Malabar Whistling Thrush

As there was a brief break from incessant downpour I wanted to get as much of photo opportunity as possible. I, with my family and my friends Dijiraj Nair and Shivashankar Nayak headed to Kudremukh National Park. I will show you few of the great shots we took in subsequent blogs. Afternoon following lunch at Kudremukh town we spotted a bold Malabar Whistling Thrush (Myophonus horsfieldii) sitting on a old metal gate and singing. While we all clicked at it using our big lenses it was singing without any hesitation and giving us great poses.

The Malabar Whistling Thrush (Myophonus horsfieldii) is a whistling thrush in the thrush family Turdidae. They are also known locally by the name of Whistling Schoolboy for the whistling calls that they make at dawn that have a very human quality. The species is a resident in the Western Ghats and associated hills of peninsular India including central India and parts of the Eastern Ghats.

Malabar Whistling Thrush On a old gate

This large thrush appears blackish with shiny patches of blue on the forehead and shoulders. The blue becomes visible only in oblique lighting. The bill and legs are black. The sexes are indistinguishable and juveniles are more brownish and lack the blue forehead.

The species is found all along the Western Ghats south of the Surat Dangs with some populations in Mt. Abu, Rajasthan. They are also found along the Satpura range to northwestern Orissa.

Frontal View of Malabar Whistling Thrush

Malabar Whistling Thrushes are usually found in dark undergrowth and dense riverine forest. Half an our later we spotted another bird in the middle of the town and another female bird bathing nearby. We had great and extremely close look. I was trying Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM with Canon EF 1.4x II Extender on Canon EOS 7D. Excitement of seeing bird at a such a close range, I had forgotten to check the auto focus setting of Canon EOS 7D. AI servo tracking sensitivity was turned too high. This resulted in the camera hunting focus when I try to focus in AI servo mode. Because of this I could get only few shots which were clearly in focus. I realized this mistake only the next day after seeing the photos. The “fast” tracking sensitivity setting means that when you’re shooting low, the camera will bounce a lot between the target and the background.

Quote taken from the canon site http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/education/technical/eos_7D_custom_functions_explained.do

“The focus tracking sensitivity refers to how the camera responds and switches to another subject during focus tracking. This response sensitivity refers to how long the camera waits before switching to a new target subject when the current target subject escapes an AF point. It doesn’t adjust how quickly the autofocus tracks.”

Shiva who was equipped with Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS USM Lens and much more experience in bird photography than me has captured the same birds excellently. Check his photos here – Malabar whistling thrush #1, Profile of whistler.., Portrait of whistler.. and Video of Whistler’s call. You can also check Diji’s capture using Canon EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM here.

Malabar Whistling Thrush On a old gate

They are omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, crabs,frogs, earthworms and berries. They are usually seen singly or in pairs. This is a bold species and is often found close to human habitation. The male sings its varied and melodious whistling song from trees during summer. They may song for long early at dawn but at other times of the day they often utter sharp single or two note whistles. They were once popular as cage birds, with the ability to learn entire tunes. They bathe frequently in water usually in the mornings and evenings but at midday during hot weather.

Female Malabar Whistling Thrush bathing in a stream nearby

Chocolate Albatross

Monsoon had just begun. It was late evening. Through the incessant drizzle I noticed a small yellow brown butterfly sheltering on the bi-lobed leaves of Malabar Bauhinia(Bauhinia malabarica). On closer inspection it turned out to be a male Chocolate Albatross butterfly (Appias lyncida).

I wanted to take a closeup photo but it was impossible with my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM as butterfly was around 12 feet from the ground and all I could get using that lens would have been a tiny image. So I took my Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM fitted it with Canon EF 2X II Extender on my Canon EOS 7D thus increasing the focal length to 960mm (in 35mm terms). Now with this magnification I could reach up to the butterfly without disturbing it.

With rain clouds all over the evening sky, Light was fading fast. I used my new Manfrotto 0055CXPRO3 Carbon Fiber tripod to setup the rig. Covered it with Storm jacket to prevent rain damaging the camera and lens. Used my Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash as fill light to get this beautiful shot. Even at full power 580EX was good enough to get f/9.5 at that distance. The depth of field at that distance was razor thin. you can see the eyes are sharp but wingtips are not.

Chocolate Albatross , Appias lyncida is a butterfly of the Family Pieridae. It is found in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Indochina, Taiwan, Hainan and possibly South China.

In India, the butterfly ranges across South India, peninsular India, Nicobar islands, Sikkim to Assam, and onto Myanmar. In South India, the Chocolate Albatross is to be found along the foot of the Western Ghats. It is found throughout the year in the Nilgiris where it is locally common. In the northern parts of peninsular India it extends into Orissa and North up to Lucknow.

