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.

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

Common Hawk-Cuckoo

The common hawk-cuckoo, popularly known as the brainfever bird, is a medium-sized cuckoo resident in the Indian subcontinent. It bears a close resemblance to the Shikra, even in its style of flying and landing on a perch. Males have ashy-gray upperparts, white underparts with rufous streaking and barring, a broadly barred tail, and a distinct yellow eye rim. Females and juveniles are browner with bolder streaking below. During their breeding season males produce a loud, repetitive three note call. Common Hawk-Cuckoos feed mainly on insects and are specialised feeders that can handle hairy caterpillars. The species is arboreal and rarely descends to the ground. Mainly a brood parasite of babblers. Found in gardens, groves, and deciduous and semi-evergreen forests.

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#wildartworks, #Canon, #Wildlife, #naturephotography, #earthcapture, #photo_pond, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #yesbbcearth, #indian_wildlifes, #indianwildlifeofficial, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, #Manjeera, #ManjeeraWildlifeSanctuary, #Ananthagiri, #AnanthagiriForestRange, #commonhawkcuckoo, #hawkcuckoo, #brainfeverbird, #cuckoo, #telanganabirds,

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

Indian Flying Fox/ Greater Indian Fruit Bat

The Indian Flying Fox is a species (Pteropus medius) is a species of megabats native to the Indian subcontinent. It is also known as the Greater Indian Fruit Bat.

One of the largest bats in the world it is also known as the carrier of many diseases that have affected the population of India from time to time.

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#wildartworks, #Canon, #Wildlife, #naturephotography, #earthcapture, #photo_pond, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #yesbbcearth, #indian_wildlifes, #indianwildlifeofficial, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, #Manjeera, #ManjeeraWildlifeSanctuary, #IndianFlyingFox, #GreaterIndianFruitBat, #MegaBat, #Bat, #largestbat

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

Bluethroat

The Bluethroat is a beautiful thrush-like bird that tends to stay hidden. A dull gray above, but a head-on view reveals a stunning pattern of electric blue and orange on the throat with some variation in pattern across range. Females show fainter colors than males, sometimes lacking blue entirely, but are still very boldly patterned. They have a variable song including imitations of other species among a jumble of trills, whistles, and chirps. They are typically found in scrubby, brushy habitat, often in edge areas: reedbeds, overgrown fields, and thickets. Usually skulky but singing males can perch conspicuously atop a bush. They breed across Europe and Asia into Alaska and winter from northern Africa to southeast Asia.

#wildartworks #wildlifephotography #jungle #wild #forest #wildlife #conservationphotography #wildlifeonearth #bbcearth #natgeowild #natgeoindia #bluethroat, #Muscicapidae, #flycatcher, #oldworldflycatcher, #telanganabirds, #wildtelangana, #manjeerawildlifesanctuary, #Manjeera, #manjira, #hyderabadbirds,

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

Blue-faced Malkoha

The blue-faced malkoha/ small green-billed malkoha, is a non-parasitic cuckoo found in the scrub & deciduous forests of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. It has a waxy, dark, blue-grey plumage on its upper parts and has a long tail with graduated white-tipped feathers.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Bird, #Birdinginthewild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #your_best_birds, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #photo_pond, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #yesbbcearth, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, #india, #telanganabirds, #ananthagiri, #ananthagiriforestrange, #vikarabad, #bluefacedmalkoha, #smallgreenbilledmalkoha, #malkoha, #cuckoo, @wildtelangana

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

Asian Green Bee-eater

The Asian green bee-eater, also known as little green bee-eater, and green bee-eater in Sri Lanka, is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family. It is resident but prone to seasonal movements and is found widely distributed across Asia from coastal southern Iran east through the Indian subcontinent to Vietnam.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Bird, #Birdinginthewild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #your_best_birds, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #photo_pond, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #yesbbcearth, #indian_wildlifes, #indianwildlifeofficial, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, @globalcapture, #NarsapurForest, #greenbeeeater, #beeeater, #TelanganaBirds, #ICRISAT, #HCU, #zaheerabad, #chincholiwildlifesanctuary, #manjeerawildlifesanctuary, #manjirawildlifesanctuary, #manjeera, #manjira, #nallagandlalake,

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

Baya Weaver

The Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus) is a weaver found across South and Southeast Asia. They inhabit grassland, cultivated areas, scrub and secondary growths usually near fresh or brackish water. Despite their species name, they are not found in the Philippines.

Baya weavers and their unique nesting nature were first recorded in Ain-i-Akbari, the 16th-century document recording the administration of Akbar’s empire, and a part of the much larger document, the Akbarnama. They love to live and build in colonies given their social and gregarious nature. Being graminivorous, they find that paddy fields furnish valuable granaries for a food supply.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #1DxMkii, #PromediagearTR424L, #DeityD3Pro, #EF600f4LISIII, #Beachtek, #BeautifulBirds, #Birding, #India, #Telangana, #wildlife_perfection, #Birdinginthewild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #planetbirds, #naturephotography, #your_best_birds, #earthcapture, #photo_pond, #earthpix, #naturyst, #TelanganaBirds, #wildlife_captures, #wildlifeseekers, #animalfanatics, #wildlifephotography, #wildlife_inspired, #wildlifecentral, #Manjeera, #ManjeeraWildlifeSanctuary, #conservationphotography, #BayaWeaver

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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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