My Clicks Story - Anand Y

Manuabhan Tekri

2021-01-10T18:00:00.001+05:30

Manuabhan Tekri is one of the must visit places in Bhopal, India.

Digital Photography - Recovering bad looking valuable pictures using free photo editing tools

2015-04-22T08:34:00.003+05:30

Here comes the comparison between the actual RAW picture and the processed one.

In digital photography presentation is very important, so most of us do post process before presenting the picture in any media. Most of the time I do very minimal post process when the lighting and other factors are good in the actual RAW picture.

But in this case as you can see the picture on the left side is not good for presenting as it was shot in early morning lighting (around 6.00 am) So I had to post process the picture to the presentable extend. By sharing this I would like to inform that do not scrap the picture if it looks like the one on left side, by doing simple post processing you can recover the pictures or give actual color and lighting to the picture I have even recovered even worse looking pictures to good looking pictures.

Pictures could look bad for two reasons:
1. Due to wrong lightings
2. Due to wrong aperture and shutter speed set in camera (Read more about Digital Photography - Shutter Speed + Aperture + ISO = Exposure)

This above picture has wrong lighting while the camera settings were correct as per the available natural light.

One thing I would like to mention before ending. If you think that post processing pictures is costly or doable only with premium softwares like photoshop, lightRoom, ect then you are wrong. Post processing that you see in this picture is not done using any professional or premium softwares. I have only used the basic or free photo editing tool available for Mac OS like: iPhoto and Photos and Fotor which are freely available for Mac users. I am sure there will be many free softwares for Windows OS too. I'll share the best free photo editing windows softwares once I test them. In case if any of you know the best free windows softwares please mention them in the comments below.

The picture below is the second reason of how we end up clicking bad pictures. Due to wrong aperture and shutter speed set in camera:
In this case there was no problem with the natural lighting available on the subject but it was my camera setting which screwed up the picture, yet I was able to recover it too.

This picture is recovered using a Photoshop software, but now when you compare both recovered pictures there is no big difference.

So folks don't be sad if you end up clicking such bad pictures, you can always recover them in Digital Photography using best free and premium softwares.

Please leave your comments below and let me know if you need me to write about any other photography related topics.

A Word About Mother Nature

2014-11-13T09:44:00.003+05:30

There is no game without boundary... Every game has a end point which decides the winner.

Everything which is invented by humans will only last long, but not permanent. But there is a game called LIFE in which we all are participating and trying to win or achieve something, but again we humans aren't permanent.

Next thing comes to mind is our planet and our solar system, but our solar system is also not permanent, after few millions of years there will be just space left.

We may not know what our future is but we have power to know the future of our solar system, yes just close your eyes and turn around, what you see is just how the space would be after few millions of years.

Mother Earth is saving Us, so please save her too and make her last longer. And become a winner!!

Basics of Digital Photography

2014-11-13T08:46:00.001+05:30

Digital Photography Focusing Tips

1. Shoot with single point AF, the time when you have all the focus points enabled camera focuses on the brightest spot of your frame, so when you have single point focus you are taking control of your camera to focus on where you want to focus on plus the auto focus will be faster.

2. Shoot with AI SERVO so that your camera continuously focuses on the subject even while your subject is moving.

3. Camera focus speed also depends on the lens you are using. Use high speed lens to improve focus speed.

4. Have a external flash with Auto focus assist (AFA). AFA on your flash will help to improve auto focus speed in low light conditions.

5. Take advantage of live view mode. While using live view mode, zoom in using the zoom buttons in your camera do not zoom using lens to check if you have focused exactly where you wanted to focus.

I hope above five tips will help you in improving your focusing technique.

1. Determine how much you want the subject to be in focus (DOF)
2. Learn how to control your camera
3. Avoid shooting in harsh lighting
4. Try to frame your subject with clearer or darker background
5. When you are shooting close ups focus on eye, with single point focus.

1. Don't think about the camera that you are using.
2. Delete your photos only if there is technical faults.
3. Think about the lighting before you compose a shot.
4. Be selective about photos that you share.
5. Check the background while you are framing your subject.

1. Use the viewfinder's light meter in camera to adjust aperture and shutter speed once you have focused on a subject.
2. Use beanbag to avoid camera shakes.
3. Use right lenses based on the distance between you and the subject.
4. Frame your subject using rule of thirds to present your picture.
5. Just like distance, cameras height also matters to make your subject look proportional. Set your camera height to the eye level of your subject.

1. Always set the ISO below 400 to reduce grains in the picture.
2. Change the White Balance based on the availability of natural light.
3. Set AF Mode to AI Servo so that the focus changes/locks to your moving subject.
4. Set Drive Mode to High speed/Continues mode so that you don't miss the actions.
5. Use Tripod/Monopod to avoid camera shake.

Digital Photography - Shutter Speed + Aperture + ISO = Exposure

2014-01-28T01:53:00.001+05:30

In Digital Photography a person or a photographer who understands Shutter Speed + Aperture + ISO he/she will defiantly improve photography skills in very few days. Exposure is the quality and amount of light reaching the camera's sensor as determined by shutter speed and lens aperture and ISO.

There are various types of exposures eg: long exposure, fast exposure, etc which refers to a single shutter cycle to allow certain amount of light to pass through lens and to the sensor.
Here are couple of examples how exposures is used in various circumstances:

1. Photograph of a Honey-Bee using a faster exposure

2. Photograph of moving traffic at night with long exposure.

Let's get little deeper and understand how to use Shutter Speed and Aperture and ISO in a digital SLR camera. There are various modes in the camera, I recommend to select the Manual mode (M) in your camera because using this mode you will be able to set the shutter speed, aperture and ISO as you wish and a good option to experiment with. Lot of online articles have much in-depth or elaborated explanation on shutter speed, aperture and ISO, In this article I'll let you know when these three to be used to compose a better picture and to become a better photographer.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is the length of time the camera's shutter is open when photographing a subject. In other words, shutter speed is responsible for freezing an action or blurring the motion.
If we consider the above two pictures as an example, the image 1 has the action freezed and the image 2 has a motion blurred.

Before photographing any subject you need to know what should be the shutter speed?
When you need to photograph a sharp looking moving object you need to have higher shutter speed about 600 to 1000. When photographing a motion less or still object you need to set the shutter speed to 60, make sure not to shake your camera if you are shouting hand held or better use a tripod. You can use 60 to 125 shutter speed while photographing portrait and landscapes. Also make sure there is good amount light on the subject.

Aperture

Aperture size from larger to smaller rate

Aperture is the size of opening in the lens when a picture is taken/exposed. When the shutter release button is hit in your camera a hole in a lens opens to allow image sensor to record the subject that you want to capture. Changing the aperture also varies on the depth of field, the area around the object which is in focus. The smaller aperture will help to focus most of the area in the picture the larger aperture reduces the depth of field and blurs the foreground and the background.

Smaller aperture: Larger f-number like f/16 to f/32 is required when you need the subject and the foreground and the background of the subject to be sharp thus when the depth of field is increased. Use small aperture while photographing landscapes and architecture. You need to also think about the amount of light available to set the aperture. For indoor photography since there will not be enough light, you need to reduce the f-number to 5.6 (The max value in some of the kit lenses) to allow more light to pass into your camera. When you set smaller aperture when there is not enough light the picture will become darker you may need to use flash light in those conditions.

Larger aperture: Smaller f-number like f/3 to f/2.8 is useful when you need the foreground and the background of a subject to be blurred therefore the depth of field id reduced. While photographing portraits you can set the larger aperture so that the background of the subject is out of focus and the subject only will be sharp. Larger aperture is also useful in macro photography as it lets more light to pass into the camera and helps the camera's sensor to capture the subject much sharper.

