India! Peacock
Indian Peafowl: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — I grew up in eastern up-state New York, on a rural farm, with Peacocks. My grandfather, who was maybe a bit odd in many ways, but a wonderful man, kept, as a hobby, “fancy birds”, for no particular reason other than he liked them. He had a pair of Peafowl, and about 50 Guineefowl, a barn full of fancy bantam roosters and hens, ducks, and a huge bully goose that ruled the barnyard. (I still have scars, emotional if not physical, from that goose.) A Peacock in full display was then a common sight in my youth. I have since been places where escaped birds frequent the rooftops, but, of course, there is no where quite like India for Peafowl. It is the Indian Peafowl after all. In Rajasthan at least, they are everywhere. And since they seem to like to live in close proximity to humans, and they are so large, and so gaudy, they are seen everywhere too. This male was in full display in a broken lot off the circuit trail at Saltanpur. Pretty impressive. Even more impressive, I suppose, if I had not grown up with them. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! White-throated Mountain Gem, female
Female White-throated Mountain Gem: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The White-throated Mountain Gems, especially the females, like to feed at the flowers where the Flowerpiercers have been busy. They use the holes the Flowerpiercers have already made, which gives them access to nectar they would not otherwise be able to reach. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Grey Heron and Great Egret with lots of ducks and others at Saltanpur
Grey Heron, Great Egret: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Despite being often shrouded in the mirk of greater Delhi, the wetlands at Saltanpur are a vital resource for ducks, waterfowl, waders and other water birds, and home to a large herd of Nilgai antelope. I am always amazed at the resilience of nature. In this one image you can see three large waders, Black-necked Stilt, Painted Crane, Swamp-hen, and at least a few species of ducks. And the back end of a Nilgai. I had to work on it to draw the content out of the haze, but it certainly demonstrates how rich an area Saltanpur is for birds. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Indian Pond Heron
Indian Pond Heron: Sultanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — This was not the first, but my first good shot, of what seems, in hindsight, like at least 30,000 Indian Pond Herons we saw in Rajasthan. The Indian Pond Heron is very like the Squacco Heron of Africa and a few places on the Iberian Peninsula. The white wings in flight are very distinctive. Turns out they are a very common bird in India! Sony Rx10iv at 591mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! Torrent Tyrannulet
Torrent Tryannulet: San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The Savegre River has carved a sharp steep valley out of the Pacific side of the Talamanca Mountains which has become a major birding destination for it relaiabe population of Resplendent Quetzels. But of course it it rich in other mountain and cloud forest species as well. The Torrent Trannulet is one of the most specialized flycatchers in the world. It needs fast flowing, tumbling, rocky river beds with the cleanest water…just what the Savegre provides. You can generally find a few between the lodges at the end of the road where it runs next to the stream. They are not always as cooperative as this one which we found right under a bridge. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th and 1/640th. Minus .7EV Wide shot, iPhone SE2.
India! Indian Spot Billed Duck
Indian Spot Billed Duck: Sultanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — We were to see Spot Billed Duck in almost every open patch of water larger than a village tank every where we went in Rajasthan. (And I think they only avoided the tanks because they were usually clogged with floating plastic bottles.) Certainly the most common duck in Rajasthan. A really a beautiful bird! This one came close enough so that I could pretty much clean the murk out of the image and present the bird as it might have appeared on a somewhat clearer day. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .3EV.
India! Purple Sunbird
Purple Sunbird: Sultanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — When I visit Africa one of my favorite groups of birds to collect is sunbirds…so bright and so present, and so many kinds. There appear to be almost as many different kinds in India, but only a few have wide distribution, and only one of those is in Rajasthan where we spent our time…and, in fact, the second most common sunbird in India looks almost identical, in the males, to the Purple. So Purple it is for Indian Sunbirds. We did see them frequently. This was our first encounter, and closest, at Sultanpur National Park. We have here a male and a female. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. Male: ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Female: ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! Back for more Quetzal
Resplendent Quetzal: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Though I am back from India now and have a lot of photos from India to share, I never finished working through my Costa Rica photos, so I will be posting random second helpings of the Pic for today to finish up that adventure. And what better bird to return to than the Resplendent Quetzal? These again from our second early morning session with the Quetzals. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 and 2000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Little Cormorant and Back Drongo
Little Cormorant and Black Drongo: Sultanpur National Park, India, March 2023 — Sultanpur National Park surrounds a large wetland which attracts all kinds of birds. The Little Cormorant seems to be the most common Cormorant in Rajasthan, and the Black Drongo is certainly the most common Drongo in India. They seem quite neighborly here, just hanging out in the morning, waiting for the haze to clear. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .3EV
Oriental Magpie Robin
Oriental Magpie Robin: Sultanpur National Park, India, March 2023 — One of the most common birds of the Indian countryside, the Oriental Magpie Robin is in fact wildly distributed from the Himalayas south through India and west to the pacific shores of China and Malaysia. It is a perky little bird with a large repertoire of songs…even imitating the calls and songs of other local birds. It used to be classed with the thrushes, but is now considered an “old world flycatcher”. Even the deep morning mirk of Sultanpur could not diminish the joy of this bird. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 10,000 @ f4 ! 1/500th. Plus 2EV. ISO 2000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .3EV.