This wild rooster is an ancestral stock of the domestic chickens. They are found across much of Eastern India and often heard, but pretty difficult to sight given their amazing camouflage.

The birds are a bit larger than the domestic chickens and much more bold in the colors. They frequent the under bush and we can probably get a glimpse of the head or tail sometimes. During our last trip, we heard maybe around 4-5 calls every day for over 4 days, but they are quite hard to get out in the open. This particular shot was taken from long distance while 2 of these birds were calling each other - probably competitive / territorial calls. We spent a while watching them and getting few shots before they disappeared!

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback Much appreciated.

A resident bird of the jungles and forests at higher altitude found in our neighbouring state. They were sighted in good numbers in the forest areas and unlike their common cousins, the common Myna, these birds are relatively quiet and mostly minding their own business.

During that time when we visited the area, they were busy tending to their chicks since it was the peak nesting season. The nests were inside tree burrows - which we could see - but we could not see the chicks. The birds were quite wary as the area had lots of predators. We sighted several Malabar Pied Hornbills, Rufous Bellied Eagles, Hobby, Falcons etc... The Mynas were landing on multiple perches before going on to their nests so as to deter the predators.

Thank you so much in advance for your views and feedback.

One of the more uncommon Mynas that is found in woody, forest areas and not found in my resident state. This one is a lifer for me and we sighted plenty in the large forest area we visited.

The birds are social in nature and often found in numbers of 2 and more. The behavior is similar to Common Myna, but these birds are less vocal and noisy than its common cousin. We sighted them trying to build nests and carrying nesting materials I suppose. They had small pieces of leaves / twigs in their beaks.

This was part of the 3 day birding trip to a remote forest area that is very vast, but lacked wild animals. There is no mobile network in the entire region which was a blessing in many ways. The heat was scorching, but the place was amazing and I had around 25 lifers few of which are incredibly rare. Unfortunately, the place was incredibly tough for photograph and managed to get few decent shots. But nevertheless, I was absolutely delighted at seeing so many new amazing birds.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

One of 5 varieties of minivets in the forest we visited and a lifer!. Not the rarest, but definitely quite an uncommon one. It looks similar to the common Scarlet Minivet, but has a rosy frontside due to which it derives that name.

Similar behaviour as that of the other minivets except that it prefers small groups, usually 2 where both the male and female forage together. It is also a high canopy bird and prefers to come out to the open at the top!

ebird doesn't list the forest we visited as a native range of this bird, but since we sighted it during the non-migratory season, assume its resident there. The last trip we even sighted it nesting.

Thanks so much in advance for your views, faves and feedback.

Looking for the final meal of the day I suppose. There were plenty of them that day and the perches were beautiful.

One of my favorite birds, these small birds are a delight to watch anytime. The birds are social and are always seen in groups. These are resident birds and found throughout the subcontinent. Due to their vivid colors and beautiful eyes, pretty much everyone loves to photograph them!

Thanks so much in advance for your views, faves and feedback.

A resident bird of the jungles and forests at an altitude found in our neighbouring state. They were everywhere and unlike their common cousins, the common Myna, these birds are relatively quiet and mostly minding their own business.

We saw several in the forest we visited last week. Almost all of them were busy carrying food several times to their chicks. The nests were inside tree burrows - which we could see - but we could not see the chicks. The birds were quite wary as the area had lots of predators. We sighted several Malabar Pied Hornbills, Rufous Bellied Eagles, Hobby, Falcons etc... The Mynas were landing on multiple perches before going on to their nests so as to deter the predators.

Thank you so much in advance for your views and feedback.

A resident bird of the jungles and forests at higher altitude found in our neighbouring state. They were everywhere and unlike their common cousins, the common Myna, these birds are relatively quiet and mostly minding their own business.

We saw several in the forest we visited last week. Almost all of them were busy carrying food several times to their chicks. The nests were inside tree burrows - which we could see - but we could not see the chicks. The birds were quite wary as the area had lots of predators. We sighted several Malabar Pied Hornbills, Rufous Bellied Eagles, Hobby, Falcons etc... The Mynas were landing on multiple perches before going on to their nests so as to deter the predators.

Thank you so much in advance for your views and feedback.

Looking for the final meal of the day I suppose. There were plenty of them that day and the perches were beautiful.

One of my favorite birds, these small birds are a delight to watch anytime. The birds are social and are always seen in groups. These are resident birds and found throughout the subcontinent. Due to their vivid colors and beautiful eyes, pretty much everyone loves to photograph them!