The Chocolate Albatross has a wingspan of 55 to 70mm. The male is white above with chocolate-brown or black margins, and, bright lemon-yellow below with chocolate-colored markings. The female is white and densely clouded with dark-brown.

The butterfly shows seasonal dimorphism and is very variable wet and dry season forms exist.

The Chocolate Albatross is a forest butterfly and prefers rainy highlands, up to a level of 3000 ft. Flying strongly and swiftly close to the ground, the Albatross is frequently found in jungle clearings and along stream banks. The males are often found circling around trees and bushes. The Chocolate Albatross often mudpuddles, sometimes in large numbers. The butterfly occasionally visits flowers and has been recorded to visit Verbena flowers in Kodagu.

The larvae have been recorded on Crataeva religiosa, Capparis roxburghii and Capparis heyneana.

Trying to go beyond my comfort zone has been my effort for last few months. I tried my hands in travel photography in my Lakshadweep island trip. Now I am trying my hands with my new lens Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM. I bought this lens as I wanted a considerable reach for shooting birds. After trying out Canon EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM lens successfully for macro it was difficult to use Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM. There were 2 main reasons. Minimum focusing distance of 300mm f/4 was 1.5meters with a magnification of 0.24x. With 300mm f/2.8 minimum focussing distance increased to 2.5 meters and the magnification decreased to 0.13x. I used Canon EF 2x II Extender to increase the Extenders do not affect the Minimum Focus Distance of the lens they are mounted behind, thus the Maximum Magnification of the lens is also multiplied by 2x. I got 600mm lens with 0.26x magnification which was great. If I need more magnification I need to add my Kenko extension tubes but I haven’t resorted to that yet.

Because the Canon EF 2x II Extender is multiplying the aberrations/flaws of the lens it is mounted behind by 2x, there will be noticeable degradation in image quality when using the 2x. Sharpness and contrast take a hit with all but the best lenses. Additional CA (Chromatic Aberration) is introduced as is slight barrel distortion, but vignetting is somewhat reduced. The best 2x results will only be made using a very sharp lens such as the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens. I have tried this 2x Extender on my other lenses almost all of them have failed.

Female Crimson Marsh Glider (Trithemis aurora)

Crimson Marsh Glider (Trithemis aurora)
It is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae.

It is a medium sized dragonfly that is commonly found in weedy tanks and ponds, marshes, channels, and slow flowing streams and rivers in the lowlands and mid-hills. It breeds in streams, rivers, canals, ponds and tanks. It is found commonly and widely distributed in India throughout the year.

The male of the species is distinctly different from the female.

The male has a reddish brown face, with eyes that are crimson above and brown on the sides. The thorax is red with a fine, purple pruinescence. The abdomen, the base of which is swollen, is crimson with a violet tinge. The wings are transparent with crimson venation and the base has a broad amber patch. The wing spots are a dark reddish-brown and the legs are black.

The female has an olivaceous or bright reddish-brown face with eyes that are purplish-brown above and grey below. The thorax is olivaceous with brown median and black lateral stripes. The abdomen is reddish-brown with median and lateral black markings. The black markings are confluent at the end of each segment and enclose a reddish-brown spot. The wings are transparent with brown tips. The venation is bright yellow to brown and basal amber markings are pale. The wing spots are a dark brown and the lags are dark grey with narrow yellow stripes.

Grey Pansy Butterfly (Junonia atlites)

Grey Pansy Butterfly (Junonia atlites)

Wingspan of 55-65 mm. A medium sized light gray butterfly with darker colored wing margins. The sexes are similar. The upper side is marked with a row of post-median ocelli on both wings. There is a series of short wavy bands hanging off the costal margin of the fore-wing. The underside ground color is much paler, and the hind wing has an oblique line running across the wing. The markings and the intensity of color on the undersides of this butterfly are quite variable; the dry season forms showing the lightest color and fewest markings.

It is a much more habitat specific species than the other pansies, inhabiting areas in the vicinity of water such as rice fields, canals, tanks and marshy areas. It is not plentiful but may be found throughout the year and is the least common of the pansies. It is seldom seen above 2500 feet elevation.

Its behavior is very similar to that of the other pansies except in egg laying. It will often lay eggs on plants above the waterline in rice fields or open water bodies. The larvae are capable of surviving a rise in water levels by moving to high ground or other host plants nearby with relative ease. Like the other pansies, it joins migratory flights.

Black Torrent Dart Damselfly (Dysphaea ethela)

Black Torrent Dart Damselfly (Dysphaea ethela)

A large black damselfly with amber coloured wings. Lives in torrential hill streams from 300-1000m ASL. This damselfly is rare and usually sits in the middle of streams on boulders or emergent twigs. If disturbed flies high up to riparian trees. Breeding: Not known. Flight season: June to December. Distribution: Western Ghats from Agastyamalai to Aghanashini river in Uttara Kannara district. This species is also known from the Eastern Ghats.