baited and lured in by food. When they do land on the perch, you've got to be ready.

This brown breasted flycatcher,likes to perch high up or inside leafy areas, and suddenly it was there at the ground level, but the mistake I made was that I forgot to crouch lower and isolate it from the background and create a smooth bokeh. In my defence I can say that I was not expecting it to come down to that place. Still, excuses don't make for better photographs, and I'll definitely try to get better result next time. Until then, keep reading and stay safe.

Tale of the Grassland

Rajarhat is a very famous place among birders and nature photographers in Kolkata and it's outskirts. It is located near the Eco Park. Great pictures taken here flood the social media, and most famous among them is the Red Munia, the Prince of Rajarhat. My wife was more energetic than me, and arranged a visit to that place on a gloomy day. I have never been there before, but, on my first visit, I was rather disappointed,  neither because I didn't find the Prince there, nor lack of adequate light to get good photos, but due to the fact that, people don't care..they simply are too ignorant. These very few remaining grasslands serve as the lungs of this city of joy, but people?? They do their job of littering and spreading garbage everywhere, and they do it quite well actually. My birder friends who are regular visitors there, can identify the spot where little grebes are found. The space between their habitat and the road is full of discarded plastic bottles and other stuff. Discarded bottles are floating in the water, which is supposed to be the habitat of the bitterns. If we don't be proactive about the conservation of these little pockets of greenery, the future is looking quite gloomy, I must say. 

Okay, my first visit didn't have that lasting first impression. Now that I'm done with all the gloom and doom, lets look at the beauty of the place.

 

This beautiful long tailed shrike greeted us upon arrival

Bronze winged zacana busy with business

The road goes straight up to a dead end where these tall reeds are found, which is the habitat of numerous types of birds.

A group of Baya weavers fly by

Gloomy day is not quite good for birds, so lets look at the landscapes. A view from the right side

No pre Durga puja upload is complete without the mandatory Kaash ful

Open billed storks and black crowned night herons have made themselves quite comfortable within the heart of urbanization

Little grebe and chick busy finding food, they were at the far end of the marsh, not good for photographs, so, only habitat type shots

But where are the Munias?????? It looked like, the royals were too busy to grace me with their appearance, and not being so sad, I looked elsewhere to photograph.

 

 

Black drongo sitting on a grazing cow makes for an interesting shot through the grass

This bold little prinia was asking to be photographed

 

It even came to flaunt it's catch, the background is a building

A familiar whistling sound drew my attention towards the reeds and I was some birds flying. It was very hard to identify them but the calls gave them away.

 

A flock of lesser whistling ducks

I was busy photographing the ducks, hoping that they would come a little closer for a detailed shot, but that never happened. Then suddenly some activities caught my eye, and.....they were here..

Tricolored munias, adults on the right, juveniles on the left

The munias were there for a very brief moment, and most that time I looked for a way to get closer to them, but, being unfamiliar to the place, I couldn't, and they had already left. Although not very good of an image, but , It still made me very happy.

I took a few more shots here and there, barn swallows and other birds, that I'll share in the upcoming posts.

Suddenly, my wife drew my attention as the little grebes were now very close to where she was standing. She urged me to run to that place, but, I decided against that. It took a significant amount of time for me to reach there and the grebes were already moving away. Although, I managed to grab a few shots, but they were not as good as I would like them to be. My wife was very disappointed with my lack of enthusiasm to run, and I think she may be right this time.

the good bye shot

The weather turned gloomier by the minute, and the threat of rain was looming, so it was time to say good bye. The first impression of the place was not good enough, but still the grassland managed to charm both of us with it's beauty and all the unexplored mysteries beyond the tall reeds. We will be back for more, very soon.

the last shot of the day

This blog post of mine is not only show the beauty of this place, but also to make people aware that we need be proactive about conservation these places. Urbanization has pushed a lot of species to the brink of extinction, and we need to be very careful about the future. There is still a little time left, so we must use it to device ways that would make the earth a better place for humans, along with other inhabitants. Photographing nature and animals is not merely a way to get applauded in the social media, but also a medium to spread awareness among people that we must preserve what we have, the natural treasures, so that, the future generations can enjoy them for times to come.