ISO

ISO is the level of sensitivity of your camera's sensor to the available light. Increasing the ISO value will add more noise and grains to your image. ISO is an important aspect of digital photography to have an understanding of if you want to gain more control of your digital camera. When you are shooting outdoor in a bright light always use lower ISO 100 to 300 this will reduce the noise fully. Even when you are doing wildlife photography make sure to set the ISO as low as possible to produce a better quality picture.

Increase the ISO value only when you really need to shoot is low light situations though it adds more noise to your picture it allows your sensor to capture the subject you need.

Finally now you can take your camera out and shoot with manual mode to practically set and understand how Shutter Speed + Aperture + ISO helps each other in producing a better picture.

Points to remember:

Always photograph by mounting you camera to a tripod when you have set lower shutter speed
Do not increase the ISO more than 400
Use flash in low light conditions so that you could still use lower ISO value
Use Smaller aperture to photograph landscape
Use Larger aperture for portraits and macro
Review the pictures on computer for better understanding on how the various values of shutter speed, aperture and ISO works.

Photography is a Game of Lights

2013-12-31T16:44:00.000+05:30

There are so many aspects in photography but most of the time some of the basic aspects are forgotten in the excitement of photography. One of the main aspects of photography is lighting.

If we take early days when photographers used to use black and white films to photograph, those days people used to see the object in color but the photographed pictures were black and white, it used to be very difficult to calculate the light on the object according to object's position. But still there were great legendary photographers those days who have done great job in producing great pictures.

In Black and White world people used to play around with the foreground contrast of the object/person with a darker background. If we look at some old black and white movies, they were composed so well that the actor was given so much preference in the frame of the screen and the background was never getting mixed up with the actual subject.

In today's world we are so lucky that we capture what we see through the camera which includes all the colors. Since we have moved into this colorful world, it is much more tougher to work with light for the object/subject with natural lighting in the outdoor photography. Especially we see so many photographers struggling with lighting in the field work while capturing landscape and wildlife or flora.

Simple points to remember in outdoor photography.

Always make sure the sun light is falling from behind you.
Since you are shooting in outdoor, make sure to set proper background for your subject. Outdoor provides various backgrounds it's your creativity to select as per the subject.
Photograph will look good when they are shot in the natures Golden light, which is between morning 6 am to 8 am and evening 4 pm to 6 pm. The other times is the day either will have strong sunlight or it gets dark. When there is strong sunlight the pictures are over exposed and the light is falling from the top, which is not good for photography.
The low light in the morning session which falls from the side is also good when you use it as a backlight for a subject, like the picture of a Pelican n top.

Concepts of Photographer

2013-12-20T01:43:00.000+05:30

Photography is not only about wildlife or limited to any other category. According to me photography does not have any boundaries it depends on one's talent and lifestyle.

How is photography dependent on one's lifestyle?

A person who is a traveler will always like capture his/her moments and adventures.
A wildlife enthusiast like to capture the animals and birds in their environment in different perspectives.
A journalist and conservationists would like to document and evidence their photographs.
Scientist would like to photograph for their research.
And for a professional photographer its the business.

Each one of them can produce their own beautiful art. The concept of a photographer is attached to passion and lifestyle.

It does not matter what type of camera you use, you could still produce good pictures when you are aware of basics and pre-process the concept in your mind before you click it.

Concepts are everywhere you just need to frame it and click it.

When you travel around streets look for interesting subjects, Specially in the evening time of the day look for lighting in the street, vehicles traffic jam, amusement parks, vibarent and saturated colors of the wall can make a good concept and the formation of clouds with the sun set will be beautiful to capture. In simple words look around your surroundings when you are out with your camera.

Today's digital cameras offers variety of modes to shoot with so the simplest way would be to try with different modes. Each mode in the digital camera will give you different type of results.

Using Scanner as Digital Camera

2013-12-19T01:27:00.012+05:30

Are you feeling bored by using your digital camera?
Did not plan for a photography trip?
Are you willing to do some experiments using your digital gadgets?
Would you like to create some digital art?

Try using your scanner as a digital camera for your next experiment. Yes, your home scanner can be used as a digital camera to scan some interesting objects and create a digital art out of it.

You can scan anything that will fit on the scanning glass of your scanner, but take care not to scratch or damage the glass in any way. Ideal subject for scanning include essentially flat, nearly two dimensional objects such as dried leaves or flower petals, embroidery, textiles, textured papers or fruits and vegetables.
Other small objects also can be scanned like: jewelry, sea shells, insects, seeds rice, etc.

Being designed to record two dimensional objects, flat-bed scanners have only a limited depth of field. As a result on the parts of objects in contact with the scanner glass will be sharp and it wold look like a macro photography. While scanning the objects you will need to experiment with different type of background like colored cloth, textured paper. If you keep the lid open the background will be completely black. If you need a white background, either you can close the lid or use a white plain paper to cover the object.

Post scanning the objects using Adobe Photoshop software you will be able compose the picture as you wish. You could try plenty of color tint variations and you can also try to merge multiple scanned objects and make them as one picture.

Experimenting with scanner will test your creative mind, you will start producing digital arts which you would have not even thought of doing. It will be very interesting to see the post processed pictures.

Note: In the excitement of testing various objects you may damage your scanner glass, so do not try to scan anything that is damp or wet, as the moisture or the water may enter into your machine and machine may stop working.

How to Start Photography

2013-12-18T01:52:00.001+05:30

Point No 1: Know About Yourself.

Before starting photography you need to know if you are really such kind of person who is capable of spending time indoor and outdoor without thinking of what other people may think about you. Yes photography is such a hobby you will get so passionate about. It makes others to look at you. You need to have lot of patience and right attitude. And also creative mind.

Point No 2: Decide on what type of photography you would like to do.

Photography has variety of categories and each category has it's own set of equipment and rules to be followed. Though the basic rules are still the same. Once you start photographing you will learn more.

Point No 3: Start with smaller camera first.

Yes initially to start learning it is better to start with camera which has minimal options and more automatic. Because at this stage you will be learning on how to use the camera and how to frame a shots. Be creative minded and try to photograph anything that you feel good about. Like photographing toys, food, landscape, anything that you feel like framing.

Point No 4: Reading Books.

Start reading books, magazines, online articles, etc. This will really improve your basic knowledge and you will get more ideas on various type of photography and technicalities.
Learn the basics and concepts of photography.
Photography is a art just like painting. Camera is just an equipment to support your talent, all the concept and how to select a subject if fully depends on your talent. Read books and refer to great photographers work and try to understand how the subject were framed.

Point No 5: Select your field of interest and buy equipment.

At this stage you will be aware of how much you are interested in photography so it's fine if you are not willing to go further in this field. Because if you are not confident enough it is not good to invest more money. And if you are confident start selecting and upgrading your equipment. Be careful about the budget and buy only equipment which are essential.

Point No 6: Build Your Network.

As you invest on new equipment, attended photography workshops in your city so that you'll start meeting new people who are also passionate about same field. This will help you to learn from others and gives chance to exhibit your talent and art. You will also make new friends and do some field works. Participate in photography competitions, this will make you feel good and proud of your own art and you will start loving it.

Point No 7: Start Experimenting and feel the camera.

This way you will start learning how to handle your camera and the best way to know how your camera behaves in different conditions. Start experimenting with lightings on a subject and understand the foreground and background of the subject and adjust your angle accordingly.

Point No 8: Ask Experts.

Photography is all about the perspective of a person. Once when you have good set of photographs present them to an expert photographer and get feedback. Doing this will help you to know the minor issues or mistakes.

Point No 9: Practice.

Visit the same places and photograph the subjects again. This allows you to try the tips and tricks you received from experts. And will help you correct your mistakes.

Point No 10: Don't Forget Past.

