Galibore - Dec 2014

Found ourselves in Galibore yet again. The highlight of this trip was spotting the winter visitors, the Indian Pitta and the European Bee-eater.
296. Indian Pitta (Pitta brachyura)
I had last seen the Pitta in my Uncle's farm, sometime around 2005 (since he sold the property in 2006). It was great to see this bird again. The picture is so poor because he was tucked away in the undergrowth and the light was dull.

297. European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)
A winter visitor to this parts (like the Pitta). We found a flock of them taking a sand bath on the jeep track. Unfortunately they flew away before we could stop our vehicle. The photo foiled yet again by poor light.

298. Alexandrine Parakeet (Psittacula eupatria)
Record shot of the Alexandrine Parakeet, once again taken in fading light. Can barely make out the distinguishing red patch on the wing.

299. Tawny Bellied Babbler (Dumetia hyperythra)

300. Lesser Fishing Eagle (Ichthyophaga humilis)
When I started this blog I aimed to photograph 500 birds in 5 yrs. I'm more than a year behind and nearly 200 short, but it still feels good to reach this milestone. And what a bird to have at no. 300!

69. Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus)
A juvenile Brahminy Kite in flight.

Coming up in the next edition, birds from Bharatpur. Looking forward to my first visit there in winter.

Galibore - Sep 2014

293. Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)
There was a time when I used to spot a pair of Egyptian Vultures, routinely, from my office building on M.G. Road. There was a pair that I used to spot a pair (probably the same one I saw on M.G?) by a storm water drain near Domlur as recently as 6 years ago. Their regular occurrence in the harshest of urban environments made me believe this was a hardy species. Was sad to learn that their numbers have been decreasing at 35% YoY in parts of India. This one in the photograph was sitting on a dried lake bed near Kanakpura.
(Replaced by a picture taken on the way to Bharatpur in Jan 2015)

294. White-bellied Drongo (Dicrurus caerulescens)
I had wrongly identified this as the Ashy Drongo. This bird is actually the White-bellied Drongo.

295. Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker ( Dendrocopos nanus)
Another poor-quality picture. This was the first time I even got a record shot of this bird, though.

88. White-browed Wagtail (Motacilla maderaspatensis)
Surprisingly, I didn't have this common bird on my roster.

222. Yellow-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus malabaricus)

Honorable mention: This is the first time I photographed the yellow-wattled Lapwing in India (the previous one I had shot was from Bundala in Sri Lanka)

Road trip to Central India

These are some of the captures from our trip to Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Pench and Tadoba.

283. Orange-headed Thrush (Geokichla citrina)
Grainy picture because it was shot late in the evening. Hoping to replace it with a better one. The black stripes indicate that this is the cyanotus sub species.

284. Brown Wood Owl (Strix leptogrammica )

One of the earless owls spotted in Pench, MP.

285. Indian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis)

286. Indian Thick-knee or Indian Stone-curlew (Burhinus indicus)

287. Grey Junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii)
One of two Junglefowl species found in the mainland. 

288. Jungle Owlet (Glaucidium radiatum)

289. Lesser Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos javanicus)

290. Little  Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)

291. Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea)
This one was taking a nap on the grasslands.

292. Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus)

Barn Owl

282. Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

I've been spotting barn owls in the park in front of our house for a while now. I've also concluded that there is a fairly healthy population of these birds in Koramangala since I've spotted many individuals in several different locations. Yet photographing these creatures has been a challenge. They usual scoot before I get a chance to bring my camera out, even if I manage to locate them sitting. Today, everything fell in place. This individual not only sat on an empty branch, he waited till I set up my tripod, and even obliged to stay still for the 15 seconds that the shutter remained open.