Shriked Out – Uran, 30 Sep ’06

Long weekend and for a change, decided to stay back in Mumbai. But, today morning we woke up at 4 AM, grabbed a cuppa Kaapi a.k.a coffee. BTW mine is Mysore filter coffee to be exact Peaberry is the seed variety. By 5, we were rolling towards Uran which is on the outskirts of Bombay. Slight drizzle but we hoped the sun would peak out by the time it would be 7 AM.
Driving beyond Panvel was not exactly great with the roads all cratered. We reached Uran about around 6.10 AM and, it was getting to be first light. I tried a few shots but, even at 1600 ISO, it wasnt happening. So we waited in the car, watching a flock of Black Tailed Godwits in the salt pan. Suddenly the whole flock took off…and we could see a marsh harrier approach. On this instance Mr Harrier did not get his breakfast. That chase was some sight !

no images were found

After the harrier attack, most of the birds moved over to the pond where there is a submerged temple. The bad part about this was that, the sun was now right into my lens…so no chance to get some good shots. In the pond were a large number of Black winged stilts and egrets. I also spotted cormorants, grey and purple herons fishing. There were some spotted billed ducks and glossy ibises seen flying too far for any meaningful photography. All the time we could hear a Shrike calling out but, couldn’t locate it.
We went into the track opposite the JNPT police station the place for smaller birds like prinias. I was happy to get this cool shot of a Prinia with a catch. The bird was in shadow, hence I tapped in a little flash to bring out the details.

no images were found

Could hear a Long tailed Shrike call out but it was behind some branches. We tried to get a shot but, the guy kept hopping from tree to tree, not giving me a chance to setup a quick shot. Then I tried not getting out from the car. That worked and, I was able to get this nice capture.

no images were found

Shooting from the car..I also got this grab of two Baya weavers. Usually I am a F8 and be there kinda person but for this shot, I stopped down a bit. I focused on the branch between the two and stopped down to F13. I guess I should have gone F16 the lower bird is just barely in focus 🙂 ..In retrospect..since I was almost behind the bird and the sun at my 3 ‘O’ clock position I should have remembered to tap in some fill in flash, point to remember next time! The shirke was calling out here too and was on a branch below the Baya weavers.

no images were found

We then drove up to the viewpoint, and swigged a much needed cuppa tea from the thermos we had carried along. We saw coots with chicks, kingfishers and jacanas in the pools near the railway track.

By now it was 9AM and was getting warm. We decided to drive back. A quick SMS to a friend and he wouldn’t want us to risk a parantha breakfast at Vashi. So we drove on to a restaurant Guru Kripa at Sion, where I thought Id get some nice Aloo Paranthas. But, It was not to be. No Paranthas on the menu but, we had masala dosai plus a plate of Samosa ( not exactly a substitute for Parantha but a hungry guy gotta manage right ?!!! Topped this with yummy sweet lassi. Burp, now I could think again !

All in all a nice morning. For the second time I actively shot from inside the car. I had carried along a cushion, which I used as a bean bag while leaning out of the window.

I was thinking what if I had a 200-400 today. If I had shot at 400 my reach would have been reduced. But, yep 200-400 + TC 14 = 560mm @ F5.6 wide open which is better than my 50-500 Sigma at F6.3 wide open. Analysis for the small birds bigger is better so if I don’t find my Nikon 600VR lens anytime soon maybe I could consider the 200-400 VR. VR for me is gonna be an absolute must. Grr….Nikon where is the 600VR ??? Nikon….move it guys.
Want to do some wading and low level (eye level to the bird just above the waterline kinds) photography one of these days. The birds will take flight when you set up also, the birds might not return since there is a large selection of foraging areas ( there are so many pans here) I need to investigate more on bird behaviour now !

One response to “Shriked Out – Uran, 30 Sep ’06”

1. Wonderful moment you captured, I happened to click Baya Weaver for the first time just a few days back and I was so thrilled to see it.

   Reply