Friendly Animals

Ghost Crabs

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:16:00 +0000

Genus Ocypode, these are called Ghost crabs of their ability to disappear from sight almost instantly. Their once Claw is generally larger than the other. I had been to Ullal beach, Mangalore where I spotted these small crabs. Finally, it's a break from posting birds in the previous many posts.
They take in oxygen from the water that washes over their gills, hence they need to get frequently washed by the surf.It was a thrilling experience tracking these crabs and getting larger than life images of them.
All images clicked with a 300mm lens; ISO 200; f/5.4 The setting sun provided the warm red tones.

Eurasian Spoonbill

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:47:00 +0000

This photograph was supposed to have been uploaded, in a previous post but due to oversight missed it out. So uploading it today as a new post rather than amend the old one.
Photographed at the Ranganathittu bird sancutary, the crest is acquired by the bird during its breeding season.

Bronze Winged Jacana - Adult

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:31:00 +0000

Today I managed to spot an adult Jacana, it was pretty far from where I was perched, but felt good nevertheless. I will try to get a better shot at the bird soon, but seems like the juveniles are more camera friendly than the adults.
I learnt today that the female Jacana is polyandrous, a very rare breeding system in birds. Hence in this case a female will copulate with multiple males, but lay eggs for only one of them.
Nature truly is amazing, the more I learn about it, the more ignorant I feel.

Bronze Winged Jacana

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 13:08:00 +0000

Its been more than a month since my last post here. I have been busy with my captains exams which I finally got done with, hopefully I can now get back to what I most enjoy doing.
Navi Mumbai is a hot-spot of wading birds, and in one of the swamps I spotted these Juvenile Jacana's (Metopidius indicus). I was surprised at how comfortably they walked with their enormously elongated spider like toes. The widely spreading toes help to distribute the birds weight and helps it to walk along with ease over floating leaves and stems. I could not spot an adult today, may be some other time. I stayed at a far off distance since it appeared to me that the birds were wary of my presence. I seriously felt the lack of a longer lens today or at least waterproof boots to walk in the swamp.

Yellow Legged Gulls

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:39:00 +0000

Continuing from my Previous post. Cant write much in todays post because of severe time crunch on my side. I enjoyed clicking these photographs, hope you enjoy viewing them.

Yellow Legged Gulls

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:09:00 +0000

As we were departing a Greek port, my ship was surrounded by hundreds of gulls. They were trying to catch fish, which were pushed up by the ships wake. Most of the Gulls were these Yellow Legged Gulls (Larus michahellis) and found it a great opportunity to photograph these flying beauties.
Will feature 3 more photographs in the next post too.These birds were formerly considered a part of the Herring gull family and they do look similar to Herring Gulls. Adults have darker grey backs and wings than herring gulls and have more black in the wing tips than herring gulls.

Siberian Stonechat

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:30:00 +0000

In January I had featured a Female Siberian Stonechat,that had landed on board my ship.Today I was fortunate to encouter the male bird (Saxicola maurus)
Photodetails : 300mm, f/5.4, 1/250 sec, ISO-100

Little Ringed Plover

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:30:00 +0000

Off the Palm Beach road in Navi Mumbai is a marshy pond, where I spotted these Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) . The ones featured above are adults during their breeding season. The birds were foraging in the bare soil, hunting insects and flies that were attracted by piles of rubbish that was scattered around.
I Mounted the camera on a tripod and tried focusing on the birds eye, which was the most attractive and contrasting part of its body. Since the bird was small, I had to come down as low the tripod could, to give an appealing angle of view. I feel, photographs of animals shot at their eye level have much more of a 'personal' feel rather than the ones shot from a higher view.

