Yellow Bush Dart

One late evening I found this whitish bodied damselfly resting on a dry twig in the garden. It was quite dark outside. So I picked up my macro rig which consisted of Canon EOS 5D mark II fitted with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. For illumination I used ExpoImaging Ray Flash Adapter fitted on to Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash. It was sitting almost close to the ground in a very tight corner. As focusing was difficult, I used my Canon Right Angle Finder and photographed this damselfly almost lying down on the ground. If I had flippable live view finder like Canon EOS 600D it would have been wonderful. Due to the low light I was not able to see the damselfly properly. Fortunately the white body of the damselfly helped in my focus. Even though I was very close to the ground, the background was not clear as it was surrounded by bushes. I could later identify that it was a Male Yellow Bush Dart damselfly (Copera marginipes)

Yellow Bush Dart

Male Yellow Bush Dart is little larger than female. Characteristic feature of Yellow Bush Dart is a black band which extends from eye to eye. Male Yellow Bush Dart has eyes which are black above, greenish on sides and beneath with black equatorial band. Thorax is bronze black with fine yellow lines on sides. The stripe on sides is narrow and pale greenish yellow. Legs are bright yellowish orange. Wings are transparent. Wing spot is brown. Abdomen is bronzed black above. Segment 3-6 with a pale stripe along the side and a narrow pale greenish white ring at the end of each segment.

Yellow Bush Dart

The specimen I had was more whitish than brown that was because the damselfly was in the teneral phase. Teneral is the period when the adult insect is newly emerged from the pupal case or nymphal skin. During the teneral period, the insect’s exoskeleton has not hardened or darkened, leaving it vulnerable. The term comes from the Latin tener, meaning soft, young, and tender.

Yellow Bush Dart

Female Yellow Bush Dart’s ground color is dark with varying shades of brown. Eyes are similar to the male but has a brown cap. Thorax is brown. The black stripe above is similar to that of males and black stripe on sides is irregular. Legs are brownish. Wings are transparent. Wing spot is pale brown. Abdomen is brown above with broad rings towards the end. Half of 8th segment and the whole of 9-10th segments pale brownish white.

Yellow Bush Dart

Found along ponds, puddles, canals and streams. Flies less than a meter above the ground. It breeds in shallow water collections, such as rainwater puddles and backwaters of streams. Flight season is from August to November. Distributed throughout the oriental region.

Plum-headed Parakeet

On a rainy day I saw this female Plum-headed Parakeet (Psittacula cyanocephala) perched on a slender branch. I was standing very close to the tree. If you are in such a situation then the photos will come out like what I have here today. It shows that you have shot them from a lower angle. When you photograph any animal, it is advisable to be at the eye level of your subject to produce a better perspective. For birds which are perched high up on the tree, it is difficult to follow that principle. Here is a trick I usually follow. Go away from the bottom of the tree the bird is perched, so that you are around 45 to 60 ° angle from the bird. By using long telephoto lenses the photos you take will look as though taken at the eye level. Telephoto lenses have two distinct advantages. They allow higher magnification of the subject as well as they compresses the perceived depth in the photo. So the subject looks far closer than it actually is. This compression fools our eyes that we feel that we are almost near the eye level of the subject. Unfortunately in my case when I left the tree to photograph from that angle parakeet flew away and I was not able to get the view I wanted.

Plum-headed Parakeet

That day I got the overcast white cloudy sky as the background. Metering is tricky in such a situation. If you are using Matrix metering then your camera meter is going to evaluate all the areas in your photograph. Since the sky is brighter than your subject, it will under expose the subject while exposing sky correctly. These are the times when you need to override the meter. You use the exposure compensation setting and dial in exposure shift as you want.

Rule of thumb in overriding meter is as follows.

• If your overall image is whiter than grey, then over-expose from the meter reading.
• If your overall image is darker than grey then under-expose from the meter reading.

