Tawny Coster

I saw this Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore) butterfly on a dry twig on the same evening I was photographing kites I wrote about in my last blog.

I was carrying my Canon EOS 5D mark II fitted with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM + Canon EF 2X II Extender. This 600mm rig was used to take this macro shot. This 300mm f/2.8 lens without extender gives magnification of 0.13X at MFD (Minimum Focus Distance) of 2.5m (8.2 feet). Extenders do not affect the Minimum Focus Distance of the lens they are mounted behind, thus the MM (Maximum Magnification) of the lens is also multiplied. So with 2X Extender I get .26x magnification at the same MFD. Even though it is not as great as having 1:1 magnification of dedicated macro lens, but is close enough get good closeup photography.

I was using my Benro C45T Carbon Fiber Monopod to support this heavy rig. To get better depth of field I first chose f/8.0 which still seemed shallow. Only at f/11 aperture the depth of field was sufficient. You can notice a very smooth bokeh in the background. The green fountain grasses are all out of focus. I could not get the beautiful frontal light from the setting sun you see in the first photo in my other two photos as cloud had covered the sun and made the lighting more diffuse.

Tawny Coster

The Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore) is a small leathery winged butterfly which is common in grassland and scrub habitats. It belongs to the Nymphalidae or brush-footed butterfly family. It has a weak fluttery flight. It is avoided by most insect predators as it contains poisonous alkaloids in its body. Tawny Coster and the Yellow Coster (Acraea issoria) are the only two Indian spcies of the predominantly African tribe Acraeini.

Major taxonomic misidentification which still causes confusion today. Tawny Coster was described as Papilio terpsicore by Linnaeus in 1758. It was held to be the senior synonym of Acraea serena, described by Fabricius as Papilio serena in 1775. Hence, the former name was commonly used for that African species. But as it turned out, Linnaeus had actually described an Indian species — the well-known Tawny Coaster. Fabricius in 1793 believed it was new to science and described it again, as Papilio violae. Consequently it had been long known as Acraea violae.

The color Tawny referres to an yellowish brown color. The word means “tan-colored,” from Anglo-French tauné “associated with the brownish-yellow of tanned leather,” from Old French tané “to tan hides,” from Medieval Latin tannare from tannum “crushed oak bark,” used in tanning leather, probably from a Celtic source (e.g. Breton tann “oak tree”).

Tawny Coster

The Tawny Coster butterfly is found in India and Sri Lanka. It is common all the year round and is equally at home in forest clearings and open country. Though mainly seen at low elevations it has been recorded at heights of up to 7,000 feet (2,100 m) in south India and sometimes in the North. It is plentiful in the pre-monsoon and monsoon period and becomes scarce later on.

The butterfly exudes an oily and smelly yellow liquid when handled and is unpalatable to birds and most insects. They are well protected and have a slow and weak flight, frequently visiting flowers. There are no mimics in India. Sexes both look alike with few minor variation.

The butterfly breeds on plants of the family Loganiaceae and species of Passiflora many of which contain toxins that are sequestered by the caterpillars.

Larva is Cylindrical, slender, with six longitudinal rows of fine branched spines; colour reddish brown with an oily gloss, much paler on the head, second and last segment; an unwholesome looking insect, doubtless protected like the butterfly. Pupa is perpendicularly hung, long, slender, smooth; two lateral angles on the thorax; head quadrate; color creamy white, with broad longitudinal bars of purplish-black spotted with orange.

Small Indian Kites with Grasshopper

That Sunday evening I was strolling with my Canon EOS 5D mark II fitted with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM & Canon EF 1.4x II Extender. Focusing with 5D Mark II was not as efficient as 7D. It used to hunt before getting proper focus. I saw small bush fire nearby. People here are famous for lighting fire to any thing they see that is dry. We tend to burn dry leaves, plastic and all substances which are not suitable for recycling under the impression that it is the best method of disposal. Agni, god of fire in Hindu Mythology is supposed to digest anything you offer. Due to this we not only destroy precious dry leaves which would have decayed and enriched our top soil, but also pollute our atmosphere with harmful by-products of plastic like dioxin.

Small Indian Kite Landing

My birding ground is a large vacant government land at Bondel, Mangalore. Because of frequent fire it is invaded by species of grass called fountain grass (Pennisetum species). This is a large variety of grass which grows on clumps. Even though this grass takes advantage of fire they are a carbon fixing perennial bunch grass that is native to open, scrubby habitats in East Africa, tropical Africa, Middle East and SW Asia. It has been introduced to many parts of the world as an ornamental plant. It is drought-tolerant, grows fast, reaches 1 m (3.3 ft) in height, and has many purple, plumose flower spikes. They are favorites of several small birds like Munias which feed on them.