Photo details : 300mm, f/5.4, 1/320 sec, ISO-200

Gull Billed Tern

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:41:00 +0000

The Gull Billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica) generally prefers a salt water habitat, but I spotted these at 'Sarovar Vihar' a fresh water lake at Navi Mumbai. The bird is pretty versatile when it comes to its diet. The bird acquires a black cap during its breeding season and the ones I spotted were non-breeding adults.
Since my exam preparations are in full swing, my posts are getting smaller; its a matter of one month now.
Photo: f/5.6, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200

Jungle Prinia

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:44:00 +0000

I perched myself on a small rock and used my hands as a makeshift tripod and waited. This Jungle Prinia (Prinia sylvatica) soon landed on a branch. Sun was setting low and I had to boost my ISO to 400 to get a reasonably fast speed of 1/320 sec.
After about 5 minutes later a dog came running into the field where I was waiting and suddenly, I realised that there was not one about about three hundred of these Prinia's well camouflaged in the field. They all flew into the sky creating a momentary eclipse, never had 300 birds come rushing onto me. Its was a thrilling experience and will surely visit the spot soon, for another dose.

Pied Starling

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:44:00 +0000

f/5.4 , ISO 400 , 1/320 sec

f/5.4 , ISO 100 , 1/640 sec

Spotted these colourful Pied Starlings (Gracupica contra) around the Palm Beach road in Navi Mumbai. This noisy, colourful and hyper active group of birds were all around me. This bird also called the Pied Myna, is found all around India and especially around human habitations and wetlands.
The images above were clicked with a 300mm lens, and I certainly felt a dire need of a longer lens. Unfortunately Sony is not marketing its 400mm lens in India and its Tele-convertors cannot be used on my 300mm lens. Hence regrettably I have decided to change my camera system and the decision has been fortified after this shooting session. Sony has a lovely camera and lens system, but it seems like it's not meant for wildlife enthusiast and leaves a lot to be desired.

Long Tailed Shrike

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:30:00 +0000

While driving off Vajreshwari in Maharastra, with one eye on the road and other on the power cables, I spotted this Long Tailed Shrike (Lanius schach). Also called the Rufous-backed Shrike the bird was preying on insects in the grassland below.
Since this birds claws are unsuitable for tearing prey, they generally impale the prey on a thorn or similar pointed objects and then tear it for eating. Another race of this bird is also found in India and is commonly referred to as the tricolour race.
This photograph was clicked sitting inside the car and the bird did not mind me one bit, but the moment I got out of the vehicle, it just flew off.

Photo details:
f/5.4 , 1/1000 sec , ISO-100

Whitethroat

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:35:00 +0000

Its been quite some time since I have posted here, my exams and college has not let me do any posting. Completed my Written exams yesterday and they seem to have gone well. I have to prepare for Viva, which is next month and I hope I can post in a few photographs in between.
Digging into the photographs I clicked when onboard, I stumbled across this unusual looking bird.
At first I thought it was a Hume's whitethroat (Sylvia altaea) but reading about the bird I realised that he was out of his habitat range and a bit of research led me to the much common British garden bird Whitethroat (Sylvia communis)
Must have been migrating to Europe from Africa. He was pretty wary of my presence and it was difficult to approach him and its evident in the photograph, that he is pretty tensed about my presence.

Song Thrush

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:40:00 +0000

A popular European garden bird, the Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos ) landed on board off the Mediterranean coast of Africa. This insectivorous bird was probably hopping across the Mediterranean like the birds that have been featured in the previous posts. Like the Lark in my previous post this bird too is in rapid decline especially in the UK
The bird is a great imitator of calls, and can imitate up to 100 calls many of which it learns either from its mother or neighborhood birds. There have been instances of the bird even repeating telephone rings.
The Song Thrush is occasionally a host of parasitic cuckoos, but this is very rare because the thrush recognizes the cuckoo's eggs. The introduced birds in New Zealand, where the cuckoo does not occur, have, over the past 135 years, have still retained the ability to recognise and reject cuckoos eggs.

Photodetails : The photographs were clicked at noon and hence they lack the warm tones of the morning or evening sun. The noon sun also casts some unwanted shadows, especially on the birds face in the second photograph. The bird did not stay until evening and hence probably missed a chance to click some wonderful photographs.
300mm, f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 100

Skylark

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:48:00 +0000

This Skylark ( Alauda arvensis) landed on board off Libya. One of the prominent features of the larks are their crests. Although the bird is pretty common in Europe, its population is seeing a rapid decline today. Skylarks are winter visitors to India and this one was probably migrating to Africa, as winter sets in Europe.
It took me a long time to get a closeup of the bird; all my initial photographs were like the first one. Later as the bird got used to my presence it gave me a bit of leeway and let me come closer to it.

