Jungle Babbler (Turdoides striata)

The Jungle Babbler's habitat is forest and cultivation. This species, like most babblers, is non-migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight. The sexes are identical, drably coloured in brownish grey with a yellow-bill making them confusable only with the endemic Yellow-billed Babblers of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The upperparts are usually slightly darker in shade and there is some mottling on the throat and breast.

Well it was a cool morning of November2011. The sky was full of clouds and the light was too dim when I was at outer of my home town. I located a big flock of Jungle Babblers feeding in the field and they were moving continuously in search of food. It was a bit typical to freeze the actions as the light was not so good but else I captured them only at a speed of 1/60s because of a trick.

Jungle Babblers in different actions

All Images are Copyrighted Syed F. Abbas 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: syedfabbasfotography@gmail.com

A short trip to my Farm

When I was on my daily walk to my farm I saw a couple of Large green Barbet sitting on a tree perch . Both of them were trying to prepare a nest in the tree. I was happy to see that sight. My favorite nikon was with me. I took a place under a small tree to hide myself. I captured a few images of the couple and when I was busy in shooting I heared a noise of Rose-ringed parakeets. I did complete my shooting very fast and start moving for parakeets. There were a few Rose-ringed Parakeets feeding on barley at a farm very near to me. I took several shots there and when I was returning from my farm I found a White-breasted waterhen sitting on a perch on a tree. I couldn’t get more than two images of the waterhen as after getting two shots the waterhen got disappeared in the bushes.

Here are a few captures from that day.

Large Green Barbet or Brown-headed Barbet

Rose-ringed Parakeet

White-breasted Waterhen

All Images are Copyrighted Syed F. Abbas 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: syedfabbasfotography@gmail.com

Large Grey Babbler (Turdoides malcolmi)

This long-tailed and large babbler has a brown body with creamy white outer tail feathers which are easily visible as they fly with fluttery wing beats low over the ground. The lores are dark and forehead is grey with white shaft streaks on the feathers. The rump and uppertail covers are pale grey. The mantle has dusky blotches and no shaft streaks. The three outer tail feathers are white and the fourth pair has the outer web white. The wings are darker brown. The iris is yellow and the upper mandible is dark brown while the lower mandible is yellowish. The tail is faintly cross barred. Abnormal specimens showing albinism or leucism have been reported.

Well it was a hot day of november2011 when I was in the field. I locate a flock of these large grey babblers feeding on the ground. I made several frames with different actions.

Large Grey Babbler portrait

Large Grey Babbler preening

All Images are Copyrighted Syed F. Abbas 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: syedfabbasfotography@gmail.com

Black-rumped Flameback (Dinopium benghalense)

The Black-rumped Flameback is a large species at 26–29 cm in length. It has a typical woodpecker shape, and the golden yellow wing coverts are distinctive. The rump is black and not red as in the Greater Flamaback. The underparts are white with dark chevron markings. The black throat finely marked with white immediately separates it from other golden backed woodpeckers in the Indian region. The head is whitish with a black nape and throat, and there is a greyish eye patch. Unlike the Greater Flameback it has no dark moustachial stripes.

The adult male has a red crown and crest. Females have a black forecrown spotted with white, with red only on the rear crest. Young birds are like the female, but duller.

Like other woodpeckers, this species has a straight pointed bill, a stiff tail to provide support against tree trunks, and zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward, and two backward. The long tongue can be darted forward to capture insects.

One day when I was going to my field and was on my path I saw this guy feeding from tree to tree. The lighting was dim and complicated because of the trees. My camera was with me so i did set my camera in aperture priority mode with auto sensitivity. First I watched him for some time to understand his behavior and when I was fully satisfied I did start tracking him. I captured him in my camera on different trees in different lighting conditions.

Here are some images from that series.

Black-rumped Flameback feeding on different trees

All Images are Copyrighted Syed F. Abbas 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: 

syedfabbasfotography@gmail.com

Large Grey Babbler (Turdoides malcolmi)

This long-tailed and large babbler has a brown body with creamy white outer tail feathers which are easily visible as they fly with fluttery wing beats low over the ground. The lores are dark and forehead is grey with white shaft streaks on the feathers. The rump and uppertail covers are pale grey. The mantle has dusky blotches and no shaft streaks. The three outer tail feathers are white and the fourth pair has the outer web white. The wings are darker brown. The iris is yellow and the upper mandible is dark brown while the lower mandible is yellowish. The tail is faintly cross barred. Abnormal specimens showing albinism or leucism have been reported.

I located this juvenile at the outer of my hometown. I took several frames instantly as I didn’t want to disturb him. When I was busy in shooting I heard a loud noise of babblers coming towards the juvenile. I laid down on the ground instantly to hide myself. The babblers continued making noise and a pair of babblers reached near the juvenile and start to feed him. I had taken my position for the shoot and start capturing those lovely moments. I captured around 50 frames and some of the snaps are here.

Large Grey Babbler juvenile

Large Grey Babbler and juvenile

Large Grey Babbler feeding young one

All Images are Copyrighted Syed F. Abbas 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: 

syedfabbasfotography@gmail.com

Common Hawk-Cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius)

The Common Hawk-Cuckoo is a medium to large sized cuckoo, about the size of a pigeon (ca. 34 cm). The plumage is ashy grey above; whitish below, cross-barred with brown. The tail is broadly barred. The sexes are alike. They have a distinctive yellow eye ring. Subadults have the breast streaked, similar to the immature Shikra, and there are large brown chevron marks on the belly. At first glance they can be mistaken for a hawk. When flying they use a flap and glide style that resembles that of sparrowhacks (especially the Shikra) and flying upwards and landing on a perch they shake their tails from side to side. Many small and birds and squirrels raise alarm just as they would in the presence of a hawk. The sexes are alike but males tend to be larger.

It was the time of september 2011 when I was at a village named Ikonda near my hometown for birding. At a sudden, I saw this bird on a perch flapping his wings. I saw this bird at first time so misguided to identify it as a shikra. It was the juvenile and some large grey babblers were making a gathering around him and making a loud noise. This juvenile was also screaming and trying to fly here and there but the babblers were chasing him continuously. I was confused and trying to understand that what actually was happening there but couldn’t get any result. I was trekking him continuously and capturing him in my camera time to time.

Here are some images from that shoot.

Common Hawk-Cuckoo portrait

Common Hawk-Cuckoo in habitat

Large Grey Babblers chasing Common Hawk-Cuckoo

All Images are Copyrighted Syed F. Abbas 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: 

syedfabbasfotography@gmail.com

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Adults are 33–36 cm long. They have long pink legs, a long thin black bill and are blackish above and white below, with a white head and neck with a varying amount of black. Males have a black back, often with greenish gloss. Females' backs have a brown hue, contrasting with the black remiges. In the populations that have the top of the head normally white at least in winter, females tend to have less black on head and neck all year round, while males often have much black, particularly in summer. This difference is not clear-cut, however, and males usually get all-white heads in winter.

Immature birds are grey instead of black and have a markedly sandy hue on the wings, with light feather fringes appearing as a whitish line in flight.

There are some black-winged stilts reside near a pond at my hometown. Some of them are adult males and females with some immature ones. When I reached at that pond they were feeding and enjoying their company. I captured so many frames with different compositions.

Here are some images.

Black-winged stilt portrait

Black-winged stilt in habitat

Black-winged stilt male and juvenile

All Images are Copyrighted Syed F. Abbas 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: 

syedfabbasfotography@gmail.com