Photography is a never ending art which gives you chance to explore new places, experience different conditions, express new creative ideas, and to meet new people. So do not forget you past experiences. Past may not be perfect, but past experience helps you becoming perfect.

Each time when you go out to field work remember all the problems you faced in previous trips and correct them next time when you get a chance.

Leopard at Bandipur Forest

2013-12-05T00:21:00.002+05:30

Bandipur National Park, established in 1974 as a tiger reserve under Project Tiger, is a national park located in the south Indian state of Karnataka. It was once a private hunting reserve for the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore. Bandipur is known for its wildlife and has many types of biomes, but dry deciduous forest is dominant. [From Wiki]

Bandipur National Park is around 217 Km from Bangalore and takes 6+ hours to reach by car. This an excellent place for all nature and wildlife lovers, as this forest is filled with wildlife.

We had Jungle Lodges pre booked for Nov-30-13 to Dec-1-13. As usual my dream of sighting and photographing big cats was only minutes away.

Day 1-Nov-30-13: Around 3:00 pm the safari started and we were taken in to the forest, just after reaching shot distance into the forest the vehicle driver spotted the pug marks of a female Tiger and started tracking. After few minutes driver received a phone call from another safari vehicle, our driver was informed that there was a Tiger spotted in the near by area. And we ruched through the jungle road to the area where the tiger was spotted but we had not luck of spotting. The search for Tiger continued till 6:30pm, between this time all we saw was Gaurs and Deers in the forest and plenty of time was spent in tracking the pug marks. Finally it was dark and we were heading back to camp and on the way we had a surprise waiting. It was a Tiger cub doing the evening royal walk and marking the territory. Since it was very dark none of the photographs were good, and even the video is also worse. But I was not bothered about the pictures at all.

As this was my first tiger sighting I was really exited and was congratulating my friends in the safari vehicle. It was the moment when my dream came true and unforgettable time of my lifetime. We sighted this tiger for about 5 minutes. Our vehicle was only few meters following the Tiger from back and this experience was really awesome.

Day 2 - Dec-01-13: The safari started at 6:00 am, After entering into the forest it was more of birding in the morning and as usual lots of deers and gaurs was sighted. There was no evidence of any fresh tiger pug marks. While moving forward the vehicle driver stopped the vehicle and started pointing towards a tree and told us there is a Leopard on the tree, It was such a intense moment there were so many trees around and the Leopard was around 600 meters away from us. Thanks for the experienced driver and guide Mr.Kiran who spotted the Leopard. This Leopard was on the tree looking around for its morning meal. The sighting happened for very few minutes and the leopard got down from the tree and disappeared in to the bushes. As we were hearing the Langur calls we planned to stay in that point for another 20 minutes waiting for the leopard to cross the road but the Leopard had different plans.

As we entered the deeper area of the forest there were few pug marks where three tigers were marched together, but the pug marks looked 30 to 60 minutes old. But there was no sighting of Tiger this morning and since we were running out of time we returned back to the camp.

Here are the pictures of this trip: (More pictures will be uploaded later this week)

Ranganathittu Birds Sanctuary for Photographers

2013-11-19T12:26:00.001+05:30

Ranganathittu Birds Sanctuary is one of my favorite place for birding. It takes around 2 hours 45 minutes to reach from Bangalore. It is around 130 kilometers. The Bangalore Mysore highway is one of the best road to do a weekend day trip. Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary also known as Pakshi Kashi of Karnataka. A Bird Sanctuary in the Mandya District of the state of Karnataka in India. This sanctuary is located on the banks of river Kaveri.

The park is well maintained by the government authorities, it has all sorts of facilities for tourists like Hotel, Parking area.. etc. The lush green park welcomes you into the sanctuary. A peaceful place to spend a day with family members.

Roughly around 170 birds have been recorded here in great numbers over the years. Of these, birds like Painted Stork, Asian Openbill Stork, Common Spoonbill, Woolly-necked Stork, Black-headed Ibis, Lesser Whistling Duck, Indian Shag, Stork-billed Kingfisher and other common birds like egrets, cormorants, Oriental Darter, and herons breed here regularly. The Great Stone Plover, and River Tern also nest here. The park is home to a large flock of Streak-throated Swallows. During the months of January and February, more than 30 species of birds are found. About 50 pelicans have made Ranganathittu as their permanent home.

The best season to visit Ranganathittu Birds Sanctuary is from November to June. This is one of the best spot for fresh photographers to spot and learn how to photograph birds in action. Lot of amature photographers too visit this place to get some great shots.

Below are some of the photographs which I could capture in the month of November 2013.

Monsoon Safari at the Ghats of K.Gudi Wildlife Sanctuary

2013-07-16T23:01:00.003+05:30

K.Gudi (Kyathadevaraya Gudi) is about 195 km from Bangalore takes around 4 hours to reach via Maddur, Malavalli road. K.Gudi is located in B.R.Hills. A heaven for all the nature and wildlife lovers, there are many species of birds and wild animals which adds to the color of natures lush green in the monsoon season.

The variety of birds and animals which are commonly spotted are
Animals: leopard, elephant, tiger, gaur, wild dog, sloth bear, barking deer, spotted deer, sambar, wild boar, porcupine, python, Malabar giant squirrel.
Birds: scarlet minivet, velvet-fronted nuthatch, gold-fronted chloropsis, lorikeet, blossom-headed parakeet, heart-spotted woodpecker, malabar whistling thrush and others.

We had visited this place on 13th and 14 of July 2013, which is not a good idea if you are planning to spot some animals like Tiger or leopard... though it is not a surprise if we get chance to spot one, cause in this season the forest is very thick and dense which makes difficult to spot animals.

We had pre-booked Jungle Lodges resort, the quality of facilities provided by JLR is really great.

Day 1: We reached K.Gudi around 10 am, the drive through the dense forest, listening to the sounds of birds, the variety of trees, the mist covered mountains and the fresh air in the forest made my mind so calm and relaxed. On the way we spotted 'Spotted Owlets, Red Whiskered Bulbul, White Throated Kingfishers, Scaly breasted Munia, Indian Peafowl and other birds. We checked-in JLR at 12:00 noon, and got refreshed for a while and had lunch and were ready for the day one safari at 3:30 pm. JLR has the Bolero 4 wheel drive modified safari vehicles which can carry eight persons per trip (including driver).

As we entered the jungle we were welcomed by couple of Barking deers and we moved further there was a Mother elephant with a calf gracing. One of the forest guard informed us that the elephant calf was just five days young. It was well protected by its mother, the calf was also not moving away from mother, it was just between the legs. :)

As usual our eyes were searching to spot a tiger or a leopard... in the dense forest...

After moving little ahead we spotted a Changeable Hawk resting on a tree.

We continued our journey in the thick forest... we spotted this bird which was spotted for the first time by all of us, and none of us were able to identify the bird. (Please help to identify this bird by leaving a comment )

After reaching the end point of one way, we spotted tiger pug marks which were freshly marked by the forest guard in the same day morning... (This was close to poaching camp). After this, we were very curious about the pug marks and though we may find tiger but unfortunately we did not spot tiger or a leopard in the day one safari.

While returning back we were charged by on of the female elephant of a herd, luckily it was not so interested with our vehicle, the same female elephant by lifting it's trunk up was checking if everything around was well for the herd to cross the road, and once it felt the condition were good all the elephants decided to cross the road.

This was a special moment for us.
While all the other elephants of the herd crossed the road the reached the other side, this mother decided to march in the road, which made cute calf to follow it's mother. As our vehicle was blocking the road they moved and joined the herd.

But before they join the herd they gifted me this beautiful framed shot :)

As we continued driving further the weather turned really bad. The heavy rain shower forced us to end the day one safari. Safari started around 3:30 pm and we reached the lodge back around 6:30 pm, it was a good long drive in the safari.