Thanks so much in advance for your views, faves and feedback.

Euploea core, Family: Nymphalidae

Another rarity that we sighted during this recent trip. These birds are found in South India and Sri Lanka albeit in a very small range. It is a bit common in the forests of Western Hills and in a small part of the Eastern Hill range in our neighbouring state.

This is a lifer and we found this in the most unexpected way on the road while returning. It is the only munia found close to forests and I confused it for a common one. The birds were found foraging on the roadsides walking on the road and flying away into the bushes on the side. I had time to lay down on the roadside for a few shots and requested the few vehicles passing on the narrow road to give me a minute or two for shots which they obliged.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

A resident bird of the jungles and forests at an altitude found in our neighbouring state. They were everywhere and unlike their common cousins, the common Myna, these birds are relatively quiet and mostly minding their own business.

We saw several in the forest we visited last week. Almost all of them were busy carrying food several times to their chicks. The nests were inside tree burrows - which we could see - but we could not see the chicks. The birds were quite wary as the area had lots of predators. We sighted several Malabar Pied Hornbills, Rufous Bellied Eagles, Hobby, Falcons etc... The Mynas were landing on multiple perches before going on to their nests so as to deter the predators.

Thank you so much in advance for your views and feedback.

A typical nuthatch found much of the subcontinent in tropical dry forests foraging on the dry trunks of trees. Last year, I struggled to see them due to their small size, but now I see them everywhere and they are more common than I thought.

In the forest we spent last week, they were sighted in good numbers. Summer is the breeding season and hence we sighted many in pairs. The birds were actively foraging on tree trunks and the forest was unusually lush due to some rains in the dry season. That would breed insects in the bark which is food to many birds. This is a photography lifer as I couldn't manage a shot before this.

Thanks so much in advance for your views, feedback and faves.

A small bird and I think the only member of the Hanging Parrot / Lorikeet species in India. They are small maybe around 14-15 cms long, have no tail and the beak is pretty small. The birds are often seen around fruiting trees in small groups of 2 usually.

The birds are resident birds in the forests we visited and they are found in a small part of South India and Himalayan regions, but common across much of South East Asia.

We found them on lovely perches in the morning, but not in the best of position against the sun. I was still happy to see them and spend time with them!

Thanks so much in advance for your views, feedback and faves.

The bird was unusually quiet for a cuckoo. It wasn't singing in its beautiful voice, but just looking around quietly.

A locally migratory Cuckoo very rare in our state, but apparently not uncommon in the region we visited. We came upon this bird at several places. They are here in time for the breeding season of the resident birds where they find a host to lay their eggs in.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.

The area was full of Bee Hives and small birds. I didn't realize it then, but now when I think of it, glad this raptor who loves Honey combs didn't attack a hive. We could have been sitting targets for the deadly wild bees.

A Bronzed Drongo continuously troubled this Buzzard so much that it soon flew away. These large raptors are migratory, but in our part of the country, they are resident birds seen throughout the year. In this forest we visited, they were seen everywhere in good healthy numbers.

Unfortunately, while the light was soft, the sun was against us, so the white balance in this image is a bit off!

Thanks so much in advance for your views, faves and feedback.

One of the more uncommonly found Kingfishers that we stumbled across during our last birding trip. This is not found in our state, but there were only 1-2 sightings prior to our trip in our neighbouring state. And we sighted 3-4 of them - all of them hunting and possibly nesting on the walls of the small river banks. It could be called a stream maybe, 20 feet wide at best and very less water in the summer.

This is small Kingfisher - 15-16 cms tall maybe and is very similar to the Common Kingfisher with some notable differences. One - the Blue color on the body is a much darker shade and a white / orange patch on the ear that is seen in Common Kingfisher is missing for this species. The habitat too is quite different - this is found in the forest areas, specifically around streams that flow through the forests. I think what we sighted is an adult male.

Thanks in advance for your wonderful feedback and likes.

I know almost nothing about Damselflies except that they are so amazing and beautiful insects. So when we walked down to a forest stream looking for the Blue-Eared Kingfisher, we found not just that, but 30-40 of these Damselflies.

A friend who follows these insects, identified them by name as Streaming Glory. They are metallic green insects that were sparking in the light. The insects were flying above the shallow moving water and would land on the rocks where we took some shots. We didn't get any of the Kingfisher shots nor of any bird the few hours we spent on that day in the stream, but we enjoyed wading in the water and shooting these beautiful damselflies.

Thanks so much in advance for your views, faves and feedback.

