Did you Know? - Crab Plovers

The crab plover (Dromas ardeola) is the only member of 

the Dromadidae family,

and has no close living relatives. 

It is also unique among waders, 

in using ground warmth to aid incubation of eggs.

Did you know? - Little Grebe

The little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), also known as the Dabchick,
is the smallest member of the grebe family.

All grebes are accomplished divers and to assist them in swimming under water

the bird’s lobed feet are placed well back at the rear of their bodies.

In fact, a grebe cannot move well on land and rarely comes ashore,

mostly to breed.

Did you know?

Seemingly unimportant insects are vital for the health of an ecosystem. bees and other insect pollinators provide pollinating services to us "FOR FREE".

Fruits and edible-oil seeds cannot be formed without "HELP" from these critters.

Pollination services provided by insects, mainly bees, are worth EUR 153 billion a year, according to new EU-funded research. This figure is equivalent to almost a tenth of the total value of world agricultural food production. Scientists warn that without these pollination services, the supply of fruits, vegetables and stimulants such as coffee and cocoa would no longer meet the current demand.

Did you know?

Juvenile Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) feeding on dung, originally uploaded by wildlens.

Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) regularly eat dung, which is a source of Beta-carotene, which gives their beak, the distinctive Yellow color

Did you know?

Ladybird eating Aphid 

Aphids can reproduce by parthenogenesis and are a pest, once the host plant starts to die out,the females start to grow wings,to fly off in search of another plant to feed on and colonize.Ladybirds feed on aphids and keep their population under control.Even a small insect has a vital role to play in maintaining the health of the ecosystem.Here a Ladybird was feeding on a winged female aphid.

Vivitar V3000s camera,reversal ring,extension tube,vivitar 50mm lens,1/125 sec at
f16,Flash,Kodak Elitechrome 100 film pushed to 200 ISO,scanned with Nikon Coolscan 5000ED

The Desert in Summer - LRK Trip Report

"Desert" - The word conjures up an unmistakable image of an inhospitable place devoid of life, with sand dunes stretching out as far as the eyes can see. We could see that image of the "Desert" evaporate in front of our eyes when we visited The Rann of Kutch (Little & Greater) last year. It evolved into something exponentially resplendent, as we revisited the little rann of kutch repeatedly after that.

The best time to visit the wild ass sanctuary is from november to February as the biodiversity is at its peak during this time, the terrain is motor-able and the heat is bearable.

We thought it would be interesting to notice the changes in density and variety of wildlife in march and to experience the desert during the summer months.
We left Ahmedabad at 4a.m. (getting up that early is the toughest part) taking the route through sanand-viramgam-malvan and took a sharp right (almost U) turn from malvan to bajana, where we picked up our guide and got the permit to enter the wild ass sanctuary.

We felt at ease on reaching there as the horrifying traffic of the highway had vanished, giving way to trails, bushes and open desert. It was almost 6:45 a.m. when we reached there, thanks to a closed railway crossing that had to be opened after the train that was expected to cross, trickeled to a halt, just a few yards from the crossing. we drove a few miles to reach an oasis that was a haven for wildlife, we spotted pelicans (not spotted but rosy pelicans), flamingos, spoonbills, grey herons, a few ducks and waders.By now the water had reduced to a fraction of its size when we visited in winter, and the density and variety of birds had decreased dramatically. 


The Greater and Lesser Flamingos feeding together
the difference in size and colour of the beak is obvious.

The sandy bumpy trail on which we were rocking gradually turned into a firm bone rattling one. As we took a turn we realized that we were in the middle of a mine field  of sand grouses that took off around us as we drove through.


Chestnut Bellied sand grouse rely on their camouflage to elude hunters.

Just off the trail we spotted a group of Nilgai being harassed by a small group of stray dogs. Judging from the health of the dogs we could conclude why its wild cousins - the foxes, wolves, hyenas and jackals call this place home,but they were nowhere to be seen as we rattled along, checking out areas of frequent sightings, at times creating a dust storm of our own behind the vehicle.
The Peregrine Falcon is another beautiful raptor that can be found here, and it made a guest appearance, flying past us just as we were talking about it. It had fattened up considerably, which reminded us to have our fill. 

 
The fastest bird in flight can reach speeds upto 320 km/h 
while stooping on its prey from above.

we had our lunch at the watch-tower and drove a few miles to stumble upon a small group of blackbucks, on stopping the vehicle we realized that we had paid the price for not driving carefully, no the traffic police was not following us but one of our tyres was punctured and changing it under the desert sun was an unforgettable experience.


Its a struggle for survival for the people and wildlife of the desert. 
The endangered wildlife could face devastating consequences in case of a drought.

