iCampers: February 2016

Welcome to the Photo Catalog of the Bharatpur / Chambal camp - Jan 2016

To begin with, let me introduce you to the photographers of this camp...

Abhijit getting ready for the photoshoot in Bharatpur

Swanand is waiting for the Sun to come out in the dusky morning, with his Canon 7D and 400 prime

Ninaad is setting up his Canon 7D mark 2 with 150-600 Sigma lens on his brand new Tripod..

And here is the best photographer with best set of gadgets.. Mukul on Canon 7D Mark 2 with 600mm prime..

Mornings in Bharatpur are typically like this. Lot of fog till noon. Sun rays pears through the fog, giving you an opportunity to take some landscape shots!

And as the Sun peeps out of the fog..

Ducks and storks are migrated from the northern countries to this place and they come in such a huge numbers that you get to see many species of these lovely guests..

First time for us - Ferruginous duck also known as Ferruginous pochard. These ducks breed in southern and eastern Europe and southern and western Asia. They are somewhat migratory, and winter farther south and into north Africa. The adult male is a rich chestnut colour with a darker back and a yellow eye. The pure white under tail helps to distinguish this species from the somewhat similar tufted duck. The female is similar but duller, and with a dark eye.

Ferruginous duck - Male with a white eye and tufted body shape..

Gadwall Ducks - In this picture there are 2 males and one female in focus

Brahmini Duck also called as Ruddyshell duck

Pair

चक्रवाक पक्षी - फार पूर्वीपासून भारतीय लोकांनी या पक्ष्याचा आभ्यास करून त्याला हे नाव दिले. चक्रसारखा आवाज करणारा पक्षी म्हणून याचे नाव चक्रवाक असे ठेवले

Spot billed duck - मराठीमध्ये याला हळदीकुंकू बदक असे देखील म्हणतात

Spot Billed Duck - Displaying the Green patch

Northern Pintail - It got its name from the the pin like tail..

Two females are being followed by so many males!!

Pintail - Drying up

Northern Shoveler

Little Grebe - This is the smallest duck in India. It has such a great hearing senses that any small noise will make him dive quickly in water. It is super swimmer, and it comes out from unexpected place..

Little Grebe - looking back!

Male - This is darker than female and predominant mark below the beak..

Great Crested Grebe - It is an excellent swimmer and diver, and pursues its fish prey underwater. The adults are unmistakable in summer with head and neck decorations. In winter, this is whiter than most grebes, with white above the eye, and a pink bill. It winters in the central India. I have witnessed this bird in its own habitat in Ladakh (Pangong Lake) as well - http://icampers-kedar.blogspot.in/2014/10/ladakh-part-4-journey-to-large-water.html

Great Crested Grebe - Here we can see the red colored eye of this beautiful bird

Bigger than the ducks and the awesome flyers are the geese. Bharatpur and Chambal are the places where you could see these in numbers..

Bar Headed Geese - A big flock

Airborne

These are super flying birds which touch the heights up to 30,000ft during migration.

They are fantastic when they take off..

Greylag Geese - These bulky ducks leave their northern breeding areas relatively late in the autumn, for example completing their departure from Iceland by November, and start their return migration as early as January.

Heron - We also can see multiple types of herons, egrets in here..

Grey Heron

Pond Heron in flight

Night Heron - Male - Night herons stand still at the water's edge, and wait to ambush prey, mainly at night.

Black Bittern - First time for us to see this beauty!

Intermediate Egret

Bharatpur is home for Painted storks. Huge number of storks make their colonies here. The attractive big sized storks make all the photographers to wait and make their portfolios!

Painted Stork in flight

Eating while drying its wings

Dream image of the Painted stork by Mukul with his big gun..

Let me rest for a while...

Black necked Stork - Female has yellow eyes and males have blue. Female's eye is the treat to the photographers!!

Kingfishers - They indeed are king of good times. Everyone had their own images of these lovely birds..

Pied Kingfisher

White Breasted Kingfisher

Darters - Darters or snake birds are the birds which swim down the water to hunt the fist and then throws it in air to eat it. Many photographers just queues up for getting those shots!!

And here is the catch

Even sharper!

Skimmers - These are another species which interest the bird lovers. And Chambal is the place to find these..

Skimmers

Finally got it in flight!

Black bellied Tern in flight

Typical shape of wings for effortless flight - Other species of tern - Artic Tern migrate from north to south and then south to north in a single year. thanks to the size and shape of the wings!

Her we could see why its called black bellied!

Glossy Ibis

On the way to Chambal, to our surprise we saw the only Juv Greater Flaming.

And will we all with big canons, the kids got curious about what we are doing to that bird. Eventually got to take one of their snaps as well

Pallas's gull

The first big flock of Pelicans flew over Bharapur..

River Lapwings playing खो खो

Black Wing Stilt

Common Babler

Blue Troat

Red Vented Bulbul

White Chicked Bulbul

Entry this way...

Rose Ringed Parakeet Male

Indian Robin

Rarity - Siberian Rubythroat - This was the bird which attracted many many photographers. It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in mixed coniferous forest with undergrowth in Siberia. It nests near the ground. It winters in Thailand, India and Indonesia.

And these are the folks waiting for the above mentioned bird - Siberian Rubythroat

Orange Headed Thrush

Lesser Whitethroat - It took long time for us to identify this cute bird. But one of the guides in Bharatpur immediately told the id..

The lesser whitethroat is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds in temperate Europe, except the southwest, and in western and central Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, wintering in Africa just south of the

Rapters - As they say, where there is a prey, there is a predator.. We saw few rapters and owls as well