Caught in Tentacles
Made this at Bannerghata on Sunday. Seemed like an unusual perch for pond heron. Though I had the option to go close decided to step back and include the tree branches which were spreading out like tentacles.

Black shouldered kite
After a long time went for birding to bannerghata forest today morning. Messed up a chance to make some good images of small minivet. Got this one instead. The black shouldered kite itself is relatively common. But what makes this sighting auspicious is the fact that the bird for a change was perched on a tree branch instead of an electric wire where it is usually found seated 99% of the time :)

Yellow Wagtail
This might be a common bird but still quite colorful. This is the female. The male has a olive colored head :)

This is the white browed bulbul. One of the rare instances when this guy decided to come out in open. Usually tends to play hide and seek in the bushes.

Oriental Honey Buzzard
Made a visit to Valley school along with Anush, Deepa and Ashwini. Thanks to Anush's spotting skills saw this beauty perched at a strategic location scanning the terrain below for potential prey. The bird though called Honey buzzard actually feeds on wasps. Their feathers have a chemical deterrent that protects them from wasp attacks.

Flight of painted stork
Since painted stork has higher contrast colors in their beak and body they become good subjects for flight shots since the Auto focus locks well. Looks like the stork is a near threatened species because of habitat loss. About this image myself and jaimon saw a couple of them and tried going near. But they took off before that. Luckily managed to get this flight shot.

Wagtail's World
The blue background seen is the out of focus lake. I was waiting near the dead branches in the lake and a flock of yellow wagtails came by and settled down for a short period of time. To me the blue background gives a poetic feel against which the bird stands out. Birds have some fixed perches. Moment they visit a particular perch they return to the same place after some time. That was true in this case also.

Yellow Billed Babbler
Though this guy appears like he/she is going to take off it actually is not. Babbler's are social birds hanging in groups of six or seven which gives them the name "seven sisters". The babbler was screaming at the top of his voice in addition to fluttering the wings furiously. Looks like this behavior is exhibited to attract attention and improving bonding within the group.

It is a good time to make images after the rain stops since the sky is overcast the colors come out nicely and the overall mood is also pleasant. Additionally birds also come out to dry themselves so even shy birds can be spotted in open after the rain stops. Yesterday it had rained heavily in the evening. Still went ahead towards valley school hoping the rain would stop. Luckily it did stop and was able to make couple of interesting images. One such image is this.

White Browed Bulbul
This guy is a skulker. Does not come out much in open. Since he was wet after rains came out for a brief period of time.


PS: Over the weekend thought about how the images could be classified and based on some thoughts which came up have set up some tags.

Trip to Turahalli
Over the weekend made a trip to turahalli. It is a popular rock climbing spot near kanakapura road. It is also home to the magnificent Great Horned Owl. We saw the owl right after reaching there. I managed to take one image before some drongo's chased of the owl. After that we did not see the owl at all. Some images from the trip.

A documentation shot of the owl. Even for a documentation shot this is very bad. Hopefully should make better portraits of this owl in the future.


Blue Rock Thrush ( Female )
The male is even more colorful than the female. Could not see it though.


Drongo
Looks like the drongo is try to do pole vault :)


Brahminy kite searching for prey

Couple of purple rumped sunbird images from valley school.


The tongue we see here is tubular. Makes it convenient to use this like straw and suck out nectar from flowers :)

Blue Faced Malkoha
Usually dont like to post images made in a clutter. But this guy usually is seen only in clutter and never comes out. Made this image while driving down valley school road. Made a mistake by not waiting for longer time. May be he might have come out again and may be I might have got a better shot also.

Small,colorful and hyperactive bird.

Baya Weaver
Jaimon and myself had driven down valley school road and deep inside we located these weavers. The photo below is that of male and they get this rich yellow plumage during breeding season. These weavers are known for their elaborate nest construction. But what is lesser known is that only the males are involved in building nests and bringing food. The females resides in the nest and takes care of the young ones round the clock.

Green Bee Eater from Valley school road

Sunbird from valley school
Additionally using webalbums freeware consolidated my photos and put up a webpage. See the left side link for the webhome.

Yesterday me and priya had gone towards the valley school. We reached there a bit late in the evening. Last time when we had gone there we did not see anything primarily because every time we saw something we used to park the vehicle and tried to approach the bird. This time using car as hide we tried approaching the bird closely. Looks like birds are not bothered by vehicles. Was able to get some decent shots. This was my favorite of the lot. This pied bush chat was standing on a rock and standing tall ...