After reaching back to base we were served hot coffee/tea with hot pokoda :) for snakes, and wildlife related videos were played in the big TV.

JLR at K.Gudi also has some indoor games like carrom board, table tennis, etc... we played TT for a while and it was time to have dinner. The dinner was really spicy, which was just perfect for the cold evening.

Day 2: The time we were waiting for was the day 2 safari which starts at 6:15 am. The same vehicle, same partners with fresh mind we all headed into forest again... this time it was more of birding than spotting mammals in the forest, as usual the mountains was covered with mist and foggy road...

However the climate condition was good but not for photography :( , still we did not give-up our passion, we tried our best to photograph some birds in the low light.

Forest was quite calm in the morning with deer herds gracing all over the green land.

The first few birds we spotted were: Crested serpent eagle, Malabar whistling thrush, Orange-headed thrush, Racket tailed drongo and lots of common birds like Jungle Babbler, Blackbird etc.

And few mammals like Malabar Squirrel, Single tuskar elephant, Barking deer

There is beautiful landscape through out the jungle, there are four to five lakes in the forest, tow of them were big ones. Which would be just perfect to get some beautiful shots in summer season, while the animals are nearby the lake.

The day 2 safari lasted till 9:30 am, and after reaching back to base the breakfast delicious south Indian style spicy food was ready....

After having the break fast we took our own vehicle and did slow speed safari on the road towards BR.Hills which was really great experience of birding, we managed to spot Coucal, Treepie, Rose ringed parakeet and plenty of Owlets...

Our one amazing moment in this road safari was the moment while we were listening to the melodious song of Malabar Whistling Thrush... It was just like someone singing in the quit jungle. I did record the voice but the sound is not that clear :).

Our check-out time at JLR was at 12:00 noon, so we reached back JLR on time and left the beautiful place and carried some amazing memories and shots of K.Gudi wildlife in the monsoon season :).

Over all it was the first time experience at K.Gudi Wildlife Sanctuary and no doubt that it will be the best...

EOD we reached back to busy Bangalore :(

I love to stay there....... :)

The Killer Leopard at Nagarahole Forest

2013-07-05T13:05:00.004+05:30

After a disappointment to capture a predator in my previous trip to Nagarahole, this trip was my lifetime memorable trip. Because it was my first time experience of sighting and photographing a Leopard this close.

It was a two day trip to Nagarahole forest with my friend. First day morning when we reached Nagarahole forest we got disappointed cause the safari was closed due to heavy rain. This was the news which I was not ready to hear at that point of time, as I was there to capture wildlife in the wet season to get some unique shots of animals in rain. We did not know what to do, so we decided to move towards Tholpetty Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala) the forest is attached to Nagarahole forest. By the time we reached Tholpetty it was 9:45 am and the safari here was closed, disappointment again. The next safari was at 3:00 pm.

We wanted to spend sometime around till the next safari time, so we decided to travel to Kabani elephant camp and to do some sighting... All the elephants in the camp was sent out for gracing... so there were no elephants in the camp, disappointment again.

Wile returning back to Kerla we spotted this young Tusker. I could understand that he was felling discomfort as we were close to him... Once he become doing crazy dance.. I pulled my car off.. and moved further :).

We had our midday meal and reached Tholpetty, took a jeep safari and as usual we were very curious trying to spot some animals, but we had no luck.....again disappointment!!!

Some of the local kids playing in jungle were very close to wild animals.

At one stage we thought of packing and traveling back to home town, but I wanted to try my luck by doing one more safari, so we stayed a night there.

Next day morning we wanted to do the very first safari... the strategy here was very simple... we know that animals in the forest would have not been disturbed over the night so as planned we took the first jeep in to the jungle. And after traveling for few minutes in the jungle we spotted some foot prints. Our curiosity increased after spotting those foot prints of a predator.

It was a full drama which took place in the Nagarahole/Tholpetty (Kerala) forest. We could see all the spotted deers looking at one direction and footprints of a predator... for few seconds we heard all the deers calling... we know that something is happening there.... as we reached little closer we could see a Leopard holding the neck of its prey by laying on the ground. The deer had fully given-up the fight, we could see its last movements and last breath.

Click the picture have a detailed look

Only after the Leopard confirming it's kill it left the place as it was disturbed by another safari vehicle approaching...

Click the picture have a detailed look

End of the day it is nature and its wildlife.............. :)

Two of the pictures are submitted to National Geographic Photo Content 2013

The Killer Look

Caption: This was photographed in the Nagarahole forest, Karnataka. The hungry Leopard hunted a spotted deer for it's meal.
Photo Location: Nagarahole Forest
Keywords: Leopard, Wildlife, Nagarahole, Karnataka, India
Category: Spontaneous Moments
Date Paid: June 25, 2013

Jungle Game

Caption: Kids at Nagarahole forest playing the game of hide and seek.
Photo Location: Nagarahole
Keywords: Travel, Forest, Nagarahole, Karnataka, India
Category: Spontaneous Moments
Date Paid: June 25, 2013

Astonishing 30 days photography tour to northern parts of India and Nepal

2013-04-01T16:27:00.001+05:30

It was an astonishing and extravagant trip to most famous tourist places of northern parts of India. The trip was organized by an private travel agency based in Bangalore. It was an amazing experience for me, as a photographer I could visit so many places to do some street photography on some of the famous Indian streets.

We covered most famous Pilgrim, Heritage, Archeological and Hill Station places. Here is our rote map planned before we started our journey.

We started from Bangalore to Orissa and ended from Delhi to Bangalore. The transportation was pre-booked and well organized for Trains, Tourist Buses, and Flight.

Below are the major places we could cover in 30 days:

A. Bengaluru, Karnataka - Start
B. Bhubaneswar, Odisha (Orissa)
C. Kolkata, West Bengal
D. Gaya, Bihar
E. Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
F. Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
G. Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal
H. Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh
I. Agra, Uttar Pradesh
J. Jaipur, Rajasthan
K. Delhi
L. Haridwar, Uttaranchal
M. Kedarnath, Uttaranchal
N. Badrinath, Uttaranchal
O. Delhi
P. Bengaluru, Karnataka - The End

Day 1: We took a train from Bangalore, Karnataka to Bhubaneswar, Orissa. We were about get settled in our seats, most of the cell phones started ringing around me... I got a call from my home as well, thought someone would wish for the journey, but it was a shocking news for all of us that there was earthquake happening in Bangalore... people went so panic about this and started looking for live news on their cell phones etc... but it was not a big quake... though it did quit a bit of damages.

It was a long journey to Orissa by train... :) made lots of friends at these times...

story... will be continued...

Here are some of the best shots I captured in this trip.

My plan is to write a full blog on the 30 days journey from state to state, so please don’t go away.
I would be updating this blog every day…

32,000 African Forest Elephants were illegally slaughtered for ivory in 2012

2013-04-01T12:38:00.004+05:30

Yes, we have to believe the unbelievable. There are many conservation teams working to save elephants in Africa, still the poaching is not controlled. Below are few reports on this issue.

‘Gang of eight’ on ivory probation

The worst offending countries in the ivory trade have been given a strict deadline to reduce their involvement or face sanctions.

The decision taken at the final meeting of the Cites conference in Bangkok is meant to compel countries like China and Thailand to tougher action.

But some campaigners say Cites is failing to protect elephants and want more urgent action.

Elephant Poaching Pushes Species To Brink Of Extinction

A new study of Central African forest elephants has found their numbers down by 62 percent between 2002 and 2011. The study comes as governments and conservationists meet in Thailand to amend the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

African forest elephants have been in trouble for a while, but only now have scientists figured out that more than half of them have died over the past decade. It took hundreds of researchers nine years, walking literally thousands of miles, counting piles of elephant dung as well as elephant carcasses stripped of their ivory tusks, to realize that the majority of the dead had been shot.

