Birding at Nandi Hills

A place where id previously gone and struggled turned out to be a heaven for birding this Feb.

Nandi Hills is situated approximately 60kms from Bangalore, a little beyond the International Airport. Nandi Hills is very rich in bird-life, making it a very popular birdwatching spot.

The images from the first day are:

Indian Pitta
Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS USM, Gitzo tripod with ball head

Eurasian Blackbird
Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS USM, Gitzo tripod with ball head

Nilgiri Wood Pigeon

Orange-headed Thrush

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

We also saw a pair of Common Kestrels and a pair of Peregrine Falcons towards the end of the trip.

A note to photographers: Nandi Hills usually has very poor light, so be prepared to use a high ISO and a tripod if possible.

All the above images were shot using a Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS USM, and a Gitzo tripod with ball head for support.

The second day was a day well spent with raptors. We saw a staggering 8-9 Tawny Eagles, a pair of Bonelli's Eagles, a lone Egyptian Vulture and a lone Black Eagle.

It was just awesome watching the eagle fight amongst themselves. I have a lot more images of the eagles, but will upload the later.

Tawny Eagle in flight
Canon EOS 500D, Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS USM, hand-held

Since i had borrowed my friends Canon EOS 7 D on the first day, i decided to try out the HD video option on it. I short a very short clip of the Indian Pitta. Hope you guys like it!! :)

Indian Pitta from Angad Achappa on Vimeo.

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Spoonbill Image on National Geographic Magazines online page

A Eurasian Spoonbill shakes of water after emerging from a bath

Finally an achievement worthy of mentioning. This Eurasian Spoonbill image of mine was selected for display on National Geographic Magazine's website!!

Here is a screen capture from the website:


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a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!! :)

The legendary Gowri...

While people were busy deciding which party to head to on New Years eve, the six of us bums hadn't even decided on a place. Siting at Hotel Airlines we were busy chalking out various plans, and then it was decided, Kabini it was going to be.

Our journey began around 12:30AM as we headed of to Kabini, six of us cramped into one little car(AKA 'Hessarghatta Express').

Our first safari in the morning with some excellent skills by our naturalist Afsar 'Billicatcher' and we saw her, a majestic tigress walking across the game trail. A fantastic moment for all of us. It was even more special for Aditya & Ajay as they had been dying to see a tiger in South India their entire life(26 years to be precise)! While Vinay V, Vivek and I could only enjoy the moment, Vinay L, our champion photographer managed to get an image o her, and what an image it was. You can see the image HERE.

I only managed to get a few images of a Crested Serpent Eagle and a young Tusker.

A young Tusker in Kabini

An Indian Elephant calf at Kabini baby elephant

The evening safari had the regular sightings such as Spotted Deer, Elephants and Sambar Deers. What a way it was to end 2011. A tiger sighting on our last day of the year.

We decided to spend the first day of 2012 in Bandipur, and what a decision it was. Another Tiger. This time it was Gowri, the legendry tigress from Bandipur. She has successfully raised 8 cubs to adults in the last 2 years.

Tigress(Gowri) at Bandipur

Another image of Gowri

Thank you boys for making this New Years special!!

All the images in this post were shot with a Canon EOS 20D & a Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS USM, while Vinay's image was shot with a Nikon D3S & a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 600mm f/4G ED VR

A tip for amateur photographers: Please do not use your flash inside the forest!!

Links for images/reports from the blog:
Ajay's Blogpost
Vinay L Photography
Vinay Venugopals photograph
Vivek Kumar's photograph

Click HERE for my previous Kabini Trip report and images

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Kabini Calling!!

After traveling to most of the Tiger Reserves in Karnataka, there was still one left to be ticked off the list, Kabini.

The backwaters of Kabini, which adjoins the Nagarhole National Park is a heaven for any wildlife photographer. After coming across a lot of leopard photographs from the region, i knew this was where i would make my first ever leopard image. Kabini is also famous for its large congregation of elephants during summers.