Small Indian Kite Landing

The bush fire I saw was a very low intensity and got extinguished very fast. It nevertheless drove all the insects like Grass Hoppers away from the patch which was getting burnt. This caught attention of the hovering kites which landed there to grab them. I got few Small Indian Kite or Pariah Kites (Milvus migrans govinda) which are the commonest urban kites we see around here. Small Indian Kites are opportunistic hunters and are more likely to scavenge. They spend a lot of time soaring and gliding in thermals in search of food. Their angled wing and distinctive forked tail make them easy to identify. This kite is widely distributed through the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia, with the temperate region populations tending to be migratory. Several subspecies are recognized and formerly with their own English names. The European populations are small, but the South Asian population is very large.

Kingfisher Airline Flight

They grabbed few insects and flew away squabbling among themselves as soon as the fire was extinguished. When I looked at the sky I spotted a man made Kingfisher. What I am referring is Kingfisher airlines flight VT-KAH. This Aerospatiale/Alenia 72-500 plane was passing just overhead. I had opportunity to compose myself and take the belly shot of the aircraft in just the nick of time. I was using Canon EF 2X II Extender on Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM mounted on my Canon EOS 5D mark II.

As the flight passed I could see a bright waxing gibbous moon on the eastern sky. I also saw few Brahminy Kites (Haliastur indus) soaring in front of the moon. Light was perfect as it was emanating from the setting sun in the west. I wanted to capture a moon with kite photo. Patiently waiting for the right moment was difficult as the sun was dipping down in the western sky. Finally after several close shots of Brahminy Kites without moon in the background, I was able to capture one which came close to my imagination how a bird soaring high in the sky should be presented in from of the majestic Moon.

Brahminy Kite Side View

Brahminy Kite

Unfortunately this shot I got the bird in sharp focus but moon was out of focus despite using f/11 to gain depth of field. If I had calculated and used Hyper focal distance and tried I think I could have got both bird as well as moon in sharp focus. That is an experiment I have to try with next such moon day.

Moon and Brahminy Kite

Here is a composite which included a sharp picture of kite and sharp picture of moon merged in Photoshop as I envisioned I would capture. The technique is simple, I exported both the individual images as layers in Photoshop then masked the bird and placed it on top of the moon photo layer. This is the final result in the form how I really wanted the photograph.

Moon and Brahminy Kite Composite

Kambala 2011

I had earlier posted a time table of Kambala a traditional water buffalo race in muddy waters, held from December till March. It is the native sport of Tulu Nadu region of South India.

Reflection

Kambala is traditionally a simple sport. The ‘Kambala track’ used for muddy field filled with slush. The contest generally takes place between two pairs of buffaloes, controlled by a racer.

Speed

Kambala today has become an organized, professional sports. People place massive amounts of bets on the winning buffaloes and one can witness more than 20,000 spectators in a well organized Kambala, egging and cheering the buffaloes to complete the race. As of now, more than 45 races are held annually in Coastal Karnataka. Nearly 18 kambalas are held under the banner of Kambala Samithi and the rest are held under the auspices of temples, political patronage and aristocratic Bunt households. Kambala still remains a hugely popular sport in Coastal Karnataka.

Tail Raising Performance

The photos here were taken at my home town Moodabidri which is held in a Kambala grounds of Kadlakere Nisargadhama. This large rain water fed lake was to witness over 180 pairs of Water Buffaloes. Despite the Bandh call given by the Government of Karnataka on that Saturday huge crowd had gathered to witness this folk sports. I was able to reach the venue only in the late evening and for 2 hours I took the pictures you see here. Most of the light was from the overhead halogen lamps which lit the whole Kambala fields. I used my Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM on Canon EOS 5D mark II Camera supported by Benro C45T Carbon Fiber Monopod. My friend Mr. Parshwanath was on my Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM fitted to Canon EOS 7D. So both could shoot simultaneously.

Catch them!

The races were held in Kene Halage, Hagga, ‘Adda Halage’, and Negilu categories. Kene Halage and Adda Halage are 2 forms of the race which has very few contestants participating and is a vanishing from most Kambala races.

Kene halage splash

Flying

Kambala 2011

Roping in

Bursting

More Speed

Kambala-2011

Faster

Floating

Splashing

Flying

Catching the action