A friend's promise of showing me a lifer (ODKF)vanished into thin air of disappointment and bitterness.So to cheer myself up and to lift the mood I went birding by giving the Sunday afternoon nap a miss.Nature as usual did not disappoint and put up such a splendid SPLENDID display that all that disappointment now seems a very distant memory.so what happened? Here we go....
Biking to the hotspot I saw a pair of Indian spot billed ducks foraging faraway. Not having a decent shot of this species in my records I decided to approach the bird carefully .As I crawled through the mud and water to get a good shot the male amongst the pair noticed my movement and became alert.I desperately try to lay still even as the muddy water soaks my trousers and my Tshirt. I manage to fire couple of shots before the pair gets fidgety and take off. As am about to get up I hear a small commotion from behind some bushes on my right side.Still lying in the water I carefully take a peek and see that the cries are comming out from a frogs mouth who has been caught by a snake who is in the process of swallowing him !!!! As I fire another round of shots of the snake with it's catch I notice TWO watercock's grazing nonchalantly further ahead . clicking some pics of the two I stand up all dripping wet.
Standing up I notice a group of Indian Silverbill and some strawberry finches on a couple of branches.I take a couple of shots and make my way towards the tar road. I put the camera in my bag (HUGE MISTAKE) so I could clean myself a little. Iam busy cleaning the sand and mud from my clothes when a quail, with her two small chicks trailing behind, comes out and starts crossing the road . keeping my eyes on the quail family I begin removing my camera when all of a sudden a wild cat, it's golden coat all glistening in the afternoon sun, leaps out and lunches up in the air from behind some bushes and pounces on the mother quail. Missing its mark at the first attempt it leaps again in the air but the quail is too fast for it and calling out loud alarm calls it leaps in the air and disappears in the thick undergrowth on the opposite side of the road. This happens so quickly and instantly that I couldn't even get the camera out of my bag. My heart racing I somehow retrieve the camera and began searching behind the bushes to see if the wildcat is still hiding somewhere, but there's no sign of it anywhere. Waiting at the spot of another 10 min gets me nothing so I decide to call it a day . Riding my bike home with the wind in my hair there's a huge huge smile on my face. What a unexpected and a lovely afternoon this turned out to be.
Biking to the hotspot I saw a pair of Indian spot billed ducks foraging faraway. Not having a decent shot of this species in my records I decided to approach the bird carefully .As I crawled through the mud and water to get a good shot the male amongst the pair noticed my movement and became alert.I desperately try to lay still even as the muddy water soaks my trousers and my Tshirt. I manage to fire couple of shots before the pair gets fidgety and take off. As am about to get up I hear a small commotion from behind some bushes on my right side.Still lying in the water I carefully take a peek and see that the cries are comming out from a frogs mouth who has been caught by a snake who is in the process of swallowing him !!!! As I fire another round of shots of the snake with it's catch I notice TWO watercock's grazing nonchalantly further ahead . clicking some pics of the two I stand up all dripping wet.
Standing up I notice a group of Indian Silverbill and some strawberry finches on a couple of branches.I take a couple of shots and make my way towards the tar road. I put the camera in my bag (HUGE MISTAKE) so I could clean myself a little. Iam busy cleaning the sand and mud from my clothes when a quail, with her two small chicks trailing behind, comes out and starts crossing the road . keeping my eyes on the quail family I begin removing my camera when all of a sudden a wild cat, it's golden coat all glistening in the afternoon sun, leaps out and lunches up in the air from behind some bushes and pounces on the mother quail. Missing its mark at the first attempt it leaps again in the air but the quail is too fast for it and calling out loud alarm calls it leaps in the air and disappears in the thick undergrowth on the opposite side of the road. This happens so quickly and instantly that I couldn't even get the camera out of my bag. My heart racing I somehow retrieve the camera and began searching behind the bushes to see if the wildcat is still hiding somewhere, but there's no sign of it anywhere. Waiting at the spot of another 10 min gets me nothing so I decide to call it a day . Riding my bike home with the wind in my hair there's a huge huge smile on my face. What a unexpected and a lovely afternoon this turned out to be.
Cherry on the top : As I sit down at my home to write this down I hear heavy and loud calling of a white breasted waterhen from the window. I grab the camera lying around and slowly slit open the shade and click this beauty calling out from the top of a tree !!!!
What a lovely awesome day this was.
What a lovely awesome day this was.
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