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Hornbills of Kruger

Southern Ground Hornbill was one of the birds high up on my wish list soon after Kruger plans materialised. Having seen it earlier in Masai Mara a few years ago, the regret of not being able to make any images of this endangered species was was heavy on my mind.

Well into the second half of our maiden drive in Kruger, as the breeze got cooler and the evening light turning everything to gold, we spotted a few black objects on the track as we turned around a bend. A group of ground hornbills were on a stroll!

Seeing our jeep approaching, the hornbills scattered and we were left with only one standing on the track. As the hornbill slowly made it across the track, I made images of the biggest hornbill species in the world.

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Southern Ground Hornbill | Kruger National Park, South Africa

While one hornbill moved away, majority of the group decided to stick by a termite mound. I had the good fortune of taking a picture of a juvenile hornbill too.

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Southern Ground Hornbill (juvenile) | Kruger National Park, South Africa

Other species of hornbills spread across Kruger National Park are the Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill and Red-billed Hornbill. Despite seeing them all over during the game drives, they are difficult subjects to shoot. They flew away as soon as the jeep approached them.

A co-operative southern yellow-billed hornbill was gracious enough to stay put on a branch while I attempted to make images.

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Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill | Kruger National Park, South Africa

The more skittish red-billed hornbill was quite a challenge! Despite all my attempts, I managed a decent record of this species.

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Red-billed Hornbill | Kruger National Park, South Africa

Thus having covered the majestic southern ground hornbill, the pretty yellow-billed and red-billed hornbills, I have managed to get over the deep-seated regrets from the past trip to Kenya.

All images made with Nikon D850 + 200-400 VR 

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Mr. Red

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Mr. Red | Forest Hills Farm and Guesthouse, Mudumalai, Tamil Nadu, India

Soft light shone through the canopy of bamboo as one visitor after another came, made their presence felt, posed for photographs and went about their business (foraging). 

Once the coast was clear, Mr. Red decided it was his turn to show off. The usually intimidated spurfowl walked in cautiously but soon settled himself after scanning the area to make sure no other dominating birds were around. As he posed in the lovely golden light, it allowed me to make a few frames as the red turned to gold. 

A regular visitor to the photography hide, the red spurfowls rarely leave us disappointed. Stay tuned for more. 

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Greater Gold

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Travel and work kept me away from home for a while. Post rains, a lovely sun-lit morning was a welcome sight and I trotted into the hide to entertain my winged visitors.

To test a recently acquired 1.4x TC, I mounted it on the lens and started making images of a white-cheeked barbet nibbling away on a fruit. A woodpecker landed on the dry stump, as I trained my lens onto the woodie and saw that unmistakable red on the head and I knew there was something odd about this woodpecker!

On closer inspection, I realised the wings were fully golden! This was indeed a different woodpecker….the Greater Goldenback Woodpecker!  The woodpecker explored the stump, hopping around and after a minute or so, took off.

Always a great feeling, when a new winged visitor makes an appearance at the hide 🙂

Image shot with: Nikon D750 + 600 f4 VR, 1.4 TC 

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Sattal and Pangot | Birding Havens II

Pangot is a hill station not too far from the popular Nainital. My first visit was in the year 2013, and the first morning I woke up to snow everywhere and a horde of white-throated laughing thrush on a tree outside my room.

Last year, Mahesh and I travelled to Pangot, post Sattal, Munsiyari and Khaliya Top. We stayed in a comfortable guesthouse called Kafal House with friendly and courteous staff and simple tasty food.

At Kafal House, a bird bath and a few perches were set up. Our sessions started at the set-up which attracted common birds like the white-throated laughing thrush, black-headed jay, grey-winged blackbird, rufous-chinned laughing thrush, himalayan bulbul. Other exciting species were the rusty-cheeked scimitar babbler, chestnut-crowned laughing thrush, spot-winged grosbeak, oriental turtle dove to name a few.

Spot-winged Grosbeak (m)
Spot-winged Grosbeak (f)

The plum trees surrounding Kafal House were in full bloom and many russet sparrows were seen perched on these trees. My favourite picture of the sparrow is shared below.

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Amidst all that pink – Russet Sparrow | Kafal House, Pangot, Uttarakhand, India

On another day, we left in the early hours hoping to reach another birding destination called Vinayak which is immensely popular for the cheer pheasant. Barely few kilometers from our lodging house, we bumped into a pair of koklass pheasants. Extremely low light conditions prevented any good photographs.

Our trip to Vinayak for the cheer pheasants was unsuccessful, but it did yield a few landscape photographs. In the picture below, early morning rays kiss the mountain top.

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Early mornings at Vinayak | Uttarakhand, India 

A drive down the road from Kafal House was productive too. A long awaited picture of the verditer flycatcher was finally done.

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Verditer Flycatcher | Pangot, Uttarakhand, India 

Langur! They were everywhere and how does one avoid bumping in to them or seeing them? Here is one photograph when I caught an individual making faces at me.

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Making faces – Grey Langur | Pangot, Uttarkahand, India 

Bad weather on a couple of days did affect birding but it was still an enjoyable trip. I prefer Pangot as a destination to Sattal, simply because it is very picturesque. I long to go there soon!

