Lalbagh flower show (Jan 2011)

January 23, 2011

This is my third visit to flower show. Last time in August 2010 I had got some decent macro shots. Usually I tend to plan photography trip on Saturdays and leave Sunday as a rest day. However this time, thanks to tamasha held by Karnataka government which led to a bandh on Saturday, I had no option but to visit Lalbagh on Sunday. Being a Sunday I knew that it will be crowded, so i reached at around 7.30 AM thinking that I'll miss the crowd and get some opportunity to shoot birds early morning. However I was disappointed to see that there were plenty of people in the garden and most of them were waiting for the flower show to open. I spent some time roaming around in the garden and by 9 AM I entered into the flower show. This place was too crowded and at some places there was hardly any space to take photos. With whatever time and space I got I managed to get few shots. Though for me this trip was a major disappointment. All the shots below are taken with my trusty Nikon D40 and Sigma 150mm macro lens.

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King of Hebbal lake

January 22, 2011

Till now I have made plenty of visits to Hebbal lake and have managed to capture most of the bird species found there. One that was missing in the list was Kingfisher. While this bird can be spotted easily here as there are few fixed places where it usually can be found perched and looking for fish, but these spots are little far from my lens' reach. At 300mm there is hardly any details that can be captured from such long distance. However during my last visit to Hebbal I had nice sighting of this bird and was able to get few decent shots. In fact this time I was lucky to spot and capture 2 species of Kingfisher on same day. Small blue kingfisher which is little less shy and White breasted Kingfisher which is very shy and its difficult to get close to it. Here are few shots of White breasted kingfisher

And here are few shots that I got of Small Blue kingfisher

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First morning of the new year (Hebbal lake)

1st Jan, 2011

2010 is gone and a warm welcome to 2011. Last year was when my interest in photography grew to newer heights. Last year was also when I decided to record my experiences and express my self on the internet and that is why I started this photo blog.

My new year morning started with a trip to a place which I had visited a numerous times, especially after getting 70-300mm lens. Yes, it is Hebbal lake. Again being a winter morning there was lovely mist around the lake so for first few minutes I clicked few shots of the mist ridden lake. I had got better shots of the lake during my earlier trip do I did not bother to take much shots rather I was waiting for the sun to break out. Because of the slight mist the early morning sun light was nicely diffused over the lake giving it a lovely golden glow. I got some nice silhouette shots of pelican flying across the lake.

Pelican flying across morning lit lake

Now landing in water

Silhouette of pelican with pair of spotbill ducks

The morning glow and the mist disappeared in few minutes so I headed to the garden to shoot sunbirds, prinia or any thing that comes my way.

This time around I came across Tickell's Blue Flycatcher which posed for just enough time for me to get a shot.

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

Later on I chased a Purple rumped sunbird and got one shot.

Purple rumped sunbird

There were few Rose Ringed parakeets around and I got couple of shot of this beautiful bird.

Rose ringed parakeet about to take off

Rose ringed parakeet

I also saw a Cormorant lazing around. I slowly approached it from behind and took few shots.

Cormorant

The best catch of the day was a male Paradise Flycatcher. This beautiful bird came and sat just for few seconds. Before I could get a good shot it few away. However seeing this bird was itself so satisfying. Here is the shot that i got and it does no justice to the beauty of this bird. Maybe I can keep this shot just for a record till I get a better one.

Paradise Flycatcher (Male)

Disappointed with myself for not getting better shot of Paradise Flycatcher I thought of heading back home. While going towards the exit I spotted a Drongo, Myna and Pond heron so casually took few shots.

Black Drongo

Common Myna

Pond Heron with its reflection

So these were the shots from the first morning of the year 2011. Hope that this year gives good opportunity to travel different places, get some good shots and improve my photography skill.

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