New Promises Follow Elephant Slaughter in Chad and Cameroon

In the aftermath of the largest elephant poaching episode thus far in 2013, Central African governments met to coordinate and adopt an emergency plan to combat the killings. But is it too little, too late?

On March 14-15, at least 86 elephants were killed in Tikem, near Fianga in the Mayo Kebbi East region of southwestern Chad, close to the Cameroon border. Among the victims were more than 30 pregnant females, many of which aborted their calves when they were shot. The calves were left to die, and reportedly some were shot. It’s too sickening to even comprehend.

Thai ivory trade criticized before wildlife conference

BANGKOK (AP) — You can buy it freely in urban markets and rural stalls set up at elephant shows in Thailand every day: ivory, carved into everything from intricate statuettes of the pachyderm-headed Hindu deity Ganesh that go for more than $1,000 a piece to tiny tusk pendants worth less than $10.

But the thriving trade here, conservationists say, is helping fuel the unprecedented slaughter of elephants thousands of miles away in Africa, where the largest land mammals on earth are facing their worst poaching epidemic in decades. It's a crisis so grave experts now believe more are being killed than are being born.

How to slow the slaughter and curb the trade in "blood ivory" will be among the most critical issues up for debate at the 177-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, that gets under way Sunday in Bangkok. And the meeting's host, Thailand, will be under particular pressure to take action.

A lifetime with elephants: an interview with Iain Douglas-Hamilton

Iain Douglas-Hamilton has dedicated his life to elephants. “I like elephants because of the way they treat each other,” he says. “They’re very nice to each other most of the time, but not all the time ... You see a lot of play...a lot of tender touching, caressing, tactile contact of one sort or another.”

The affection goes both ways. Douglas-Hamilton recalls one curious female who would always approach his vehicle. “Eventually I got so friendly with her that...I could walk with her and feed her the fruits of the wild gardenia tree. That was a very special elephant for me. She eventually brought her babies up to meet me.”

Slaughter of the African Elephants

THERE is nothing a mother elephant will not do for her infant, but even she cannot protect it from bullets. About a year ago, poachers attacked a family of forest elephants in central Africa. The biologist who witnessed the attack told us that wildlife guards were completely outgunned. In the end, an elephant mother, riddled with bullets and trumpeting with pain and fear, was left to use her enormous body to shield her baby. Her sacrifice was for naught; the baby was also killed.

Two days at Nagarahole and Kabini forest area

2013-03-20T13:08:00.002+05:30

It was an amazing experience this time after spending two days at Nagarahole.

We started from Bangalore around 10:00 pm in the night and reached Nagarahole forest check-post by 2:00 am, since the gate to enter forest opens at 6:00 am we had to sleep in car for four hours.

And then, post entering the forest early in the morning we had good time spotting Wild-dogs, Elephant (Tusker), and lots of birds eg: woodpecker, 3-4 species of parrots and peafowl of-course.

After having a good sighting on the way, we reached Nagarahole safari area by 8:15 am so we missed the morning safari which is open only from 7:00 to 8:00 am. We requested the range officer to arrange a private vehicle for us, unfortunately no private vehicle was arranged, due to shortage of jeeps. So we then headed towards Kutta a place approx 20Kms from Nagarahole to rest for a while in a home-stay.

Later around 2:00 pm we started towards Tholpetty wildlife sanctuary which is located 12 kms from Kutta. Tholpetty belongs to Kerla state, there is no entrance fee or anything to enter in to Kerla.

I had heard that Tholpetty is famous for its jeep safari which costs Rs.700 for Indians, and famous form spotting Tigers. We were disappointed after reaching Tholpetty because the safari was closed from March to April 15th due to natural firing problem at the forest. After having lunch at a place in Kerala, we headed back to Nagarahole for 3:00 pm safari. After reaching we had chance to meet our photography friends who become friends when we visited previous trip. The safari was quite good as we spotted Wild-dogs, a herd of Elephants (around 20 together), Bisons herd etc.

But we had no chance to spot a Tiger, we thought we could try to spot tomorrow around Kabini and we left from Nagarahole to Kabini later in the evening which is around 76 kms from Nagarahole. We arrived at Kabini sometime around 9:40 pm and rested in an home-stay.

The next day morning (Sunday), we checked with Jungle lodges if they could take us inside the forest but we were late by the time all the vehicles had left the resort to forest. So we had to relay on our car to do a road safari and spotted few rare birds. As we headed down we were surprised buy a Elephant camp which is located around 15 kms from Kabini. Here, we had chance to spend time with lots of elephants and elephants calfs by playing with them :).

"One incident which I would like to share, There was a calf which was drinking water from a ground level water tank with its mom next to it, by mistake the calf fell in the the water tank and at this moment there was one person near the calf trying to pull the calf out, later few more people joined him and helped the calf to come out of water tank, as you could see in one of the pictures."

After spending time at Elephant camp, we got to know we were close to Kutta a place near Nagarahole, so we then planned to visit Nagarahole again for a evening safari. We went for a 3:00 pm safari and we could not spot a Tiger. So we thought we will try our luck by going for another safari because we were so desperate to spot a Tiger, unfortunately we again could not spot the tigers.

"An amazing incident while we were in safari at Nagarahole, as our safari vehicle approached closer to the herd at-least 4 of them were likely to charge at our vehicle to protect the little calf (can be see just below the second elephant from the left)"

We thought we don't have enough luck this time and headed back to Bangalore at 6:30 pm and reached Bangalore around 11:30 pm.

All our effort to spot a tiger at Nagarahole was over. We still waiting to plan and visit Nagarahole sometime in May again.

More photos will be uploaded on this post.

India Does it Better When it Comes to Saving Elephants

2013-03-18T13:06:00.002+05:30

A conversation which happened on Facebook says:

Interesting dialog with the man who posted this picture - India does it better:

Mille Stelle
Anand Yrh: Do you know how elephants are faring in India as compared with Africa? I've just become aware that 32,000 African Forest Elephants were illegally slaughtered (poached) for ivory in 2012 alone, and that the population has declined 62% in the past decade. Apparently much of the ivory is destined for China... what do things look like from the Indian side of the equation?

Anand Yrh
hi Mille Stelle, Its very rare in India, we Indians here worship lord Ganesha (A Elephant headed god) so we respect Elephants and moreover lot of them are wildlife enthusiasts. But there were few poachers who used to kill them for ivory.. in recent days it has got reduced due to increase in number of forest rangers and alertness of forest department.

Black Kite

2012-12-25T23:33:00.003+05:30

Date Taken: 08 Sep 2012
Place: Bangalore

The Black Kite (Milvus migrans) is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors. Unlike others of the group, Black Kites are opportunistic hunters and are more likely to scavenge. They spend a lot of time soaring and gliding in thermals in search of food. Their angled wing and distinctive forked tail make them easy to identify. This kite is widely distributed through the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia and Oceania, with the temperate region populations tending to be migratory. Several subspecies are recognized and formerly had their own English names. The European populations are small, but the South Asian population is very large.