List of birds photographed in Pangot and neighbouring areas:

White-throated laughing Thrush, Black-headed Jay, Rufous-chinned Laughing Thrush, Streaked-laughing Thrush, Striated Laughing Thrush, Oriental Turtle Dove, Spot-winged Grosbeak, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler, Russet Sparrow, Verditer Flycatcher, Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, Blue Whistling Thrush, Striated Prinia

Equipment: Canon 1D Mark 4 + 500 f4 IS + 1.4 TC 3

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Its raining…babies

It has now passed two years since I set up of the bird photography hide in Forest Hills Farm and Guesthouse with the assistance of friends. Without doubt, it is the Red Spurfowl that attracts most attention and is by far the most popular visitor.

One morning while waiting expectantly for birds to turn up at the hide, the red spurfowl (male) walks in and inspects the surrounding, seconds later the female walks in with three chicks! With the excitement levels already high seeing the spurfowls, it was joyful to see the chicks along with them.

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Red Spurfowl (female) with her young | Forest Hills, Mudumalai, India

A chick poses for a few seconds while the mother, father and other siblings forage for food.

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Standing tall | Red Spurfowl (chick) | Forest Hills, Mudumalai, India

As if the spurfowls with their young were not enough, in walks a Grey Junglefowl (female) with a young one by her side. It was tough deciding which family to shoot!

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Grey Junglefowl (female) and her young one | Forest Hills, Mudumalai, India

The young junglefowl chick strikes a pose before getting down to foraging business.

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Striking a pose | Grey Junglefowl (chick) | Forest Hills, Mudumalai, India

With the activity of the young ones only started, stay tuned for more posts and pictures.

Equipment used: Nikon 600 f4 VR + D750 mounted on Benro GH2 Gimbal head + Manfrotto tripod.  

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The Mighty Steppe

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Steppe Eagle | Almora, Uttarakhand, India (2016)

Many steppe eagles were seen en route to Munsiyari. Despite our eagerness to stop and capture these raptors, the guide suggested we do that on our return to Sattal. As we continued our long drive, quite a few virtual images of this magnificent raptor were imprinted in my mind.

Few days later the opportunity to convert those virtual images to real ones came along. After crossing Almora district, we spotted a few steppe eagles by the roadside. Urging the guide and driver to stop, I fixed a teleconverter to the lens for farther reach. With whatever light that remained of the evening and a cooperative bird, I made a series of images.

An opportunity to shoot the steppe eagle on two of my previous trips to Sattal were wasted due to camera issues. This image was the best of the series and immensely satisfying.

Shot with: Canon 1D Mark IV + 500 f4 IS + 1.4 TC III

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Hungry chap

Crested Serpent Eagle (juvenile) feeding on a snake | Bandipur Tiger Reserve, 2015

As the name suggests, the Crested Serpent Eagle’s favorite prey of course is snakes. This sighting was purely accidental. Having stopped at a waterhole hoping for some animal activity, I scanned the wooded area for the juvenile serpent eagle who had made it his territory.

I was in for a surprise. The serpent killer had a snake between its beak. The eagle took its time with the snake, slowly devoring it and giving us an opportunity to make images. A chance to witness the serpent killer in action, was immensely satisfying.

Shot with: Canon 500 f4 IS + 1D Mark 3

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Christmas Greetings

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As we enter the last week of the year and on the joyous occasion of Christmas, here is one picture of the Plum-headed Parakeet holding a pod of the “flame of the forest” tree as if it were delivering a postcard.

With naturally gifted colors which also  represent the traditional red and green of Christmas, here is wishing all you lovely people out there “Merry Christmas”!

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That bird in Yellow

 

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Yellow-browed Bulbul | Forest Hills Farm and Guesthouse, Mudumalai, India

 

About a year and a half ago, I had set up a bird photography hide on my property. Of the multiple species that visited the perch,  the yellow-browed bulbul was one species I had been praying for.

Many months later, sitting at the hide on one of the lazy mornings, I heard a familiar call. Moments later a pair of Yellow-browed Bulbul landed on a perch. A few fickle minutes of exploring the perches, feeding, a quick dip in the bird bath and off they went.

Immense joy and satisfaction fills me for having the much awaited species as a visitor at my hide 🙂

Shot with Canon 1D Mark 3 + 500 f4 IS – Forest Hills Farm and Guesthouse

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Colour splash on Diwali

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Colour Splash | Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Chiplun, Maharashtra, India

A drive of almost 2000 kms just for this tiny bird seemed like a ludicrous idea when discussed with friends over a cup of coffee. Despite that, five of us decided to go looking for this species in a small village tucked away in Maharashtra after a pit stop at the flower beds of Kaas plateau. Early that morning we were welcomed by the incredibly colourful Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher bringing food for its chicks. As we sat at a safe distance from the nesting site, the male as well as the female kept on the constant supply of skinks, frogs and spiders to feed their young ones.

Shot with Canon 1D Mark IV, 500mm f4 IS + 1.4x TC III mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and Benro Gimbal (GH2) head.