Birds of Goa

Extending my winter vacation in early Jan this year, I was with Sudhir Shivaram's bird photography tour in Goa. The arrangement was at Nature's nest and while the accommodation was basic the birding was fabulous. Pankaj is a very passionate nature enthusiast and his guidance was invaluable.

Day 1 we spent shooting the Blue-eared kingfisher near the Tambdi Surla temple. Needless to say it was a lifer for me.

While shooting the kingfisher there were some distractions nearby...

... and we had a quick glance of the historic temple





Next day we were birding near the Bondla forest and this chestnut -tailed starling was having it's breakfast.

The Malabar region is known for the Malabar Grey hornbill. Here is an extreme closeup and I never knew Hornbills had eyelashes !!

this one  trying to hold on to a dropping fruit.

The purple sunbird was common

and so was the Black-Hooded Oriole.

A Brown Headed barbet

a Pompadour green pigeon which looked well fed and barely moved




We then moved on to another area and did spot a Trogon from far. There was a white bellied blue flycatcher

White-rumped Shama

and a Brown-breasted flycatcher

In the second half we saw the Srilankan Frogmouth

Day 3 we started shooting in the campus of Nature's nest. It is usually a feast time in the morning with a Purple sunbird immersed in nectar and pollen !!

a little spider hunter

and a vernal hanging parrot

Later we went towards the Tambdi Surla temple and got this rare Dark-Fronted Babbler

In the second half we went for a boat ride in Zuari river





and saw the Osprey

a distant ( and not clean) shot of the collared kingfisher

Lots of Brahminy kites

and an Eurasian curlew




On the final day ( Day 4) we were scheduled to catch flights in the afternoon.We started with a few shots of the Thick billed flowerpecker

and the Nilgiri flowerpecker

But we were desperate to catch a glimpse of Malabar Trogon. We could hear their calls but it continued to be elusive. In the meanwhile I got to the see the Brown-breasted Flycatcher

and the Yellow-browed Bulbul

and as luck would have it I heard some frantic summons saying that the trogon has been spotted. The Trogon is a bird that hardly makes a sound and also is very steady. It is difficult to spot because of lack of movement and sound. The Malabar Trogon (female) was right in front of me.

After a few mins we spotted the male..

and ended with spotting a juvenile as well.

What a day to end spotting an entire family of Malabar trogons. With hearftul of content and gratitude we left for our flights from Goa :)



More photos here

Birds of Hyderabad

This is my first field testing of my 600mm F4 lens.  After 6 years of using my 300mm f2.8 I am trying to get used to this monster 😉

What could be a better place to try out the same than a morning trip to Ameenpur lake. I was told Flamingos were flocking in dozens. Though to our disappointment the lake was full to its brim and there were no flamingos.

 We started the morning with a common kingfisher




Ameenpur is the best place to shoot a kingfisher as the reeds are the same height as your tripod. In comparison this was my earlier Common Kingfisher shot from Ameenpur with my 300mm F2.8 couple of years back. Leave it for you to decide which one is better 😊



 Next saw a common coot walk on water..




A greenish warbler



A purple sunbird female









A little cormorant....




and a Grey heron in light


...and in the morning mist



A few more from the Gandipet lake area.

Green Bee-eater




snugged together in a wintry morning



Chasing a bee (may be !!)




Coppersmith barbet



Lesser Whitethroat ( a lifer for me) and a winter visitor to India, not commonly seen in Hyderabad.



Red rumped swallow



Indian Golden Oriole



A visit to Icrisat over the easter weekend was productive.

An Indian darter on a tree



An intermediate egret



Little stints in flight




Indian thick knee or Indian Stone Curlew



A red-naped Ibis