One more image of Tickell blue flycatcher. You can run behind this bird to get a good image and the bird would still tease you by hoping constantly coupled with its chee..chee..chee call :)

Here is a puff throated babbler or spotted babbler that is more often heard than seen. More of a just a documentary image because of low light and bad shooting conditions at Nandi hills.

While going up Nandi hills saw this huge crested serpent eagle on the road trying to catch up some warmth. On seeing our vehicle he moved on to a side branch. He was so close to the vehicle i could get only a head shot.

Corner of Solace
One of the B&W images from last weekend trip to Nandi hills.

Tickells Blue Flycatcher ( Nandi Hills )
For people who shoot mainly in weekends with limited time window it is mostly opportunistic birding. Though we have some idea of what we want to shoot hardly it works out that way. We go to the spot,scan the area and end up shooting anything that moves in the best possible way with the given circumstances. But once in a while we find birds which are preening or hanging around near their nest so it is possible to predict their behavior which means we can hang around in the same location for better shots. This applies to most birds and over the last weekend the pattern repeated itself with this Tickells blue flycatcher. Initially just saw a fleeing glimpse of this blue colored beauty. The conditions were very bad atleast from a photographic standpoint. Completely misty, the bird was in shade leading to a low shutter, open aperture and high ISO, a sure shot recipe for grainy and blurry image. The male was busy picking up insects and the female was collecting nesting material. Eventually in the middle of all the activity the male decided to move towards partial sunlight giving way to some decent shots.

Orange headed thrush
Made at Nandi hills this weekend. After running around in the thick foliage behind this guy he surprised us by coming in the open for a short while.

Visit to Nandi Hills
Priya and myself had made a trip to Nandi hills along with Deepa, Mohan, Amogh and Jayanth. The highlight of the visit was the black eagle sighting. It is supposed to be a rare eagle and a powerful bird of prey. Hoping to get better shots in future.

Tickell Blue Flycatcher ( Nandi Hills )


Last weekend me and Jaimon went to Nandi hills to shoot Indian pitta. People from INW had seen the pitta near the pond adjacent to nursery. But unfortunately we did not get to see it. It was pretty frustrating in the sense after having driven one way for 90kms to reach there we did not see what we came for. It was not just the pitta alone actually we did not get to see anything at all. Just after entering I took some shots of this guy and some flowerpeckers. Little did I realize those were the only shots I would go back with :(