Description

Black Kites can be distinguished from Red Kites by the slightly smaller size, less forked tail (visible in flight), and generally dark plumage without any rufous. The sexes are alike. The upper plumage is brown but the head and neck tend to be paler. The patch behind the eye appears darker. The outer flight feathers are black and the feathers have dark cross bars and are mottled at the base. The lower parts of the body are pale brown, becoming lighter towards the chin. The body feathers have dark shafts giving it a streaked appearance. The cere and gape are yellow, but the bill is black (unlike in the Yellow-billed Kite). The legs are yellow and the claws are black. They have a distinctive shrill whistle followed by a rapid whinnying call.

content credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Kite

Marsh Harrier

2012-12-25T23:22:00.005+05:30

Date Taken: 25 Dec 2012
Place: Bangalore

The marsh harriers are birds of prey of the harrier subfamily. They are medium-sized raptors and the largest and broadest-winged harriers. Most of them are associated with marshland and dense reedbeds. They are found almost worldwide, excluding only the Americas.
Until recently two species were generally recognized: the Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) and the African Marsh Harrier (C. ranivorus). The Marsh Harrier is now usually split into several species, sometimes as many as six. These are the Western Marsh Harrier (C. aeruginosus), Eastern Marsh Harrier (C. spilonotus), Papuan Harrier (C. spilonotus spilothorax or C. spilothorax), Swamp Harrier (C. approximans), Réunion Harrier (C. maillardi maillardi or C. maillardi) and Madagascar Marsh Harrier (C. maillardi macrosceles or C. macrosceles).

Species

Western Marsh Harrier- Bangalore, India
The Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus), often simply called the Marsh Harrier, breeds widely across Europe and Asia. It is migratory except in the mildest regions, and winters mainly in Africa. It hunts small mammals, insects and birds, surprising them as it drifts low over fields and reedbeds.

The Western Marsh Harrier is a typical harrier, with long wings held in a shallow V in its low flight. It also resembles other harriers in having distinct male and female plumages, but its plumages are quite different from those of its relatives. The male has wings with grey and brown sections and black wingtips. Its head, tail and underparts are greyish, except for the chestnut belly. The female is mainly brown with a cream crown and cream leading edge to her wings.

The Eastern Marsh Harrier (C. spilonotus) breeds in the grasslands and wetlands of southern Siberia, northern Mongolia, north-east China, Manchuria and Japan, and migrates for the northern winter to South-east Asia, the Philippines and northern Borneo.

Like all marsh harriers, it favours open, wet environments, and is frequently seen drifting low over ricefields, interspersing long, watchful circling glides with two or three slow, powerful wingbeats. Two subspecies are recognised: C. s. spilonotus of east Asia, and C. s. spilothorax, of New Guinea and the islands nearby, which is sometimes thought to be a separate species and is often called the Papuan Harrier.

The Swamp Harrier (C. approximans) at about 50 to 58 cm is slightly larger than C. spilonotus, often a little darker, and has less heavily barred wings and tail. It is commonly found in suitable habitat anywhere in Australasia, particularly in the higher rainfall areas to the east, south-east, and south-west, of Australia and throughout New Zealand, but also in the tropical north of Australia and the island groups of New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga and the Society Islands. It is also known as the Australasian Harrier or Pacific Marsh Harrier.

The Madagascar Marsh Harrier or Madagascar Harrier (C. maillardi) is found on the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Réunion and the Comoros. It is sometimes split into two species: Madagascar Harrier (Circus macrosceles) and Réunion Harrier (C. maillardi).

The African Marsh Harrier (C. ranivorus) is a distinct non-migratory species that has not usually been included as a subspecies of C. aeruginosus. It inhabits southern and eastern Africa.

content credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsh_Harrier

Common Kestrel

2012-12-25T23:17:00.001+05:30

Date Taken: 25 Dec 2012
Place: Bangalore

The Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European Kestrel, Eurasian Kestrel, or Old World Kestrel. In Britain, where no other brown falcon occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".
This species occurs over a large range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America[citation needed]. But although it has colonized a few oceanic islands, vagrant individuals are generally rare; in the whole of Micronesia for example, the species was only recorded twice each on Guam and Saipan in the Marianas.

Common Kestrels measure 32–39 cm (13–15 in) from head to tail, with a wingspan of 65–82 cm (26–32 in). Females are noticeably larger, with the adult male weighing 136-252 g (c,5-9 oz), around 155 g (around 5.5 oz) on average; the adult female weighs 154-314 g (about 5.5-11 oz), around 184 g (around 6.5 oz) on average. They are thus small compared with other birds of prey, but larger than most songbirds. Like the other Falco species, they have long wings as well as a distinctive long tail.

Their plumage is mainly light chestnut brown with blackish spots on the upperside and buff with narrow blackish streaks on the underside; the remiges are also blackish. Unlike most raptors, they display sexual colour dimorphism with the male having fewer black spots and streaks, as well as a blue-grey cap and tail. The tail is brown with black bars in females, and has a black tip with a narrow white rim in both sexes. All Common Kestrels have a prominent black malar stripe like their closest relatives.

The cere, feet, and a narrow ring around the eye are bright yellow; the toenails, bill and iris are dark. Juveniles look like adult females, but the underside streaks are wider; the yellow of their bare parts is paler. Hatchlings are covered in white down feathers, changing to a buff-grey second down coat before they grow their first true plumage.

content credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Kestrel

Common Rosefinch

2012-09-30T12:48:00.004+05:30

Date Taken: 08 Sep 2012
Place: Bangalore

The Common Rosefinch is larger than a sparrow. It has a stout and conical bill. The mature male has brilliant rosy-carmine head, breast and rump; heavy bill; dark brown wings with two indistinct bars, and a white belly. Females and young males are dull-colored with yellowish-brown above, brighter on the rump and greyer on head; buff below.

It has spread westward through Europe in recent decades, even breeding in England once. Common Rosefinches breed from the Danube valley, Sweden, and Siberia to the Bering Sea; the Caucasus, northern Iran and Afghanistan, the western Himalayas, Tibet and China; to Japan between latitudes 25° and 68°. In winter they are found from southern Iran to south-east China India, Burma, and Indochina.

They are found in summer in thickets, woodland and forest edges near rivers and in winter in gardens and orchards, wetlands and locally in dry oak woods.

The nest is placed low in a bush. The eggs are dark blue with coarse dark brown spots, and a typical clutch contains five eggs.

content credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Rosefinch

Paddyfield Pipit

2012-09-30T12:46:00.002+05:30

Date Taken: 08 Sep 2012
Place: Bangalore

Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus) is a small passerine bird in the pipits and wagtail family. It is a resident breeder in open scrub, grassland and cultivation in southern Asia east to the Philippines. Although among the few breeding pipits in the Asian region, identification becomes difficult in winter when several other species migrate into the region. The taxonomy of the species is complex and has undergone considerable changes.

This is a large pipit at 15 cm, but is otherwise an undistinguished looking bird, mainly streaked grey-brown above and pale below with breast streaking. It is long legged with a long tail and a long dark bill. Sexes are similar. Summer and winter plumages are similar. Young birds are more richly coloured below than adults and have the pale edges to the feather's of the upper parts more conspicuous with more prominent spotting on the breast. The population waitei from northwestern India and Pakistan is pale while the population malayensis from the Western Ghats is larger, darker and more heavily streaked with nominate rufulus intermediate.

In winter some care must be taken to distinguish this from other pipits that winter in the area, such as Richard's Pipit, Anthus richardi and Blyth's Pipit, Anthus godlewskii. Paddyfield Pipit is smaller and dumpier, has shorter looking tail and has a weaker fluttering flight. The usually uttered characteristic "chip-chip-chip" call is quite different from usual calls of Richard's Pipit (explosive "shreep") and Blyth's Pipit (nasal "pschreen"). Tawny Pipit has less streaking on the mantle and has a black loreal stripe and a longer tail. The Western Ghats population can appear very similar to the Nilgiri Pipit.

content credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddyfield_Pipit

Pied Bushchat

2012-09-30T12:42:00.003+05:30

Date Taken: 08 Sep 2012
Place: Bangalore

The Pied Bush Chat (Saxicola caprata) is a small passerine bird found ranging from West and Central Asia to South and Southeast Asia. About sixteen subspecies are recognized through its wide range with many island forms. It is a familiar bird of countryside and open scrub or grassland where it is found perched at the top of short thorn trees or other shrubs, looking out for insect prey. They pick up insects mainly from the ground, and were, like other chats, placed in the thrush family Turdidae, but are now considered as Old World flycatchers.