We headed straight for Patdi a few miles that seemed like light years in the desert terrain. We took a more civilized tar road back to Bajana, where we rested out the afternoon under a tree, in company of a few locals who chatted away endlessly, while a variety of common birds visited the 'Parab' (a small water tank) nearby.

As the mercury dropped to a more tolerable level in the evening we ventured deep into the desert, hoping to get a glimpse of the extremely shy Desert fox. Trucks could be seen carrying salt from the salt mines while people worked endlessly on salt production. Watching all this we could not help but think how one greedy species could claim every bit of land on the planet as its property.

As the sun started to sink towards the horizon we came across a lonely stallion grazing, unfazed by the storm of dust that passed over it. As the dust disappeared we could see that something had appeared behind the Gudkhar (wild ass in local language) a close look through the viewfinder revealed that it was the desert fox. Driving between the two we could get close to the fox that was quite wary. It was a breathtaking sight to witness this beautiful creature from close quarters as the last rays of sun kissed its fur giving it a surreal appearance.


The Desert Fox is only found in the Thar desert in Rajasthan and Kutch, Gujarat. 
It has keen sense of smell and hearing, which it relies on to find its prey.

We returned back with unforgettable memories. A crane (not the bird) and heaps of salt reminded us once again of how we exploit nature but forget that we depend on it as well.



If we continue to inflict damage to these last pockets (not just this sanctuary) of natural splendor, the holes that we create in these pockets could unknowingly allow the little natural wealth that is left to trickle down until one day when we realize that there is none of it left for us. 


The Endangered Indian Wild Ass could suffer heavily in case of a drought

Than the Earth would seem like a 'DESERT' 
(the one that we started the article with)

National Geographic photographer Michael 'Nick' Nichols photographs Tigers in India.

Blue sky to add pop to subject

Blue sky adds drama to common subjects.
Try to under expose by 0.5 to 1 stop to get dramatic blue sky.

Featured on Popphoto flash

One of our image featured on popular photography and imaging site in Popphoto Flash "The Fix" section : http://flash.popphoto.com/blog/2010/02/fix-it-fast-sun-block.html

From Birds

we were looking for the great crested grebe when suddenly i noticed a painted stork taking off and heading towards the rising sun, i quickly took my camera out and fired a few shots hoping to get a sharp shot.

Photographing the cranes of japan by Art Wolfe

was a beautiful evening when it was virtually impossible to seperate the horizon from the sky the low tide had begun and i was trying to stalk a grey heron to get it with its reflection, while shooting it i heard a diffrent kind of call which i had never heard before, an adult crab plover and a juvenile were flying by, i had the Nikon D40 with the Sigma 170-500 dg lens on it, (Darn!!! - the autofocus would not work as the D40 doesnot have a motor and same goes with the sigma 170-500) somehow luck was on my side and i managed to focus on these beautiful birds as they came close.

The light was really low when the lion got up
and start patrolling its territory.
could not get a sharp shot at 500mm setting
of the 50-500mm lens when it was sitting.
As we were in a car, we used a beanbag and zoomed out
to 195 mm to reduce the blur, panned the camera while squeezing
the shutter on continuous shooting mode
to increase the chance of getting a sharp frame.
1/13 sec at f8 the camera was on 800 ISO.

This male was lying near the waterhole rolling on this rock scratching the parts of its body which were hard to reach otherwise. as the light was very low, the camera was supported on a beanbag, every body in the jeep co-operated when asked to freeze.
500mm Lens 1/125 sec at f8 ISO 800

Recently got an email from the
Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards.
Unfortunately, I didn't win any prizes, but these two photos
which are also our personal favorites
made it to the semi-finals.

These little waders are very difficult to get close.
I had to slowly crawl on my elbows like a soldier to get
a reasonable size image of this stint in beautiful plumage,
the bottom part of the image looks green because of the low angle
and the grass in the foreground near the lens

These godwits were preventing each other from intruding their patch near a lake, both of them were continuously feeding but both of thought that the grass was greener on the other side and tried invading each others patch, at times hitting each other with their beaks. while the poor photographer was sitting in the muck with his shoes stuck in and his trousers dirty - giving joy to all who passed by. on one instance one of the godwits got a really nasty hit and fell down but got up and started fighting again till both of them flew away.

Bought a new sigma 50-500 DG. very happy with the results so far. this one was shot on the third trip with the new lens. one of my dream come true to watch the cubs with their mom.

tern fishing

This tern was photographed using manual focus mode after it tried to catch a fish from the water

This comb duck was photographed with a D40 with 70-300 G lens using manual focus.