A lifer and an uncommon bird found in the forests of South India in a very narrow range. The bird seems to be quite common across South East Asia though.

They are mostly found around Banana trees in the forests where they are sighted darting off on the top and under looking for spiders. We had to just wait near this Banana flower and it was sighted several times there. The bird - a bit bigger than the common sunbird was quite agile and it was hard to keep up with it in the canopy and bush!

Thank you so much in advance for your views and feedback.

A lifer for me in the most unexpected way. We travelled half a day to a bird sanctuary / grassland to see a rare bird. And in the area there were known to be two of these Owls.

When we were driving to the spot, it was spotted on a nice perch on the side of the road waiting for roadkills. Apparently there were two of them and one of them died while collecting roadkill, so only this one was left.

Barn Owls are nocturnal owls and we often find them around granaries and warehouses which often have lots of rats in and around them. But these Owls require night birding and a high powered torch to take some shots. I am happy I saw it and it blew away my expectations. Quite beautiful and large too.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.

Allorhynchium sp, Family: Vespidae

A resident songbird with loud beautiful calls and of course a pretty long tail. They are in the peak nesting / breeding season and hence the forests are filled with their calls.

We found it resting under the canopy trying to beat the heat and at the same time keeping a watchful eye on us. The forest area we visited is notorious for hot temperatures which touch around 114-117 deg F or around 45-48 deg C routinely in summer. Apparently that is the best time to bird in that region since the birds are quite easily visible. In winters, the place is filled with calls, but sightings are quite impossible!

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

I sighted a pair of rare Watercocks in a relatively young paddy field. Those birds didn't come out into the open, but the kingfisher - which was around 20 feet from them - was busy looking for snails and other insects in the wet fields. This small border fence provided me with a great shot of this bird while I unsuccessfully waited for the Watercocks to come out into the open.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

A migrant to the South Indian Forests from Himalayan Foothills, these very beautiful birds are prized among photographers for their beauty. They are called "Navrang" in Hindi language or the "9 colored bird" and fully mature adults display those colors very beautifully - like the one in this shot!.

We shot this on the side of a forest road where they were present in large numbers. They are hard to side, but their calls are audible. We had to stop on the roadside and waited silently to listen for these birds. These birds forage in the upper canopy during mornings, after roosting on the treetops, but during the day come and forage on the ground. They are solo birds or usually seen in 1-2 numbers. Though in a small area, a larger number maybe present, the birds tend to forage solitarily. We couldn't get a closer shot since the bird didn't come down to the ground despite waiting for long.

Many thanks in advance for your views, faves and feedback.

Another rarity that we sighted during this recent trip. These birds are found in South India and Sri Lanka albeit in a very small range. It is a bit common in the forests of Western Hills and in a small part of the Eastern Hill range in our neighbouring state.

This is a lifer and we found this in the most unexpected way on the road while returning. It is the only munia found close to forests and I confused it for a common one. The birds were found foraging on the roadsides walking on the road and flying away into the bushes on the side. I had time to lay down on the roadside for a few shots and requested the few vehicles passing on the narrow road to give me a minute or two for shots which they obliged.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

A very common Kingfisher found easily across our state in pretty much all kinds of habitats. The bird is a predator and adults do get pretty big - the size of smaller dove maybe - much bigger than most of the other kingfishers we normally see.

They are opportunistic predators and can be seen with a variety of prey in their beaks. This includes reptiles like Lizards and Skinks, smaller birds like White-Eyes, Flowerpeckers and even chicks of other birds, fish, beetles and Grasshoppers. They are aggressive and quite territorial. On a rare occasion, I sighted a territorial fight between this bird and the largest Kingfisher in South India, the Stork Billed Kingfisher. It was not a contest since this Kingfisher flew away from the area almost immediately.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.

A very common bird in the grasslands easily heard and seen. They are usually seen on the edges of the road looking for insects on the hard soil in groups of 3-4.

They are resident birds of the subcontinent and can be seen throughout the year. During rainy seasons and onset of winter, they are in breeding mode and hence lot of calls could be heard. The call is distinctive and easy to remember too.

On this day, we sighted this casually crossing the Sanctuary road in front of the safari vehicle. What surprised me was that it just took a casual in front of the dark green colored extremely loud safari vehicle while it ran in front of quiet white SUV. I always suspected the white color of the vehicle scares birds away and confirmed that theory in this trip.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.

A beautiful Drongo with a metallic glossy plumage that shines in the sun. This has been a target for long and though we had seen many of the them several times, still don't have a satisfactory shot.