Photodetails : Camera Sony A350
1. 300mm , f/5.6, 1/1600 sec , ISO200
2. 300mm , f/5.6, 1/800 sec , ISO200
3. 300mm , f/5.6, 1/1600 sec , ISO200

European Nightjar

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 04:24:00 +0000

This European Nightjar or Eurasian Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) landed on board when my ship was off Italy and I believe it was migrating towards Africa. This is the only species of Nightjar's found in Europe and can migrate all the way up to cape. This nocturnal bird spends most of the daylight hours roosting on ground amidst camouflaged leaves just like this and is difficult to spot. Fortunately for me there are no leaves on board and the bird had to rest on one of the pipelines. I accidentally spotted it and was delighted at the opportunity. My college schedule is making regular postings a bit difficult, should be on track in about a month.
Photo details: 300mm lens ; f/5.4; 1/400sec ; ISO200; Spot metering .

Common Starling

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:31:00 +0000

This common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) was so busy foraging that it absolutely did not notice me, clicking its photographs. This Starling is a very rare bird in India and my eyes lit up when I saw him. Starlings are very common in temperate countries, especially in Europe. I loved the lustrous metallic coat of the bird. The bird was walking on rubber matting and was picking up insects from deep within the crevices of the mat.I was completely low down on the ground to get the required vantage point and this posture is probably the reason why this bird didn't mind my presence.

P.S.These days I am preparing for my Captain's exams, which will be held in the month of March and April. Hence sorry for the irregular updates.

Long Eared Owl

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:36:00 +0000

Of all the birds, that landed on board, the one that amused me the most was this Long Eared Owl (Asio otus ). It not only let me do a close inspection of its plumage but also didn't mind me spending about 45 minutes close to him. The bird was probably migrating to Africa from Europe or had landed on board chasing scores of tiny birds, like the Chiffchaff and Chats.
Approached the bird slowly, walking on my knees. The bird was waiting for darkness to set in, so that it could go about hunting the scores of tiny birds that had landed on board. I didn't see it hunting though and can only speculate about it.

Photo details:
1. f/5.4 ; 1/4000 sec ; ISO 100 ; 300 mm
all other Images at ISO 400 and f/5.4

Isabelline Wheatear

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:57:00 +0000

Was this bird Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina) named after a soiled underwear? I hope it was not, but and interesting story goes like this. Isabella was the Archduchess of Austria and in 1601 her father Philip II of Spain laid siege to Ostend, which was under the Dutch. A successful siege here would ensure Spanish victory and in a joyous fervor Isabella vowed not to change her intimate undergarments until the city was taken. Unfortunetly for her, the seige ended only in 1604, nearly 3 years after she had taken the vow, leading to this off-colour word for over-worn underwear ( Isabellin colour is described as greyish-yellow colour). I have not idea of the authenticity of this story, but surely tickled my trivial instincts.
This insectivorous bird, landed on board during its migratory journey towards Africa from Asia. Out ship was off the Syrian coast heading towards Italy.

Pied Wheatear - Male

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:09:00 +0000

This migrating Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) landed on board when we were off Libya. It was a very shy bird and very hard to track, our ship was approaching port and I ran short of time to continue tracking the bird. Its really sad, that similar species did not land on board again and missed to photograph a close up, like the way I wanted. This bird like other Wheatears is insectivorous and I'm sure must have relished on the innumerable dragonflies on board.
Hoping to get better photographs, when I meet this bird next, hopefully on land.

