Krishnan Photography

Over the Easter weekend, uber bird photographer & friend,  Ramki and I made a plan to do some wader photography at Jamnagar.  I was any case planning to make a visit to some of my good friends there and I thought it would be good to combine a few bird shots as well !  Late March/ early April is a good time to see all the waders, especially  in their breeding plumage.  Also, this  timing can catch the return migration of the birdies to cooler climes.  We were assisted by our local expert Arpit, to get to the places where, the birdies could be found. Arpit is the wader expert bar none !

The first day, we hit Deechda which is just left of the road leading to Bedi Port.

Grabbed my first Western Reef Heron here A very co-operative guy indeed, this individual.

Western Reef Egret with catch.

There were the assortment of flamingos, pelicans, ruffs, painted storks and spoonbills as well.

Painted Storks Fishing.

We then tried the Valsura road where, we got this

Black Tailed Godwit

That evening, we introduced a slipper shorn Ramki, to “The mess”  ! [FYI slippers in the mess are a big no no ] Cheers  to my good friends Samir & Seema and their amazing  amazing hospitality during our stay!

Despite the million birdies,  Jamnagar is definitely  long lens territory . Get the longest one you have !

That evening,  we decided to change plans and take the boat to  Pirotan Island in the very  early morning. High tide would be around 4 AM. Hence,  departure was 2AM, so that the boats could be beached near the shore on Pirotan. The thing with Pirotan is that, there is no jetty and one needs to come in at highest  tide, or else there is a long hike in all the mud, upto the main shore. The slope is rather gradual and, the low tide exposed the floor of the sea for a perhaps a kilometer plus.

Lowtide at Pirotan

The boat that got us in. This is in , evening high tide

We stayed at the forest department’s ,two fiber glass  domes that are there on the island.  Arpit had organised the admin brilliantly and, we had Ambaben’s party to provide us hot food on this isolated island.

Pirotan Lighthouse

We had a quick breakfast  and then headed out. The light was just great, a little cloudy but, clearing up. The tide was receding and we had to walk quite some way into the sea  to get close to some birdies. We first sighted a flock of crested Terns, but no luck getting anywhere close to them.

Mudlines

Yellow Leaf

Sanderling

The Saunders Tern

Saunders Tern Courtship Ritual. The female will mate once she accepts the fish from the male.

Bar Tailed Godwit

Long lens Technique

We got back to the camp around 9.30 AM. Soon we heard sounds of cranes. A big flock of Demoiselle Cranes were overhead trying to catch thermals to assist their migration to the west. What a sight !

Demoiselle Cranes over Pirotan Island

Evening high tide was around 1630H so we started out to the mudbank around 1400H to watch the bird buildup. It was blistering hot with temperatures in the late thirties. As we neared the mudbank is, when I noticed that, we would have significant issues with the heat shimmer on the photography.

Heat Shimmer

Crab Plovers

Oystercatchers

The Kidnap

As the tide was coming in, we spotted a lone  Red Necked Phalarope which flew around. I was the first to cross from the mud bank towards the shore as the tide rose. As soon as I crossed over I turned back to watch and,  saw a bunch of crows ( A Murder of crows is the correct term)  systematically attacking a, rather tired Red Necked Phalarope. The Red Necked Phalarope would have been tired due to the long migration flight and, the crows took full advantage of it. The attacked it quite like a pack of wild dogs would attack and, finally were able to “pick it up”. Quite a sight it was.   Ramki’s amazing shot , Arpit’s classic shot

Here is what I saw, Full frame D2X, 600mm+ TC17

The attack

Picked up

Massive Flocks

One has a hard time isolating a few birdies. That is the challenge of Pirotan.

The dark birdie is a Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage.

Best I could manage in the melee. A little blur added in post around the main subject.

Shooting the above melee

A Pallas’s Gull

Wading to the shore

We got back to Jamnagar by the early morning tide and, were at the jetty at 0500H. After a  two hour rest,  we hit Gandhinagar ( the area behind the Railway station). An amazing area which has so many waders and also, the rare Houbara Bustard.

Flamingo

Temmnick’s Stint

Glossy Ibis

Grey Heron Drinking water

A quick round and we then decided to try our luck with for the Black necked Grebe in breeding plumage,  at Charakla Salt pans. Charakla is  around 120Km from Jamnagar , towards Okha.

We did try hard and, we finally got a small flock, but pretty far away from the shore. Try as we might, these guys would just not come anywhere close to the shore.  Besides,  they dive in quick and surface randomly and, for a very  short period. This made  subject acquisition with a long lens, a huge challenge in the bobbing waves and a disappearing birdie.  Ramki went on stacked TC 1.4+1.4 to grab his shot. I wanted to use the D2X but I decided on the D3 in favour of a better AF than the crop factor. Ideally, I could have used the crop factor DX camera here. I shot 600mm + TC 17 in DX mode on the  D3.

Black Necked Grebe in breeding plumage ( Note the “flames” from its red eyes !)  Phew….What a birdie !!!

Also got the Caspian tern at Charakla.

The last morning, we again tried the Railway area for the houbara bustard but, the birdie was not to be found.  We then headed out to Lakhota lake, to catch some gulls & terns,  for some flight action. I somehow forgot my 300mm in my room and, had to make do with my 70-200 +TC which was frankly  a compromise.

Brown Headed Gulls

River Tern

Whiskered Tern

Gull Billed Tern

At 0930 we got a call that the Houbara had just flown in but, since we had a flight to catch, decided to give it a miss.

Well,  the houbara waits for my next time !

Jamnagar  Photography Tips

1. Long lens needed

2. Early morning is better due to the heat shimmer

3. Bird Guide Jamnagar :  Chikku : +91 9274909880 ( Highly recommended)

4. Driver:  Rambhai : +91 9426248807 ( Highly Recommended)

Pirotan Island Tips

1. Need Forest department & Customs department permissions.

2. Need to start out from Jamnagar about 2 hours minus high tide.

3. Need full admin support including a boat & drinking water to be carried. You need a local to arrange this.  Get in touch with Arpit/  Mushtak for more info.

4. For photography try to get a timing like max high tide anytime between 0800H-1100H. This will give you great light and also avoid the heat shimmers.

5. If you want to hit high tide in the morning for photography  you will need to get into Pirotan the previous evening high tide.

6. Very much long lens territory.  Flight  shots possible with a 300mm/ 400mm. But be advised carrying two bodies will be pretty tough. So either have a non photographer buddy along/ decide on one body lens combo.

7.  Since you will be busy with your eye to the viewfinder, as a safety measure, good idea to keep a non photographer buddy along to watch for the tide  as it comes in.

For all the images from this trip ( and there is a bunch more than on the blog)  >>>Click Here

Some of Ramki’s Leica pics >>> Click Here