Sunday with Sunbirds

 After getting the new Nikon 300mm f4 PF lens, i decided to get out more often. On one fine Sunday morning, I decided to go out and photograph birds at Central Park, SaltLake. A good number of photographers were already present there when I reached, and were shooting at some flowerpeckers on the treetops. I missed those flowerpeckers altogether and saw some sunbirds. They were perching on the tree tops only and were hardly coming down.

male purple sunbird on a stick

typical habitat shot

male sunbird in eclipse plumage, still not ready to come down

As the light brightened and temperature rose, the sunbirds decided to move on, so did we. I have never been inside that park, so I walked around a little and photographed a few more common birds.

pair of bronze winged zacanas, on water hyacinth

pond heron trying to catch fish

After 9 a.m. we had to leave as no photography was allowed after that. We came out and packed our gears, had a little tea and snacks at the nearby stall. We were about to leave, when the sunbirds decided to pay a visit to the nearby bottlebrush tree, just outside the park. The tree was not very high, almost eye level and abundant with flowers. The light was good enough, so, we took out our gears again and got busy....

at first, they kept their distance

a bold individual came out in the open, it was defending it's territory, see the yellow feathers on it's wings?? It shows breeding plumage and asserting dominance

then there was feeding frenzy

the ladies decided to join the party

posing with the flower

deep in thought

 

 

a rose ringed parakeet came to party 

After an hour or so of shooting, I almost filled up my 64 GB card, the light became harsher. The birds left one by one. I packed up my gears and said goodbye to my newly made friends.

Perched

 Birds often have a favorite perch. They are found sitting, for a long time on that particular perch. Often times, when we try to photograph a particular bird, we target the perch beforehand. This particular post relates to a perch, which is favorite to birds of different kinds.This branch in focus is sort of semi circular in shape which is bifurcated and broken at the left hand side of the frame. It is covered with leaves on one side, and the left end is sort of open. Being covered on one side, it gives the birds a sense of security. I never thought about photographing the branch as a whole, but looking through my lightroom catalog, I found that this particular branch is in many photos, so, I decided to highlight that fact. Enjoy the photographs.

Common flameback woodpecker

Red whiskered Bulbul

Red vented Bulbul

Jungle Babbler

Asian Koel (male)

Asian Koel (female)

By the way, all these birds are wild and not baited, they are relatively tolerant of people, hence, come very close.

Parroting : A day with the parakeets

I must say that my favourite place for birding is the rooftop of my in-laws place at Rishra. The pond beside the house attracts all sorts of birds, as well as other animals. A variety of birds can be photographed just by standing at the corner of the roof. The bamboo grove has become green again because of abundant rain this year, but one dry stem stands out from all that greenery, acts as a perch for the birds.

 

Parakeets too, have become regular visitors here, especially during the evening hours. They sometimes roost on the nearby trees. On one such day, I photographed three different species of parakeets from that place.

First, the more common ones, the Indian ringneck or rose ringed parakeets (Scientific name: Psittacula krameri). They were perching on a coconut tree, on the far side of the pond. They are very active and pretty noisy

 

The noisy lot, indian ringnecks

this leafy tree is good for resting. how many can you see??

Flying away. male ringneck

Then there were a pair of Alexandrine parakeets (Scientific name: Psittacula eupatria). They are larger than the ringnecks, and have a distinct red patch on the wings. The male, obviously has ring on the neck.

 

Balancing act, the male alexandrine parakeet trying to balance itself on thin bamboo stems

 

Female on the left, male on right (alexandrine parakeet)

 

Lastly, there were a couple of rose breasted parakeets ( Scientific name: Psittacula alexandri ) feeding on a nearby guava tree. They flew away as soon as I tried to photograph them, only a few flight shots.

 

rose breasted parakeet, probably a male, flying away

 

Hope to see them very soon.