Vinayak Hegde

Recently I went over to the Strand Book stall’s 60th Anniversary sale which is on till Dec 28th. There was a decent collection of books (though not more than the typical 20% discount). Among the books I bought was ‘The book of Indian Birds’ by Salim Ali. This book brought back fond memories of my childhood. My parents were members of BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) and regularly took me out to talks and slideshows (Salim Ali was associated with BNHS for a longtime). It is a nice guidebook with lots of interesting information though by no means exhaustive.It contains informative entries on more than 500 birds found on the Indian Subcontinent. I used it to identify the Small Bee-eater in Udaipur and the River Tern near Bhadra Dam in Chikamagalur.

I took this picture at the Maharana Pratap Memorial (Moti Magri) overlooking the Fateh Sagar Lake in Udaipur. The Small Bee-eater (Merops Orientalis) is distinguished by Reddish Brown head and neck and it’s tails fears which prolong into blunt pins. You can see the Bee-eater actually has a bee in it’s beak. It found all throughout the Indian Subcontinent.

The River Tern (Sterna Albifrons) can be distinguished by it’s yellow beak and black cape and is a noisy and a gregarious bird. It is found all round the Indian Subcontinent (except Sri Lanka) and usually seen near river banks and lakes. This picture was taken near the Bhadra Dam (We stayed in the nice Jungle Lodges log huts nearby).

The pictures have been crossposted to my Photoblog

Pushkar is small pilgrimage town in Rajasthan, with a holy lake in the centre and the town mushrooming round it. The name of the town is derived from the legend that the lake was formed when a lotus fell from the hands of Lord Brahma (in Sanskrit – ‘Pushp’ – flower + ‘Kar’ – Hand = ‘Flower that fell from the hand’). The town still retains a remarkably medieval feel to it. It is well known for the annual pushkar camel fair and has the only temple dedicated to Brahma (the creator – One of the triumvirate of gods who control the world in Hindu Mythology) in the world. This picture was taken on Savitri Temple hill. The monkey in the photo is the Gray Langur common known as ‘Hanuman Langur’ in India.

More technical details about the photo at my photoblog (click on Image Info).

A cruise on Milford Sound is an amazing experience. Milford Sound is the most famous Fjord in New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park with some of the highest peaks and U-shaped valleys (left by a melting glacier) typical of a Fjord. Rudyard Kipling has called Milford Sound, the eight wonder of the world.

Fur Seals and Sea Lions are commonly seen on the cruise through Milford Sound. The natural beauty of the place is almost impossible to capture due to the variations in light. Also as a photographer you are caught in a dilemma – whether to use to the Telephoto lens to capture the wildlife or to use the Wideangle lens to capture the scenic panorama. I was doing both (manically changing lenses between photographs). I was lucky to capture this moment through a telephoto lens (70-300mm Zoom-Nikkor lens) borrowed from a friend. More technical details about the photo at my photoblog (click on Image Info).