The birdwatchers—featuring bird photography, species facts, and spotting guides.
Drongos, kingfishers and hawk-eagles all hunt the same way — sit high, watch, drop. Once you scan perches instead of scenery, they become the easiest birds in India to find and photograph.
Birds on Wires: How Perch Hunters Work, and Why It Makes Them Easy to Photograph Read Post »
The loudest bird of an Indian summer is one few people have seen. The Common Hawk-Cuckoo, the Grey-bellied Cuckoo, and the seven-gram prinias and bulbuls that end up raising their chicks.
The Cuckoo Con: India’s Monsoon Brood Parasites and Their Hosts Read Post »
Find a fruiting fig, sit down, and stay there. Why a fig tree is the most productive spot in an Indian forest, what turns up at one, and how to photograph birds in a canopy.
Sit Under a Fig Tree: The Easiest Way to See Forest Birds Read Post »
Most people leave Bhigwan by nine, once they have their flamingo photographs. Here are six birds from the rest of the same morning — River Tern, Painted Stork, Montagu’s Harrier, Brahminy Kite, Asian Openbill and Bluethroat.
Six Birds After the Flamingos: A Winter Morning at Bhigwan Read Post »
A Malabar Grey Hornbill as a silhouette, an Indian Pitta that stopped for four seconds, and a Crimson-backed Sunbird that never stopped at all — and what each one teaches you about photographing birds in the Western Ghats.
Hornbill, Pitta, Sunbird: Three Hard Birds of a Konkan Monsoon Morning Read Post »
The most photographed birds of my Sindhudurg trip were on the verandah, not in the forest. Wire-tailed Swallows, how to identify them, why they nest on houses, and how to live with them.
Wire-tailed Swallows on the Verandah: The Birds That Live in Konkan Houses Read Post »
Everyone at Bhigwan takes the boat. Forty minutes away the Kadbanwadi grassland holds Indian Fox, Chinkara, harrier roosts and sandgrouse — and almost nobody goes.
Kadbanwadi Grassland: The Half of Bhigwan Nobody Visits Read Post »
The Atlas moth has a 24 cm wingspan, snake-head wingtips and no working mouth. Size, lifespan, the mimicry on its wings and where to see one in India.
Two common Indian prinias that are easy to confuse. Head colour, wing panel, breast band and tail length compared, with photographs of both from Sindhudurg.
Ashy Prinia vs Grey-breasted Prinia: How to Tell Them Apart Read Post »
How to identify the Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, what it really eats, and the trick it uses to remove venom before swallowing a bee. With photographs from Sindhudurg.
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater: How It Hunts and Handles a Sting Read Post »