They nest in cavities in stone walls or in holes in an embankment, lining the nest with grass and animal hair. The males are black with white shoulder and vent patches whose extent varies among populations. Females are predominantly brownish while juveniles are speckled.

The Pied Bush Chat is slightly smaller than the Siberian Stonechat, Saxicola maurus, although it has a similar dumpy structure and upright stance. The male is black except for a white rump, wing patch and lower belly. The iris is dark brown, the bill and legs black. The female is drab brown and slightly streaked. Juveniles have a scaly appearance on the underside but dark above like the females.

content credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Bush_Chat

Long Tailed Shrike

2012-09-30T12:38:00.003+05:30

Date Taken: 30 Sep 2012
Place: Bangalore

The Long-tailed Shrike or Rufous-backed Shrike (Lanius schach) is a member of the bird family Laniidae, the shrikes. They are found widely distributed across Asia and there are variations in plumage across the range. The species ranges across much of Asia, both on the mainland and the eastern archipelagos. The eastern or Himalayan subspecies, L. s. tricolor, is sometimes called the Black-headed Shrike. Although there are considerable differences in plumage among the subspecies, they all have a long and narrow black tail, have a black mask and forehead, rufous rump and flanks and a small white patch on the shoulder. It is considered to form a superspecies with the Grey-backed Shrike (Lanius tephronotus) which breeds on the Tibetan Plateau.

The Long-tailed Shrike is a typical shrike, favouring dry open habitats and found perched prominently atop a bush or on a wire. The dark mask through the eye is broad and covers the forehead in most subspecies and the whole head is black in subspecies tricolor and nasutus. The tail is narrow and graduated with pale rufous on the outer feathers. Subspecies erythronotus has the grey of the mantle and upper back suffused with rufous while the southern Indian caniceps has pure grey. A small amount of white is present at the base of the primaries. The Bay-backed Shrike is smaller and more contrastingly patterned and has a more prominent white patch on the wing. The sexes are alike in plumage.

content credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-tailed_Shrike

Pied Bushchat

2012-09-18T15:37:00.003+05:30

Date Taken: 08 Sep 2012
Place: Bangalore

The Pied Bush Chat (Saxicola caprata) is a small passerine bird found ranging from West and Central Asia to South and Southeast Asia. About sixteen subspecies are recognized through its wide range with many island forms. It is a familiar bird of countryside and open scrub or grassland where it is found perched at the top of short thorn trees or other shrubs, looking out for insect prey. They pick up insects mainly from the ground, and were, like other chats, placed in the thrush family Turdidae, but are now considered as Old World flycatchers.

They nest in cavities in stone walls or in holes in an embankment, lining the nest with grass and animal hair. The males are black with white shoulder and vent patches whose extent varies among populations. Females are predominantly brownish while juveniles are speckled.

The Pied Bush Chat is slightly smaller than the Siberian Stonechat, Saxicola maurus, although it has a similar dumpy structure and upright stance. The male is black except for a white rump, wing patch and lower belly. The iris is dark brown, the bill and legs black. The female is drab brown and slightly streaked. Juveniles have a scaly appearance on the underside but dark above like the females.

Content credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Bush_Chat

The Moon Surface

2012-09-03T21:49:00.002+05:30

Date Taken: 01 Sep 2012
Place: Bangalore

The Moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth, and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. It is the largest natural satellite of a planet in the Solar System relative to the size of its primary, having a quarter the diameter of Earth but only 1⁄81 its mass. The Moon is the second densest satellite after Io, a satellite of Jupiter. It is in synchronous rotation with Earth, always showing the same face with its near side marked by dark volcanic maria that fill between the bright ancient crustal highlands and the prominent impact craters. The Moon is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun, although its surface is actually very dark, with a reflectance similar to that of coal. Its prominence in the sky and its regular cycle of phases have, since ancient times, made the Moon an important cultural influence on language, calendars, art and mythology. The Moon's gravitational influence produces the ocean tides and the minute lengthening of the day. The Moon's current orbital distance, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth, causes it to appear almost the same size in the sky as the Sun, allowing it to cover the Sun nearly precisely in total solar eclipses. This matching of apparent visual size is a coincidence. Earlier in Earth's history, the Moon was closer to Earth, and would have had an apparent visual size greater than that of the sun.

The Moon is the only celestial body other than Earth on which humans have set foot. The Soviet Union's Luna programme was the first to reach the Moon with unmanned spacecraft in 1959; the United States' NASA Apollo program achieved the only manned missions to date, beginning with the first manned lunar orbiting mission by Apollo 8 in 1968, and six manned lunar landings between 1969 and 1972, with the first being Apollo 11. These missions returned over 380 kg of lunar rocks, which have been used to develop a geological understanding of the Moon's origins, the formation of its internal structure, and its subsequent history. It is thought to have formed some 4.5 billion years ago. One formation theory is a giant impact event involving Earth. The impact theory was called into question in 2012, after re-analysis of Apollo samples.

After the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, the Moon has been visited only by unmanned spacecraft, notably by the final Soviet Lunokhod rover. Since 2004, Japan, China, India, the United States, and the European Space Agency have each sent lunar orbiters. These spacecraft have contributed to confirming the discovery of lunar water ice in permanently shadowed craters at the poles and bound into the lunar regolith. Future manned missions to the Moon have been planned, including government as well as privately funded efforts. The Moon remains, under the Outer Space Treaty, free to all nations to explore for peaceful purposes.

Content credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon

Pied Kingfisher

2012-08-20T17:17:00.002+05:30

Date Taken: 20 Aug 2012
Place: Bangalore outskirts

The Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) is a water kingfisher and is found widely distributed across Africa and Asia. Their black and white plumage, crest and the habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish makes it distinctive. Males have a double band across the breast while females have a single gorget that is often broken in the middle. They are usually found in pairs or small family parties. When perched, they often bob their head and flick up their tail.

This kingfisher is about 17 cm long and is white with a black mask, a white supercilium and black breast bands. The crest is neat and the upperparts are barred in black. Several subspecies are recognized within the broad distribution. The nominate race is found in sub-Saharan Africa, extending into West Asia. A former subspecies syriaca is considered as merely a larger northern bird of the nominate species (following Bergmann's rule). Subspecies leucomelanura is found from Afghanistan east into India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Laos. The subspecies travancoreensis of the Western Ghats is darker with the white reduced. Subspecies C. r. insignis is found in Hainan and southeastern China and has a much larger bill. Males have a narrow second breast-band while females have a single broken breast band.

Content credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Kingfisher

Glorious Himalaya

2012-08-17T00:24:00.000+05:30

Date Taken: 21 Apr 2012
Place: Himalaya

Splending Mountainscape

2012-08-17T00:21:00.005+05:30

Date Taken: 21 Apr 2012
Place: Himalaya

Cormorant

2012-08-12T14:14:00.003+05:30

Date Taken: 11 Aug 2012
Place: Bangalore outskirts

The bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. /ˈkɔrmərənt/ Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.

