Behind the Lens

a blog every Friday on a specific species of animal or bird and stories of photos

Search for a specific species, genre or even a location or use the directory for a complete list of species I have photographed and written about till date.

Listen to my TEDx talk.

Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee

Ferruginous Babbler

The Old World Babblers are a family of passerine birds diverse in size and coloration, characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. This group is among those Old World bird families with the highest number of species still being discovered.

The ferruginous babbler is a species of bird in the family Pellorneidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is a reddish-brown babbler with white underparts. It forages in small flocks in the lower and middle levels of lowland and lower foothill forests.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Babbler, #birdinginthewild, #birdphotography, #Pellorneidae, #ferruginousbabbler, #Malaysia, #Congkak, #HuluLangat, #Lanchang, #KrauWildlifeReserve, #conservationphotography

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Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee

Black-throated Babbler

The Old World Babblers are a family of passerine birds diverse in size and coloration, characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. This group is among those Old World bird families with the highest number of species still being discovered.

The near threatened Black-throated Babbler (Stachyris nigricollis) is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Babbler, #birdinginthewild, #birdphotography, #Timaliidae, #Malaysia, #blackthroatedbabbler, #nearthreatened, #Malaysia, #Congkak, #HuluLangat, #Lanchang, #KrauWildlifeReserve, #conservationphotography

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Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee

The rural countryside

In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. The word rural is defined as encompassing "...all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area. Whatever is not urban is considered rural."

Typical rural areas have a low population densities and small settlements or villages. Agricultural areas too are commonly categorised as rural, as are other types of area such as forests. Different countries have varying definitions of rural for statistical and administrative purposes.

About a 100 kilometers from the capital city of Hyderabad, Zaheerabad is one such industrial town and Municipal Council in the Sangareddy district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is the base for visitors of ancient sacred religious sites like the Ketaki Sangameshwara Swamy Devasthanam (a temple) at Jharasangam, Siddhhi Vinayaka Temple at Rejinthal and Hazrath Multani Baba Dargah (A dargah is a shrine built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervish) at Metalkunta.

The Zaheerabad area has many diverse areas for birding and in some instances wildlife watching and observation. In close proximity are the Manjira Wildlife Sanctuary, Gottamgutta, Karanja Reservoir and the Chandrampally Dam and Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary just over the border in Karnataka. I have had the good fortune to spend a fair bit of time at all these locations and have obtained some beautiful photos with the help of the Forest Officers and Rangers.

Some of these locations are home to migrants and seasonal visitors and every experience of seeing a new bird provides a rush that one can only feel by doing something they love. As I mentioned in my last blog, bird and wildlife watching is a great form of recreation for people of all ages and always provides an opportunity to learn something new.

This is an extended video and some photos from a recent visit to the rural countryside surrounding Zaheerabad.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Bird, #Birdinginthewild, #BirdWatching, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #your_best_birds, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #photo_pond, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, @awpc.hk, #animalsofinstagram, @globalcapture, #Zaheerabad, #ruralcountryside, #countryside, #manjeerawildlifesanctuary, #manjirawildlifesanctuary, #manjira, #manjeera

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Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Loyang Rock

The Loyang Rock is a traditional nesting site for the rare Black-naped Terns (Sterna sumatrana),an oceanic tern, which arrive in March. These birds start roosting on the rock between April to August, before leaving for the South China Sea after. They have a habit of following passing large ships en masse. When a vessel approaches, a great number would shadow the stern. They appear to be attracted to the wake stirred up by the ship’s passing. Could it be that the movement of the large ship forces up benthic or other marine organisms to the surface, thus giving the terns, which do not dive very deeply, easy pickings?

#wildartworks, #blacknapedterns, #birdinginthewild, #birdphotography, # oceanicterns, #terns, #loyangrock, #LoyangRocks, #Loyang,

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