Siberian Stonechat

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:30:00 +0000

Above; Male assuming breeding plumage Below: All Females

This Siberian Stonechat or Asian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus) was another winter migrant, that found my ship as a resting spot as they flew across the Mediterranean, destined for Africa.
The bird was difficult to photograph as it was constantly moving and hiding away from me. Finally I managed to locate its favourite, perching spot and waited in ambush to get these closeup's of the female. The male proved to be elusive as ever.
Got my hands on a wonderful book on wildlife photography called "Digital Nature Photography: The Art and the Science by John and Barbara Gerlach" Presently reading it word by word and every page is a treasure trove of knowledge. The author insists on using the histogram during image preview, to decide if an image has been adequately exposed. The 2 inch screen of a camera may be too small to make a good judgment and the image on the screen may be influenced by several other factors, like external light and viewing angle. I found this tip extremely helpful and have been using it since then.

Chiffchaff

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:55:00 +0000

This Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), was one of the many birds that landed on board my ship for rest during their migration to Africa from Europe. This insectivorous bird also got a few tasty dragonflies for snack, when on board. The bird is similar in appearance to a willow warbler, its the song of the bird that helped me to identify it as Chiffchaff, I didn't have any device to record its cry though.
The bird did not mind me coming close to it and hence I managed to get a lot of close up images of this beautiful bird.
Photo info
1; f/5.4 ,1/640 sec ,300mm, ISO 200
2; f/5.4 ,1/320 sec, 300mm, ISO 100
3; f/5.4 ,1/40 sec ,300mm, ISO 100
4; f/5.4 ,1/320 sec,300mm, ISO 100
5; f/5.4 , 1/400sec, 300mm, ISO 100
6; f/5.4,1/320sec,300mm, ISO 100

Northern Wheatear

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:15:00 +0000

This Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)may be a tiny bird, but it makes one of the longest migratory journey for a bird of its size. This bird landed on board, when my ship was en route to Egypt (Mediterranean coast), the bird like its ancestors was on its way to sub Sahara Africa, from Europe. These birds like all their ancestors fly down to Sub Saharan Africa to spend their winter and return back to Europe and central Asia for Autumn. Even birds as far as from Canada and Greenland, even if they were born there, migrate to Africa to spend their Winter.The bird was pretty wary of my presence and maintained a pretty large distance from me.
All three photographs were clicked in bright light and the Grey metallic surface of the ship reflects lots of light under exposing the subject. Hence I generally keep the camera on spot metering and read the light of the darker part of the bird ( not necessarily the darkest)

Photo details : 1. f/5.6; 1/1000 sec ; ISO 100 ; 300mm
2. f/5.6; 1/400 sec ; ISO 100 ; 300mm
3. f/5.6 ; 1/250 sec ; ISO 100 ; 300 mm

European Robin

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:53:00 +0000

In my previous post I had featured this bird calling it the British Robin , this time its the same species , but a slight vagrant and called European Robin (Erithacus rubecula). This one was photographed in Mediterranean sea, off Greece. The bird was very shy and extremely difficult to photograph unlike its British cousin, which was very much approachable. Although subtle differences exist between to two species, I could not readily identify any, just by looking.
Managed to photograph the nice twinkle in the birds eye, it gives m a lot of satisfaction to see the glow in a animals eye.
Although I like to photograph at the lowest possible ISO value, many times especially when photographing hand held in poor light, it is better to use a higher ISO. Though the noise is more, it's better than having blurry photographs because of slow shutter speed. Here I used ISO 200, to boost the shutter speed from 1/125 to 1/250 sec.

photo details: f/4.5 , 1/250sec , ISO 200 , 300mm

Black Redstart

noreply@blogger.com (delson roche) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:22:00 +0000

Female or Juvenile
Breeding male

The above two photographs of the Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) are of the same species, however, the upper one is either a juvenile or a female, while, the lower one a breeding male.
The bird is pretty much wide spread in Europe while, being a migratory one in UK. In India, it is both a local resident, as well as a winter visitor. The red colour under the tail gives an appearance of a bird on fire, when it takes off or when landing.
The bird was seen feeding insects, and was very shy of my presence. It took me a very long time to get close enough to the bird for a clear view. Both the birds were probably migrating to Africa from Europe, as they landed on board, when we were en route from Libya to Italy.
The first photograph was clicked in the evening. The setting sun like always, not only has a nice warm hue to it, but also, gives a lot of contrast resulting in wonderful photographs.