There is no consistent distinction between cormorants and shags. The names "cormorant" and "shag" were originally the common names of the two species of the family found in Great Britain, Phalacrocorax carbo (now referred to by ornithologists as the Great Cormorant) and P. aristotelis (the European Shag). "Shag" refers to the bird's crest, which the British forms of the Great Cormorant lack. As other species were discovered by English-speaking sailors and explorers elsewhere in the world, some were called cormorants and some shags, depending on whether they had crests or not. Sometimes the same species is called a cormorant in one part of the world and a shag in another, e.g., the Great Cormorant is called the Black Shag in New Zealand (the birds found in Australasia have a crest that is absent in European members of the species). Van Tets (1976) proposed to divide the family into two genera and attach the name "Cormorant" to one and "Shag" to the other, but this flies in the face of common usage and has not been widely adopted.
The scientific genus name is latinized Ancient Greek, from φαλακρός (phalakros, "bald") and κόραξ (korax, "raven"). This is often thought to refer to the creamy white patch on the cheeks of adult Great Cormorants, or the ornamental white head plumes prominent in Mediterranean birds of this species, but is certainly not a unifying characteristic of cormorants. "Cormorant" is a contraction derived either directly from Latin corvus marinus, "sea raven" or through Brythonic Celtic. Cormoran is the Cornish name of the sea giant in the tale of Jack the Giant Killer. Indeed, "sea raven" or analogous terms were the usual terms for cormorants in Germanic languages until after the Middle Ages. The French explorer André Thévet commented in 1558 that "...the beak similar to that of a cormorant or other corvid," which demonstrates that the erroneous belief that the birds were related to ravens lasted at least to the 16th century.

Content credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormorant

Scutelleridae

2012-08-12T14:11:00.001+05:30

Date Taken: 11 Aug 2012
Place: Bangalore outskirts

Scutelleridae is a family of true bugs. They are commonly known as jewel bugs or metallic shield bugs due to their often brilliant coloration. They are also known as shield-backed bugs due to the enlargement of the last section of their thorax into a continuous shield over the abdomen and wings. This latter characteristic distinguishes them from most other families within Heteroptera, and may lead to misidentification as a beetle rather than a bug. These insects feed on plant juices from a variety of different species, including some commercial crops. Closely related to stink bugs, they may also produce an offensive odour when disturbed. There are around 450 species worldwide.

Jewel bugs are small to medium-sized oval-shaped bugs with a body length averaging at 5 to 20 mm (0.20 to 0.79 in). They can easily be distinguished from stink bugs (Pentatomidae) because the shield-like enlarged last section of their thorax (known as the scutellum, Latin for "little shield") completely covers the abdomen and the wings.
Despite their resemblance to beetles, jewel bugs are hemipterans or true bugs. The scutellum is an extension of the thorax, unlike the elytra of beetles which are hardened forewings. As such, jewel bugs have four membranous wings underneath the scutellum in contrast to two in beetles. The scutellum in jewel bugs also does not have a division in the middle and thus does not 'split open' when they take flight like in beetles.
The heads of jewel bugs are triangular and the antennae have three to five segments. Like all heteropterans, jewel bugs are characterized by a segmented beak-like mouthpart (known as the rostrum). During feeding, jewel bugs inject proteolytic enzymes in their saliva into plants, digesting plant matter into a liquid form which they then suck up. The tarsus has three segments (tarsomeres).

Content credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutelleridae

Green Bee Eater

2012-08-12T14:07:00.003+05:30

Date Taken: 11 Aug 2012
Place: Bangalore outskirts

The Green Bee-eater, Merops orientalis, (sometimes Little Green Bee-eater) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family. It is resident but prone to seasonal movements and is found widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and The Gambia to Ethiopia, the Nile valley, western Arabia and Asia through India to Vietnam. They are mainly insect eaters and they are found in grassland, thin scrub and forest often quite far from water. Several regional plumage variations are known and several subspecies have been named.

Like other bee-eaters, this species is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is about 9 inches (16–18 cm) long with about 2 inches made up by the elongated central tail-feathers. The sexes are not visually distinguishable. The entire plumage is bright green and tinged with blue especially on the chin and throat. The crown and upper back are tinged with golden rufous. The flight feathers are rufous washed with green and tipped with blackish. A fine black line runs in front of and behind the eye. The iris is crimson and the bill is black while the legs are dark grey. The feet are weak with the three toes joined at the base. Southeast Asian birds have rufous crown and face, and green underparts, whereas Arabian beludschicus has a green crown, blue face and bluish underparts. The wings are green and the beak is black. The elongated tail feathers are absent in juveniles. Sexes are alike.

Content credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bee-eater

Weaving Banarasi Saris

2012-08-06T12:15:00.001+05:30

Date Taken: 18 Apr 2012
Place: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Banarasi saris are saris made in Varanasi, a city which is also called "Benares." These saris are historically considered to be among the finest saris in India and are known for their gold and silver brocade or zari, fine silk and opulent embroidery, and being highly sought after. These saris are made of finely woven silk and are decorated with intricate design, and because of these engravings, these saris are relatively heavy. Their special characteristics are Mughal inspired designs such as intricate intertwining floral and foliate motifs, kalga and bel, a string of upright leaves called jhallar at the outer, edge of border is a characteristic of these sarees. Other distinctive features are Heavy gold work, Compact weaving, figures with small details, metallic visual effects, pallus, jal (a net like pattern), and mina work. These saris are an inevitable part of any Indian bride's trousseau.

Depending upon the intricacy of designs and patterns, a sari can take anywhere from 15 days to a one month and sometimes up to six months to complete. Banarasi saris are mostly worn by Indian women on important occasions such as when attending a wedding and are expected to be complemented by the woman's best jewelry.

Content credit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banarasi_saris

Corner of Taj

2012-07-14T00:40:00.002+05:30

Date Taken: 25 April 2012
Place: Agra, India.

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Uttarakhand - Simply the Heaven

2012-07-13T23:40:00.002+05:30

Date Taken: 05 May 2012
Place: Uttarakhand, India.

Uttarakhand has a total area of 53,566 km², of which 93% is mountainous and 64% is covered by forest. Most of the northern part of the state is covered by high Himalayan peaks and glaciers, while the lower foothills were densely forested till logged by British log merchants and, after independence, by forest contractors. Recent efforts in reforestation, however, have begun to restore the historical environment. The Himalayan ecosystem provides habitat for many animals (including bharal, snow leopards, leopards and tigers), plants, and rare herbs. Two of India's largest rivers, the Ganges and the Yamuna, originate in the glaciers of Uttarakhand, where they are fed by myriad lakes, glacial melts and streams.

Uttarakhand lies on the southern slope of the Himalaya range, and the climate and vegetation vary greatly with elevation, from glaciers at the highest elevations to subtropical forests at the lower elevations. The highest elevations are covered by ice and bare rock. Below them, between 3,000 and 5,000 metres (9,800 and 16,000 ft) are the western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows. The temperate western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests grow just below the tree line. At 3,000 to 2,600 metres (9,800 to 8,500 ft) elevation they transition to the temperate western Himalayan broadleaf forests, which lie in a belt from 2,600 to 1,500 metres (8,500 to 4,900 ft) elevation. Below 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) elevation lie the Himalayan subtropical pine forests. The Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests and the drier Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands cover the lowlands along the Uttar Pradesh border in a belt locally known as Bhabhar. These lowland forests have mostly been cleared for agriculture, but a few pockets remain.

Content credit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Uttarakhand

Fishing - Juvenile Brahminy Kite

2012-07-12T21:16:00.003+05:30

Date Taken: 08 July 2012
Place: Sangama, Karnataka, India.

Socotra Sparrow

2012-07-08T22:13:00.001+05:30

Date Taken: 08 July 2012
Place: Sangama, Karnataka, India.

Catch It! - Brahminy Kite

2012-07-08T22:13:00.000+05:30

Date Taken: 08 July 2012
Place: Sangama, Karnataka, India.

The Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) also known as the Red-backed Sea-eagle in Australia, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. They are found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. They are found mainly on the coast and in inland wetlands where they feed on dead fish and other prey. Adults have a reddish brown plumage and a contrasting white head and breast which makes them easy to distinguish from other birds of prey.

Content credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahminy_Kite

Eagle - Fishing

2012-07-08T22:10:00.000+05:30

Date Taken: 08 July 2012
Place: Sangama, Karnataka, India.

Great Thick-Knee

2012-06-24T20:01:00.003+05:30