How far you need to override meter depends on the brightness or darkness of the scene you are shooting. Spot metering is another option which is better than Matrix metering in such situations. Spot metering usually measures the center 3% of the screen and if you put your subject there and meter you get accurate meter reading of the subject. This allows you to avoid pitfalls of matrix metering.

Plum-headed Parakeet

The Plum-headed Parakeet is a mainly green parrot, The male’s head is red, becoming purple-blue on the back of the crown, nape and cheeks. There is a narrow black neck collar and a black chin stripe. There is a red shoulder patch and the rump and tail are bluish-green, the latter tipped white. The upper mandible is orangish-yellow, and the lower mandible is dark.

The female has a grey head, corn-yellow upper-mandible and lacks the black neck collar, chin stripe and red shoulder patch. Immature birds have a green head and both mandibles are yellowish. The different head colour and the white tip to the tail distinguish this species from the similar Blossom-headed Parakeet (Psittacula roseata). The Plum-headed Parakeet is a gregarious and noisy species with range of raucous calls. The usual flight and contact call is oink? repeated now and then. The Plum-headed Parakeet is a bird of forest and open woodland.

Plum-headed Parakeet

Lesser Whistling Duck

Driving down to my home town from Mangalore, I saw these Lesser Whistling Ducks in a nearby paddy field. They were wading in the shallow rainwater filled paddy field far off from the main road. I chose my Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM fitted with Canon EF 2X II Extender on my Canon EOS 1D Mark IV body. As the ground was soggy with rain I was not able to place the mono-pod on the ground. So leaving the mono-pod on the car I tried to hand hold the heavy rig and waded towards these ducks. Despite being shy I was able to get quite a few photos. Despite not using a good support, I was able to get few satisfactory photos due to higher shutter speed I used. At around 5kilo weight, the rig is quite heavy to handhold for very long time. What I usually do is to rest it on my folded elbow till I need to photograph and then lift and get the photo. This gives enough rest for your wrist to cope up with the heavy camera.

Pair of Lesser Whistling Ducks

The Lesser Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna javanica), also known as Indian Whistling Duck, is a small sized whistling duck which breeds in south and south-east Asia. It was called the Lesser Whistling Teal in the past. Called whistling ducks because of their call, they are also sometimes called tree ducks because they are seen often perching on trees near water bodies. Some nest in Tree holes too.

Lesser Whistling Duck

Lesser Whistling Ducks eat aquatic vegetation by dabbling on the water surface in shallow water. Like other waterfowl, they have a highly sensitive, fleshy tongue which has a spiny surface. To efficiently sift for edible titbits, the tongue is worked against rows of horny lamellae that line the mandibles. This produces the typical chattering sound of feeding waterfowl. They also dive frequently for underwater titbits. Lesser Whistling Ducks feed mostly at night, in small family groups.

Pair of Lesser Whistling Ducks

Their call is described as a three-note whistle, the last note highest pitched and prolonged. The call is a wheezy, whistling “seasick, seasick”, call, uttered in flight. Shy and nervous, they fly off at the slightest hint of danger. A flock will fly quickly, and in a direct manner, usually in chevron formation. This duck flies like a goose with its long neck sticking out and drooping below the body, and wings beating rapidly. Lesser Whistling Ducks are different from other ducks in having longer legs, a squarish head and an erect goose-like posture when alert. Their wings are also rounder and broader. Unlike other ducks, males and females look similar, and there is no special breeding plumage.

Pair of Lesser Whistling Ducks

Lesser Whistling Ducks prefer a nest site near freshwater with dense vegetation nearby where their chicks can immediately reach the water after hatching. Usually in a bed of tall reeds, sometimes in a hollow log, or even an abandoned heron’s nest. They build a shallow cup of grass, on or close to the ground. They may rearrange surrounding vegetation to form a roof with a side-entrance. Sometimes they nest in trees. 10-12 creamy white eggs are laid. If the nest is closer to the ground, parents will distract predators by faking a broken wing and moving away from the nest.

Pair of Lesser Whistling Ducks on Paddy field