663 - 19th - The yellow bird

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 19th Jan'11

599 - 17th - Birds of a feather

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 17th Apr'10

578 - 16th - The white duckling

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 16th Jul'09

572 - 10th - Thirsty

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 10th Jul'09

512 - 11th - Perched among the thorns

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 11th May'09

479 - 18th - I am the star

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 18th Apr'09

I was on a trip to the backwaters at Celestun when we sailed past a small island full of birds. Our guide slowed the boat down so that we could have a good look. There were around fifty odd birds, most of them dark black. Among this huge group, there was this bird completely different in color and much taller in height than the others. It seemed as if it was the lead male/female of the group with seemingly unquestionable dominance.

I am the star - the bird seemed to give out the message.

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473 - 12th - Splash!!

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 12th Apr'09

There is nothing much to write for this image as I have already written a couple of times before about the weird fish hunting methods of these birds. How they suddenly nose dive right inside the water once they spot a fish.

I always wanted to catch them right in the middle of their downwards flight but never got a satisfactory frame. Wasn’t so unlucky this time :)

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434 - 22nd - Soaring high

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 22nd Feb'09

I don't know if you have ever observed a flying eagle or a hawk but believe me, that you can never see any other bird which can match it's observance, alertness and it's sharp eyesight. It spots it's prey from hundreds of meters high in the sky and flies straight to the ground, grabs the thing and flies back to it's nest.

I have been trying to catch one in my camera for a long time but never got a nice shot given their random flight path sudden turns in the air. This time I got a decent one but not as good as I would want it to be.

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403 - 22nd - The angry turkey

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 22nd Jan'09

This is probably one of the most amazing behaviors of any bird I have ever seen. There was a group of turkeys having some ten females and one male bird. The male bird which usually looks different , had its tail and wings spread out and was making loud sounds every now and then. Initially I was not able to understand what is going on. But after observing the flock for some time, I realized that it actually was a way to express anger and he was driving the rest of the females back into the shelter. In a couple of minutes I could see all the birds starting running towards the house with this angry mail on their back.

As you can see in the picture, the bird at the front is heading in one direction with the male following it. Male chauvinism – yet another example.

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390 - 9th - The big beaked bird

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 9th Jan'09

As we traversed through the waters of the canyon, we reached a hydroelectric plant which marked the end of the sailing area. The boundaries were demarcated by a series of drums floating in the water tied together with thick ropes. We could see a lot of birds perched on the drums and the ropes from a distance. When we approached the place, most of them flew away and landed in the water beyond. Only a few still dared the strangers and stuck to their place.

This bird was just about to fly away when I took this picture. The size of it's beak was something that really amazed me.

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363 - 13th - The colorful bird

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 13th Dec'08

It was not the first time that I was seeing a cock, but surely I have never seen such a colorful one before, except the ones which are printed on the "cock brand" cracker packets in India. With amazing shades of blue, orange and red, the bird was a living example of an exquisite color display. I think that it would be second only to the peacock if ranked in terms of the number of different color shades present.

If you click on the image and see the full view, there are two things worth observing. The first is the color of it's eye - an orange eyeball with a black retina while the second being the white rope attached to one of it's legs. No comment on the color of the eye, but the rope seemed to be a mark of ownership for the bird.

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336 - 16th - The shy birds

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 16th Nov'08

The hotel in which I stayed in Cuernavaca was a big "Hacienda" or the old huge mansions built by the Spanish during their colonial rule. Though these mansions are now converted to hotels, they still reflect bits and pieces of Spanish architecture in their design and natural settings.

One of the major attractions of the place were these peacocks which could be seen roaming around everywhere. There were white ones and the more traditional blue ones. Its really hard to get a nice shot of a shy bird as a peacock & I was lucky enough to capture two of them in a pretty decent pose.

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318 - 29th - The perfect couple

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 29th Oct'08

Maybe it's just a freckle of my imagination but this pair of birds in the photo represent a typical "couple". If you see the bird on the left as male and on the right as female (again my assumption), you can see that female is strongly making her point with one claw in the air pointed towards the male & eyes wide open while the guy is sitting with a hanging neck & his eyes lowered, quietly listening to the words of wisdom.

It is just a random moment caught in the camera, but as they say - a picture is worth a thousand words.

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312 - 23rd - Across the sky

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 23rd Oct'08

I saw a big flock of white birds perched on top of corn plants in a field while driving back to Puebla. I stopped to take some photos but due to the distance of the field from the main road, I wasn't able to get a nice view. So, I decided to enter the fields and take a shot from a bit closer to the birds. But I wouldnt have even stepped ten steps forward when somehow the birds sensed me and started flying in panic.

Though I couldn't shoot them sitting in the fields I got some shots with them spread all across the sky :)

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306 - 17th - The yellow ducklings

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 17th Oct'08

These cute little birds have such an expression of innocence on their face that it just melts your heart the moment you see them. Mother nature has given them a strong sense of inherent beauty which just grabs your attention and makes your sight get glued on them.

But the greed and selfishness of humans spares none. To quench his taste-buds he can go to any level of cruelty without showing any signs of empathy. I clicked these birds cramp-packed in a movable trolley when a man was selling them in a local market. Most probably waiting to be killed, sliced and grilled, these little birds seemed so oblivious of the obvious truth - the truth of our heartlessness.

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267 - 8th - Flutters

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 8th Sept'08

I spent my Saturday in a different way this time. I just sat in the middle of a park watching people and the different kinds of things they do. It was there when I saw an old lady selling some bird feed. People were buying small packets from her and feeding to the numerous pigeons which were flocking the area. One of the main reasons for people to feed the pigeons was to give their children an opportunity to play with the birds.

I captured one such moment in my camera. Its real fun to observe people, believe me.

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195 - 28th - The peacock dance

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 28th June'08

It was a cloudy day and I was walking past a sugarcane field near my home in Lucknow, when I saw a group of peacocks at a distance. As I was standing there and deciding on the appropriate angle to shoot, I saw one of them open their wings and dance. It was a really a magical sight.

As this lone peacock was dancing, the rest of them were singing in unison.

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194 - 27th - Birds of love

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 27th June'08

Love is one pure feeling in this world which binds one and all; humans and animals alike. There is no better view of nature than to see two souls entangled in the magical strings of love. Love someone & you find yourself living in a completely different world, where all it matters is how you can love more.

I captured these love birds in my camera from my apartment in Mexico City while they were busy singing the love song :)

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170 - 3rd - Thirsty

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 3rd June'08

It was a humid Sunday afternoon in Mexico City & I was walking past my office building when I noticed this bird quenching it's thirst at a nearby fountain. If I hadn't actually seen it flying and then landing at the place, it would have been difficult for me to even notice it, given its color being perfectly in sync with the background.

I had to be very careful not to scare it but still get a close enough shot.

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159 - 23rd - Staring at me?

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 23rd May'08

This is shot from the window of my previous apartment, Lombardo Suites. Remember the post "Birds of a nest" ? This is a close up of the same bird. I have spent a lot of time observing the activities of these birds during the weekends, as their nest was just in front of my room's window and I could easily just lie down and watch them as long as I could.

In this particular shot, the bird seems to be staring right into my camera :)

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