Indian Roller (state bird of Karnataka)

Indian Roller

So here is another post of this beautiful bird, the Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis which also happens to be the state bird of Karnataka.

I will not be writing a lot of text in this post, for that you can view the previous post HERE.

Indian Roller

All Images were shot using a Canon EOS 20D and a Canon EF 600mm F4L IS USM handheld.

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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

Blue-tailed Bee-eaters in action

Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippinus

So here are a few images of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters i made in the month of May. Hope you enjoy them.

All the images were shot on a Canon EOS 20D with a Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS USM lens using rear-focus AF.

A pair of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters on the ground.

A pair of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters with their catch!

Blue-tailed Bee-eaters are near passerine birds from the Bee-eater family. They breed in South-eastern Asia, and are seen during the season in most places in peninsular India.

It is a richly-colored slender bird that can reach lengths of 23-26cms. The body is mainly green with a blue tail, from which it gets its name.

Blue-tailed Bee-eaters feed on insects, especially bees, hornets and wasps. They also feed on dragonflies (as seen above) in equal numbers. Quite often they are seen beating the insects cought in their beaks against twigs or branches, this is done to break the insects exoskeleton.

They nest in colonys in sandy banks or open flat areas, with the birds laying five-seven eggs each. Both the parents take care of the eggs and chicks.

A note to photographers: Please avoid going too close to the nest as this prevent the parents from taking food to the chicks inside the nest.

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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

Leopard on rock -Bandipur

Another trip to Bandipur!! :)

It started of with Mahesh Reddy, Vinay S Kumar and I heading for Bandipur late night. Our destination was Jungle Lodges. It had been raining tigers over the past few days in Bandipur, with sightings of them for over an hour. For some strange reason i just knew it, what we were going to see was a Leopard, and that too one on a rock, an image i'd only dreamt of making.

Just before we headed for the morning i remember telling Mahesh 'dude, we'l change the sightings at Bandipur from tigers to leopards, and hopefully will get to see one on a rock.'

It was just two minutes into the safari, when i spotted a thin stripe of something golden-ish on one of the rocks and decided to wait for a few seconds to confirm that it was a leopard before shouting 'LEOPARD LEOPARD LEOPARD'. This was the very same rocky area that i had seen way back in 2008 and had dreamt of seeing a cat on it from that very first safari.

I cannot explain the feeling of seeing a cat at the very same spot id dreamt of for four years. Hopefully you like the images of this sighting as well!!

Both the images were shot using a Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS USM mounted on a Canon EOS 20D.

Both Mahesh's & Vinay's images can be viewed at Mahesh Reddy Fotografy & Vinay S Kumar Photography.

For bookings and info on Jungle Lodges, Bandipur please CLICK HERE

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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 Eagle-Owl

During one of our trips to Kabini, we decided to take a small diversion to look for the Indian Eagle-Owl (formerly known as the Rock Eagle-Owl).

Indian Eagle-Owl, Bangalore Rural, Karnataka
Canon EOS 20D, Canon EF 600mm F4 L IS USM

The Indian Eagle-Owl, Bubo bengalensis, is considered a sub-species of the Eurasian Eagle-Owl Bubo bubo. They are found in hilly and rocky scrub forests and often among abandoned stone quarries. Their diet mainly consists of rodents and other small mammals. During winters they tend to prey on other smaller birds.

They breed during the months of November to April, often using the same nest year after year. They lay 3-4 eggs, which hatch after about 30 days. The chicks are dependent on their parent for close to six months. 

The main threat to this species is due to various superstitions among villagers, which often lead to them being captured and killed.

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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

State Bird of Karnataka - Indian Roller

Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis
This lovely bird below is the Indian Roller. It also happens to be the state bird of Karnataka. The Indian Roller gets its name because of the 'rolling' display of the male during breeding season. They have a huge variety when it comes to prey ranging from small insects such as crickets , grasshoppers, bees, etc and larger prey such as lizards, scorpions, mice, etc.

Portrait of an Indian Roller

An Indian Roller perched on a termite mound

There has been a recent development at the grassland where these images have been photographed and if action is not taken, we may see the end of this particular habitat of theirs!! At first, the government planted saplings over here(half of which have already died), did they not realize the meaning of the term 'grassland', who plants a huge number of tree saplings in a grassland, and now the great minds at work here want to build a theme park or a film city at this very grassland. It is time THE SYSTEM changes, let us take a stand against this stupidity!!

Click HERE to sign the online petition agains this nonsense!!

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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

Save a grassland!!

Hessarghatta has been one of the favourite photography spots for most Bangalore photographers, so wast is the number of Migratory birds here, especially raptors that photographers from nearby states visit this place.
This is where i have photographed all those lovely raptor images and the on below that you have liked.
Sadly this place is under threat from our government. They want to set up a Theme Park or a Film City here.

Please sign the online petition below to save this wonderful habitat!!

Eurasian Marsh Harrier

Please sign this online petition to save this wonderful grassland!!

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-chief-minister-vidhana-soudha-bangalore-stop-the-development-of-a-theme-park-on-the-grassland-near-hesaraghatta?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=friends_wall

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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

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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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