The birds are found in thick woody forests where they are sighted hunting in the canopies for insects. They have a nice metallic call that is easy to recognize. These are often confused with the other drongoes in the habitat which include the Greater Racquet Tailed Drongo, Hair Spangled Drongo, Black Drongo, Ashy Drongo and the White-Bellied Drongo all of which were present in the forest we visited. Luckily, it was summer and the light was good, so it was easy to identify the glossy plumage.

Thanks so much in advance for your views, feedback and faves.

The day was quite hot for a rainy season and the light was harsh much of the day. The evenings though were fantastic and the light was incredible. Alas - there was little activity.

We were treated to a double rainbow on this lovely path which was wonderful. To the left of the image where the cattle strayed into the protected grassland was the place we sighted the very rare and near threatened Lesser Florican. The shepherd also had a couple of dogs which made everyone nervous.

Shot on my mobile while balancing a heavy lens!

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.

Everything looks different in the light of the setting sun. The view of the city of Visakhapatmam, with lights just starting to switch on, from Kailasagiri looks so pretty. The hills and the houses are visible at a distant. The blue sky is amazing with each cloud shaded with different colours of sunlight. The foreground has part of Kailasagiri hill which is so pretty covered in green vegetation of grass and trees!

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A colorful small flycatcher about 12-13 cms long and mostly found in forested areas in the country. They are easy to identify due to their unique colors.

The bird is thought to be migratory and breeds in the forests down South or in the Himalayan Forests. Imagine our surprise when we found several of them in the forest we visited last week where there are few records of the bird. It confused us since this bird is thought to be a winter resident to the region. Interestingly, we found several other migrants like the Eurasian Hobby and Asian Brown flycatcher during peak summer.

Thank you so much in advance for your views, feedback and faves.

. . . the poor you will always have with you. . . (from the archives)

One of 5 varieties of minivets in the forest we visited and a lifer!. Not the rarest, but definitely quite an uncommon one. It looks similar to the common Scarlet Minivet, but has a rosy frontside due to which it derives that name.

Similar behaviour as that of the other minivets except that it prefers small groups, usually 2 where both the male and female forage together. It is also a high canopy bird and prefers to come out to the open at the top!

Thanks so much in advance for your views, faves and feedback.

A common animal in the ever shrinking grasslands of the state. This one is a male and he was overseeing his herd while being watchful of the competition. There were atleast two other males who were eyeing the herd.

The place had a pretty large number of these Blackbucks - maybe 200-300 of them. A pattern we saw is that one male would have a large number of females in its protection along with a couple of other younger males too. When another male wants to lead the females, there is a small fight where each of them lock their horns and push each other. That quick battle decides the winner. I was able to capture some of the action and was happy that the battle was a quick painless affair.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.

One of the 9 species of Hornbills in India and an endemic bird of South Asia (India and Sri Lanka). This is a large bird, around 65 cms - bigger than many raptors we have here. This was a chance sighting when we went to sight the Green Avadavat, but couldn't. On a wrong turn, we sighted 9 of them on a fig tree that is full of ripe of figs and several species of birds were enjoying them.

There was a fallen fig tree next to a stream that is still growing and now is fruiting. 9 of these Hornbills, over a dozen hill mynas, several Jungle and Common Mynas and other birds were enjoying the fruit. Adding to the drama was a murder of crows that chased away all these birds, but the hornbills came back soon and chased the crows away. The haze was bad - but nevertheless it was a fun evening for us!

Thank you very much in advance for all your lovely feedback, views and faves.

A little butterfly found in South Asia - this was a first sighting for me and found it in an open clearing in the middle of a forest. They are small, maybe just over an inch.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

A very common bird in our region in the grasslands and open areas. An insectivorous bird that flies in short bursts of undulating flying pattern which appears playful.

The birds are seen a lot in grasslands these days and I have trouble differentiating between the various four species of Pipits that can potentially see here. The differences are very subtle and need a sharp eye - I find it impossible to id them in the field.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.

A Black Kite was hovering above a paddyfield for a catch for a long time. For over next 30 mins she was was diving and trying to catch something, but the Drongoes would chase it away. The field saw a whole lot of action which was quite thrilling. Finally the Black Kite dived into the field and picked this thing up, not sure what it is, but it is not a prey for sure. And it rested on this boundary pillar for a while making it sure its not watched and then flew away to its nest atop a Palm tree I think. I had seen it landing there several times, but didn't go any closer since I didn't want to disturb it.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

I wasn't sure of this bird which appeared to be a Stilt to me. But I was clear of the differences and was sure it was not the very common Black Winged stilt. So took a couple of shots and turned out to be a Marsh Sandpiper. The bird was found near a marsh on the edge of a bird sanctuary.