A leopard resting on top of a tree in Kabini

The leopard grooms herself before setting off for the night

On the 10th of December along with Sagarika, Sandeep, Suman and Prasana, we left Bangalore at 7AM and headed for The Serai, in Kabini. We checked in at our resort just short of lunch and were introduced to the GM Mr. Ashwin Pinto, who gave us a brief introduction about the resort and also about Kabini. From the time we arrived, we were all exited about the jungle safari that was just an hour away and it is in that very Safari towards the end that we found her sitting on a tree. I was thrilled, my very first safari in Kabini and id got my leopard image. My trip was made.

The night was spent chatting with the others over dinner.

The next day we opted for the jungle safari again in the morning and the boat safari in the evening. The morning safari yielded some fantastic sightings in the form a Malabar Flying Squirrel in broad daylight. It is quite rare to see them during the day as they are mainly nocturnal. We also came across a huge tusker on the banks at Sunset Point.

A tusker enjoys a mud-bath on the banks of Kabini Backwaters

A tusker on the banks of Kabini Backwaters

The evening boat ride yielded some very good elephant herd sightings. Kabini Backwaters is also home to a large number of Ospreys.

An Osprey at Kabini Backwaters

Crested Serpent Eagle

The next day before it was time to leave, we went for a short nature walk along the banks of the Kabini Backwaters with the head naturalist Mr. Kuttappan who showed us quite a few birds. The highlight of which for me was the Blue-tailed Bee Eater.

Blue-tailed Bee Eater

Wild boar in the backwaters

A sambar deer grazing along the banks

I must take some time out to thank Mr. Ashwin Pinto, the GM at the The Serai, Kabini, who was kind enough to help us plan the trip.

Some more images from the trip:

That's me photographing elephants at Kabini during the boat safari

Tusker along the banks

Common Kingfisher

Sunset at Kabini

We stayed at The Serai. Do visit their website for more details: http://www.theserai.in/en/in-the-waterfront.html

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Pallid Harrier - young male

This handsome bird is a young male Pallid Harrier. As an adult, this bird would show a very different coloring(whitish-grey). They are winter migrants to parts of Europe and Asia, especially India.

A young male Pallid Harrier sits on his mound amongst the dry grasslands of Bangalore

Common Name: Pallid Harrier
Scientific Name: Circus macrourus
Location: Bangalore, India
Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Lens: Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS
Exif: F6.3, 1/2500, ISO-400

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All Images are Copyrighted Angad Achappa and may not be used in any form, website or print/online media without written permission of the Photographer. For any inquiry for the photographs please contact: angadachappaphotography@hotmail.com

Eurasian Marsh Harrier - male

Finally got my chance to get a decent image of this species.
The Eurasian marsh harriers like all the other harriers are winter visitors to Bangalore and are amongst the first to arrive. The males are usually a lot more skittish in comparison to the females. The image below is that of the male. Females are darker, almost chocolaty brown in colour with a lighter colored head.

A male Eurasian Marsh Harrier in evening light, Bangalore

Canon EOS 20D + Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS, 1/500sec, F4, ISO-800

BTW I recently upgraded to my dream lens, the Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS and for those who've not met me, this is me: :D

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All Images are Copyrighted Angad Achappa and may not be used in any form, website or print/online media without written permission of the Photographer. For any inquiry for the photographs please contact: angadachappaphotography@hotmail.com

Indian Roller

Indian Roller, Coracias benghalensis:
While quite a common and colorful bird, not many people know that the Indian Roller is also the State Bird of Karnataka. It was formerly called Blue Jay. They are usually seen perched on trees and electric wires along roads and also in open grasslands. It is a 26-27cm stocky bird. They mainly feed on insects such as beetles, grasshoppers and crickets.
The Indian Roller is easily distinguished from the migratory European Roller, the former has a brown breast while the latter has a blue breast.

Indian Roller

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All Images are Copyrighted Angad Achappa and may not be used in any form, website or print/online media without written permission of the Photographer. For any inquiry for the photographs please contact: angadachappaphotography@hotmail.com