Thanks in advance for your views and wonderful feedback. Much appreciated.

A beautiful long tailed song bird with a wonderful voice and easily heard than sighted. I had heard these birds calls several times, but never had a good sighting. This bird is found in the thick dense forests of South India and South East Asia.

We sighted the bird in the twilight period and literature suggests that the bird is "Crepuscular" (a new term for me) - which means active during twilight period. The birds are sexually dimorphic - meaning male and female look different. This picture is that of a male, blackish body and long tail. Females are more grayish on the neck and till middle of the back.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.

A beautiful bird with a long tail and known for its mimicry. It has a pretty loud call that is easy to recognize. But the bird is also known for imitating other bird calls - I am not sure why it does that since there is ample food in the forest spot we visited. Maybe birds find comfort in the presence of other safe birds - a theory that I am seeing lot more. Just have to read up a bit about that aspect.

The area was dark due to dense foliage. I was nervous about snakes and the area was rocky near a small stream and full of bamboo trees - a nice habitat for different kinds of snakes.

We sighted several uncommon birds like the very beautiful Indian Scimitar Babblers - around 8-10 of them but couldn't even get one in focus, the Brown Cheeked Fulvetta, Indian Yellow Tit, Black Naped Monarch etc... After an hour of tremendous frustration with this one shot, just enjoyed the calls for 5 minutes and left the area.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.

Thanks so much in advance for your views, feedback and faves. Much appreciated.

A colorful medium sized raptor found pretty much everywhere along the coasts across the country - though in varying frequency. This is an immature male I think based on the plumage. There were about 4-5 of them, all of them sitting on perches like this around 10 feet from each other in a lagoon on the Godavari river.

These kites were just resting after continuously harassing the small waders for a while. But then, an army of House Crows which were feeding on the crustaceans left over on the sandbar during the low tide didn't like the presence of these kites. So they continually mobbed them. 4-5 crows together mobbed each Brahminy kite at a time and in a span of 15-20 mins all of 4 of the kites flew away. The Kites briefly fought back, but it was each Kite for himself - the other kites didn't budge when their friend was mobbed. The crows though joined hands and fought the Kite - the groupism was so stark!

Thank you so much in advance for your views, feedback and faves.

A Pelican sanctuary in the larger bird sanctuary area and we thought it was good to check. There were about 5-6000 Pelicans, a few thousand Ibis'es, Painted storks and other birds. Since the sun was high, took a few flight shots and moved on.

Shooting a Pelican in flight is always fun and I shoot these birds as practice for flight shots.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

Shot this bird flying over a Fish Farm on a narrow road with ditches on both sides. The Terns were too close and almost full frame which made it very hard to track them with a long lens. Adding to the challenge was a high barbed wire fence which obstructed the view much of the time.

There were over 50 terns and I just managed to get 2-3 good shots. And nothing with a green background, thanks to fence. I enhanced the sky a bit in Photoshop to give a bit of perspective.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

More action today in the large trees in front my parents house. There were lots of Purple Sunbirds, Pale billed flowerpeckers, tailorbirds, squirrels, koels, and cats too. This sunbird grabbed a spider (I think) which seems to be sumptuous meal. It had a bit of difficulty to eat it, but finally managed to stuff the insect into its mouth. After that, she waited for maybe 30 seconds before flying away at the sight of a cat near the base of the tree.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

Glorious sunrise shot from Gandikota, the Grand Canyon of India, showcasing the beauty of the sunrise.

The sky ablaze, the sun is peeking over the horizon, casting its golden light on the towering red stone canyon walls.

It is a truly awe-inspiring sight.

This was on the topmost branch of the tree right in front our house. The bird was stretching, preening and getting ready for the day. It was positioned in excellent light and couldn't help taking it. The bird was developing eclipse plumage - where the plumage turns into a mix of yellow but guess it was in the early stages since the yellow could be seen only underwings.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.

Another type of Fantails - birds that turn their tails into large fans for various purposes - found in our region. One among the 3 and not very common. My second sighting so far.

These are small birds, around the size of Barn Swallows and that are pretty agile in movement. I found it hard to get a decent shot of them since they land in the middle of trees under the canopy and by the time I get it in focus, they are off to another branch. I am not very happy with this shot, hopefully I will have another chance in the future.

Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.